When an old woman loses her gourd dipper at the stream one day in this folktale from North Carolina, she decides to replace it by picking a green gourd, something that local custom warns against. "Never pull a green gourd afore it's ripe, or it'll witch ye sure," as the saying went. When she ignores this sage advice, the woman finds herself being attacked by the witchy gourd, and she flees before it. A panther and a fox each attempt to help her out, to no avail. It falls to a small but spry little boy to solve the problem, squashing that gourd flat...

Pairing a story full of rollicking good fun from author C.W. Hunter with amusing artwork from illustrator Tony Griego, The Green Gourd: A North Carolina Folktale is a pleasure to read. It is only the second folktale I can recall reading from the Tar Heel State, following upon the lovely Moss Gown, retold by William H. Hooks, and is in a far more lighthearted vein than that latter story. I enjoyed both the down home dialect used here, and the colorful visuals, which emphasized the madcap humor. According to the foreword by Tomie dePaola, Hunter first encountered this tale in the writings of one R.M. Ward of Wautauga County, North Carolina. It can be traced back to early settlers of that area, and has some similarities to the Native American folktale of The Offended Rolling Stone. Whether the latter had an influence on this story, or is just one example of countless cases of cultural convergence through traditional tales, is unknown. Leaving aside issues of origin, this is one I would recommend to all folklore enthusiasts, particularly those who enjoy humorous tales. ( )

Oh law! would be such a fun read-aloud--whole story rolls out as if performed by storyteller ( )