The Girl Who Wore Too Much: A Folktale from Thailand

by Margaret Read MacDonald (Retold by), Suparporn Vathanaprida (Text by), Yvonne Lebrun Davis (Illustrator)

Overview

A girl cannot decide which of her many silken dresses and lavish jewels to wear to the dance, so she wears them all.Like most young girls, Aree likes fine clothing and jewelry. But she is just a wee bit spoiled and has more fine dresses and accessories than she needs. So when word comes of a dance to be held in the next village, Aree can't make up her mind. Racked by indecision, Aree decides to wear her full wardrobe, until she learns that excess can be a burden, and that impressing friends is not the same as keeping them. Margaret Read MacDonald employs her trademark energy, vitality, and wit. To complement the text given in both English and Thai, Yvonne Davis's brilliant illustrations—done in gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil— capture the palette of fabrics and silks for which the Pu-Thai people in northeastern Thailand are so famous today. This legend from Thailand will teach readers the importance of caring, respect and responsibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939160935
Publisher:	August House Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/07/2015
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	102,933
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Margaret Read MacDonald Bio: Margaret Read MacDonald is a professional storyteller, award winning author and highly respected consultant who travels the world telling stories and conducting workshops for educators. Her most popular workshop “Playing with Stories” has been offered in over 70 countries. She has been invited to storytelling and literary festivals in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore. In addition, Dr. MacDonald teaches storytelling to classroom teachers for the Lesley University Creative Education through the Arts program. For years, she also taught storytelling as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Washington Information School. Dr. MacDonald is the author of over 60 books on folklore and storytelling topics, including many award winning folktale picture books. She has been telling stories since 1964 in her work as a children’s librarian, and she holds a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University along with an M.Ed.EC. (Educational Communications Masters) from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s of Library Science (MLS) from the University of Washington. She is well known for her ability to create texts that delight the ear and are easy for teachers to share. Teaching with Story contains 20 of these useful stories that can be used by teachers with their students.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 3--An experienced storyteller has set an old cautionary tale from Thailand in modern dress. Aree's parents shower their daughter with brilliant silk dresses and lovely jewels. A dance held in a nearby village offers Aree a chance to display her sumptuous wardrobe. Determined to be the most beautiful girl there, she cannot decide upon one dress or one jewel, so she ends up wearing all of them. She is so weighed down with layers of finery that she cannot keep up with her friends as they walk over the hill to the dance. When they suggest that she remove some garments, she accuses them of jealousy. In a version collected in Thailand by Kermit Krueger and retold in his collection The Serpent Prince (World, 1969; o.p.), the vain, foolish girl dies of exhaustion. MacDonald's version allows her to learn her lesson and live to practice voluntary simplicity. The story is told in rhythmic, cadenced sentences, ideal for reading aloud. The illustrations substitute modern rural Thailand for the archaic setting of the original tale and depict the characters as somewhat stylized figures dressed in brightly colored Thai silks. An author's note acknowledges Krueger's retelling, puts the tale in cultural context, and suggests strategies for telling it. The text is printed in Thai at the bottom of each page. Art and narrative create an appealing blend of ancient and contemporary wisdom.--Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

School Library Journal