BOUKI DANCES THE KOKIOKO
A Comical Tale from Haiti
adapted by Diane Wolkstein & illustrated by Jesse Sweetwater
An amusing tale of trickery from Wolkstein's The Magic Orange Tree (1978). A king loves to watch dancers but doesn't want to pay them and so announces a contest with a prize of 5,000 gourdes to the one who can perform the Kokioko, a dance he has created in private. When the greedy trickster Malice spies on the king and learns the dance, he laboriously schools Bouki in the steps; Bouki knows better than to trust Malice but is drawn into the deception because he has ``many little Boukis to feed.'' Bouki wins the gourdes, but flushed with victory, he allows Malice to lead him in another dance during which Madame Malice sneaks off with the winnings. Swirling through the books are Sweetwater's vibrant, folkloric illustrations, one of which whimsically sets two of those many little Boukis in a pair of their father's oversized shorts. (glossary) (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)