African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Julius Lester / Uncle Remus

I'm so excited about this post for the first day of Black History Month, 2022! Today's book is Julius Lester's version of the Brer Rabbit and other African American folktales collected and retold by Joel Chandler Harris — and yes, I'll have lots to say about Joel Chandler Harris in future posts... but today, a much happier topic: Julius Lester! This is the book that got me started on on my own African and African American folktale project, and I was so glad (SO GLAD) to discover that there is a copy available at the Internet Archive.

In this version of the Brer Rabbit stories, Julius Lester has removed the awful Uncle Remus framework, and he's also replaced Harris's patronizing eye-dialect with something more idiomatic and absolutely fun to read. So, if you've never read Brer Rabbit, or if you gave up on the Joel Chandler Harris versions, this is the book for you, just a click away at the Internet Archive: Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales by Julius Lester.

Even better, the book is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. There are beautiful full-color two-page spreads, and also an abundance of black-and white drawings.

A key feature of Pinkney's illustrations is that the human characters are depicted as African Americans, in sharp contrast to earlier illustrations for Harris's books which depicted Mr. Man and Miss Meadows and the gals et al. as white. So, for example, here's the scene where Mr. Man and his daughter have trapped Brer Rabbit in the garden:

And here's a scene with Brer Rabbit and one of the Miss Meadows's gals:

You might remember both Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney from previous posts about African folktale books — Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney — and I'll have be writing about more books from both Lester and Pinkney in future posts about African American folktale books.

This big Brer Rabbit book is a compendium of four earlier books that Lester and Pinkney published, three of which are available at Internet Archive too. An odd thing about the book is that the pagination does not run from the start of the book to the finish; instead, the pagination starts follows the original four books, with each book starting again at p. 1. Below I've listed the titles of each of the individual books, and then links to the stories from that book inside the "Complete Tales" edition:

The Adventures of Brer Rabbit. How the Animals Came to Earth / How Brer Fox and Brer Dog Became Enemies / Hold 'im Down, Brer Fox / Brer Rabbit Comes to Dinner / Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby / Brer Rabbit Gets Even / Brer Rabbit and Sister Cow / Brer Turtle, Brer Rabbit, and Brer Fox / Brer Wolf Tries to Catch Brer Rabbit / Brer Rabbit Finally Gets Beaten / Mr. Jack Sparrow Meets His End / Brer Rabbit Gets Caught One More Time / The Death of Brer Wolf / Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit Go Hunting / Brer Rabbit Tricks Brer Fox Again / Brer Rabbit Eats the Butter / Brer Rabbit Saves His Meat / Brer Rabbit's Children / The Death of Brer Fox / Brer Rabbit and Brer Lion / Brer Rabbit Takes Care of Brer Tiger / Brer Lion Meets the Creature / The Talking House / Brer Rabbit Gets Beaten Again / Brer Rabbit Tricks Brer Bear / The End of Brer Bear / Brer Fox Gets Tricked Again / Brer Rabbit and the Little Girl / Brer Rabbit Goes Back to Mr. Man's Garden / Brer Possum Hears the Singing / Brer Rabbit's Riddle / The Moon in the Pond / Why Brer Bear Has No Tail / Wiley Wolf and Riley Rabbit / Brer Rabbit Gets the Money / The Cradle Didn't Rock / Brer Rabbit to the Rescue / The Noise in the Woods / Brer Rabbit Gets the Meat Again / Brer Wolf Gets in More Trouble / Brer Rabbit Tells on Brer Wolf / Brer Rabbit and the Mosquitoes / How Brer Rabbit Became a Scary Monster / Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, and King Deer's Daughter / Brer Rabbit Breaks Up the Party / Brer Rabbit Outwits Mr. Man / Brer Wolf, Brer Fox, and the Little Rabbits / Brer Rabbit's Luck

