SURE AS SUNRISE

Veteran talespinner McGill looks back to her North Carolina childhood for five trickster tales, three featuring Bruh Rabbit. Cast in country cadences, they’re just right for reading—or for telling. Bruh Rabbit is snagged not by a tar baby, but by his love of music in “Please don’t Fling Me in the Briar Patch.” He’s himself tricked out of “Looking to Get Married” and cleverly convinces gullible Bruh Fox to take his place in “Bruh Rabbit’s Mystery Bag.” A sample: “ ‘WHO THAT UP THERE?’ somebody on the ground hollered. ‘Who that down there?’ Bruh Rabbit asked, twitching around in the sack. ‘Who that up there saying “WHO THAT?” when I say, ‘WHO THAT?’ the same voice came back.” McGill adds commentary before and after each tale, giving Joel Chandler Harris his due, but no more than that. Tate illustrates with close-up scenes of sculpted-looking animals in rural dress, often viewed from very low angles to create aptly exaggerated perspectives. Most of these are available in other versions, but the reteller has made them new with some delicious twists. (lengthy introduction) (Folktales. 7-11)