Memories, Myths and Midrash

While memory is the universal weft of story, not all memories have the kernel of universality essential to create a good story. In Thunder Cake (Philomel: $14.95; 32 pp.; ages 4-8), Patricia Polacco succeeds, recalling a childhood fear that will be familiar to many of us. One day when thunder began crackling ominously from afar, Polacco’s immigrant grandmother asked her to hastily gather ingredients from around the farm for a “thunder cake.” By the time the storm loomed directly overhead, Polacco was celebrating her new-found bravery with cake and tea from the samovar.

Though Polacco’s narrative is self-conscious at times, it advances swiftly with a balance of humor and tension. As the text focuses on a little girl’s fears, the illustrations celebrate the uniqueness of the grandmother’s heritage. Evoking the textures and styles of traditional Russian clothing and knickknacks, they are no doubt drawn from the images that filled Polacco’s eyes as a child. An informality of both line and action further contributes to the book’s sense of warmth and immediacy.

The story of childhood is one of energy, discovery and a growing sense of self. Few children’s books recount this better than “A Hole Is to Dig” and its companion, the Open House for Butterflies, both by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak. The latter, recently reprinted (Harper & Row: $10.95; 48 pp.; ages 4-8), asks one of the many children who act out stories and play with words in these pages: “If you went out and forgot your pretend friends, where would you go when you went back for them?” And another: “If you run out of cereal, can you run into it again?”

Giving body and breadth to these young voices, Sendak’s pen-and-ink illustrations evoke the spontaneous choreography of children at play. Together, Krauss and Sendak have created a lasting celebration of childhood’s importance. Or, as one child puts it: “A baby makes the mother and father--otherwise they’re just plain people.”

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter (Walker: $17.95; 144 pp.; ages 10-14) stretches through U.S. history like the railroad itself, connecting faraway places and times. After the Civil War, Pullman cars provided respectable employment for many African Americans. But good news faded to bad as work conditions worsened and pay became insulting. In 1934, prospects began to brighten when the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters became the first all-black union to join the American Federation of Labor.

“The story of the Pullman Porter” is a complex one, covering a great deal of time and intense emotions, but Patricia and Frederick McKissack keep their narrative honest, understanding the dignities and fallibilities of the porters. Sometimes good people make poor decisions, they write, and good decisions become mistakes as social circumstances change.

Strength of story also enriches Barbara Bash’s scientific narrative, Tree of Life: The World of the African Baobab (Sierra Club Books: $14.95; 32 pp.; grades 1-5). As the tale opens, a group of African bushmen point toward an old tree, explaining that its branches became gnarled and knotted because a careless hyena planted it upside down. In every stage of its yearly cycle, the baobab tree gives life to different species in different ways. Leafless, it is home to chameleons and snakes. Birds arrive when the rains bring leaves. Bush- baby monkeys and bats drink the nectar of its blossoms, and impalas eat the same flowers once they fall to the ground. Baboon and man enjoy the fruit that follows. For man, the baobab holds honey and medicines as well.

By following the overlapping cycles of these species, Bash creates a narrative that echoes the enduring rhythm of the tree itself. From the hush of her color illustrations to her text in calligraphy, Bash’s thoughtful observations have transformed the facts of the amazing baobab into an involving tale of life.

As the title story of Marc Gellman’s Does God Have a Big Toe? (Harper & Row: $16.70; 90 pp.; all ages) explains, our desire to question the unknown is as constant as the impossibility of finding pat answers. One solution to the paradox is to celebrate the questions themselves with more questions! Acknowledging the impossibility of explaining what various Bible stories mean, Gellman widens them with 21 new tales about the stories, called Midrash. At once funny and tender, all 21 resonate with fresh awareness, encouraging readers to search for their own insights.

Some stories bounce with fresh twists. The parting of the Red Sea, for example, is experienced from the point of view of startled fish. Other tales are retold from the perspective of any suburban kid. Beginning the story of Babel, Gellman writes, “Every person spoke the same language. All of which made life very easy. Getting the news was easy, and you didn’t have to learn a new language in high school.” The playfulness and renewed innocence of these stories are beautifully extended by Oscar deMejo’s naive paintings. Rich for reading aloud and savoring alone, “Does God Have a Big Toe?” is an intriguing delight.