More Tales of Uncle Remus. Brer Rabbit Gets Brer Fox's Dinner / Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox Kill a Cow / Brer Fox and the Grapes / Brer Rabbit Falls in Love / The Ol' African Helps Out / The Courting Contest / Brer Rabbit, Brer Coon, and the Frogs / Brer Rabbit's Laughing Place / Brer Rabbit Gets the House to Himself / Miz Partridge Tricks Brer Rabbit / The Famine / Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and the Honey / Brer Snake Catches Brer Wolf / Brer Rabbit Gets the Meat / Brer Rabbit Scares Everybody / Grinny Granny Wolf / The Fire Test / Brer Rabbit Catches Wattle Weasel / Brer Rabbit and Mr. Man's Chickens / The Barbecue / Brer Alligator Learns About Trouble / Brer Fox Gets Tricked Again / Brer Rabbit and Brer Bullfrog / Brer Rabbit Meets Up With Cousin Wildcat / Brer Rabbit Gets a Little Comeuppance / Brer Rabbit Advises Brer Lion / Brer Rabbit's Money Mint / Brer Rabbit Makes a Deal With Mr. Man / Brer Rabbit Doctors Brer Fox's Burns / Brer Fox Sets a Fire / Brer Rabbit Builds a Tower / Brer Rabbit Saves Brer Wolf - Maybe / Mammy-Bammy Big-Money Takes Care of Brer Wolf / Brer Rabbit and the Gizzard Eater / Why Dogs Are Always Sniffing / Being Fashionable Ain't Always Healthy / The Race

Further Tales of Uncle Remus. Brer Fox and Mr. Man / King Lion and Mr. Man / Brer Fox and Brer Turtle / Brer Fox Gets Tricked by the Frogs / Brer Bear Gets Tricked by Brer Frog / Brer Bear, Brer Turtle, and the Rope-pulling Contest / Brer Turtle Takes Care of Brer Buzzard / Brer Fox Wants to Make Music / The Pimmerly Plum / Brer Turtle Takes Flying Lessons / Brer Buzzard and Brer Hawk / Brer Buzzard Bites the Dust - Again / The Wise Bird and the Foolish Bird / The Most Beautiful Bird in the World Contest / Brer Fox and Uncle Mud Turtle / The Creature With No Claws / Brer Polecat Finds a Winter Home / Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit Take Care of Brer Fox and Brer Wolf / Brer Fox Gets Away for Once / Taily-po / Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and the Chickens / Brer Fox Tries to Get Revenge / Brer Wolf and the Pigs / Mr. Benjamin Ram and His Wonderful Fiddle / Mr. Benjamin Ram Triumphs Again / How the Bear Nursed the Alligators / Brer Turtle and Brer Mink / Brer Billy Goat Tricks Brer Wolf / Brer Fox Takes Miz Cricket to Dinner / Miz Cricket Makes the Creatures Run / The Story of the Doodang / Brer Deer and King Sun's Daughter / Teenchy-tiny Duck's Magical Satchel

The Last Tales of Uncle Remus. Why the Cricket Has Elbows on His Legs / Why the Earth Is Mostly Water / The Origin of the Ocean / Brer Rabbit and Miss Nancy / The Old King and the New King / Brer Bear Comes to the Community / The Snake / A Ghost Story / Brer Bear Exposes Brer Rabbit / Brer Rabbit Teaches Brer Bear to Comb His Hair / Why Brer Possum Has No Hair on His Tail / Why Brer Possum Loves Peace / The Baby Who Loved Pumpkins / Impty-umpty and the Blacksmith / The Angry Woman / Brer Rabbit Throws a Party / Why Brer Fox's Legs Are Black / How the Witch Was Caught / Why Dogs Are Tame / How Tinktum Tidy Recruited an Army for the King / Why Guinea Fowls Are Speckled / Why the Guineas Stay Awake / Brer Fox and the White Grapes / Why the Hawk Likes to Eat Chickens / The Little Boy and His Dogs / The Man and the Wild Cattle / Cutta Cord-la / Why Brer Bull Growls and Grumbles / Brer Rabbit, King Polecat, and the Gingercakes / The Fool / How Brer Lion Lost His Hair / The Man and the Boots / Why the Goat Has a Short Tail / Brer Buzzard and Brer Crow / The Blacksmith and the Devil / Why Chickens Scratch in the Dirt / Brer Rabbit and Aunt Nancy / The Adventures of Simon and Susanna

In future posts, I'll have lots more to say about these stories and the Joel Chandler Harris publications that Lester used as his source, but for now I'll just say: ENJOY. Especially if you have never read the Brer Rabbit stories before, there is no better place to start than with Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney's version, and it's waiting for you at the Internet Archive.

Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales

by Julius Lester