When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean Kate Quealy-Gainer Andrews, Jan , ad. When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean; illus. by Dusan Petricic. Groundwood, 2011. 69p. ISBN 978-0-88899-952-8 $16.95 R 7-10 yrs. Sometimes foolish, sometimes clever, mostly kind, and always poor, Ti-Jean is the French-Canadian folktale equivalent of the Jack figure in Anglophone folklore. Andrews offers up three familiar but still inventive tales that follow the folk hero as one bad choice after another lands Ti-Jean in dire circumstances, forcing him to finally use his wits (and a fair amount of luck) to duck the bad guys and save the day. He goes up against a greedy royal in "Ti-Jean and The Princess of Tomboso," a gambling trickster in "Ti-Jean the Marble Player," and a clever but spoiled girl in "How Ti-Jean became a Fiddler." Preceded by a brief but informative introduction explaining Ti-Jean's origins and characteristics, the stories hold appeal for storytellers and listeners alike. Youngsters will delight both in Ti-Jean's clueless foolishness and in his inevitable triumph over not just his obvious opponents but a whole range of doubters, including his supposedly wise elders—a nice element of subversion that tempers the tales' potentially moralistic tones. Petricic's monochromatic illustrations, crisp pencil lines digitally shaded, have hints of Jules Feiffer's frenetic lines, while Ti-Jean himself is a solid, if befuddled-looking, character. Source notes are included, making this a useful addition to a folktale or storytelling collection. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois