THE LITTLE ROOSTER AND THE DIAMOND BUTTON

The Canadian author and illustrator of Ten Small Tales (1994) have teamed up again to make the delightful Hungarian folktale from Kate Seredy’s The Good Master (1935) available to a younger audience. While scratching in the road for something to eat, a rooster who lives with a poor old woman discovers a diamond button. Just as he is about to pick up the button to give to her, the imperial sultan comes along and snatches it. Ignoring the rooster’s protests, the sultan takes the button back to his treasury, with the rooster in pursuit. Children will laugh aloud at how the persistent rooster bests the greedy ruler and his three foolish servants. The story creates anticipation as it builds to its climax, and invites audience participation through its repetition of the rooster’s cry: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Sultan! Sultan! Give me back my diamond button.” Fitzgerald’s soft line and watercolor illustrations are nicely framed in borders reflecting the story’s setting and action, with just enough detail to highlight the tale’s absurdity. An author’s source note identifies variants and connects the tale to other “stories of extraordinary swallowing.” (Folktale. 4-8)