For today's mouse-deer trickster tales, I've got three children's books by Nathan Kumar Scott. First up is The Sacred Banana Leaf: An Indonesian Trickster Tale.
The art is by Radhashyam Raut in the Patachitra style of Orissa (the book was published in India), and it's a beautiful accompaniment to this ingenious story where Kanchil gets himself into trouble and then uses his powers of imagination and persuasion to secure his rescue. In addition to Kanchil, you get to meet Ular the snake, Babi the wild boar, and Harimau the tiger.
The book also includes a variation on the Indian card game ganjifa to play using the artwork from the book.
Next up is Mangoes and Bananas: An Indonesian Trickster Tale, which is about Kanchil and his friend Monyet, the monkey.
The mouse-deer and the monkey decide to grow their own mangoes and bananas, and once again Kanchil uses his powers of speech to get the monkey to do what he wants. The art is by T. Balaji, using the Kalamkari style of art from southeastern India:
Amd finally, The Great Race: An Indonesian Trickster Tale.
In this story you meet Gajah the elephant, Kerbau the buffalo, Buwaya the crocodile, and most important of all: Pelan the snail. The art is by Jagdish Chitara in the Waghari (Vaghari) style, and you get to see the trickster mouse-deer out-tricked in this one:
As always, these lovely books are just a cick away at the Internet Archive! And I'll be back tomorrow with more mouse-deer adventures.
by Nathan Kumar Scott
by Nathan Kumar Scott
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