The Adventures of Brer Rabbit

The first volume of Lester's retelling of the Uncle Remus stories presents 48 of these splendid narrative miniatures rendered into an easily comprehensible dialect. I missed the creole cadences of Joel Chandler Harris' original collection, and found some of the modern references jarring, but I agree with the author's argument that the strength of these immortal tales is that they're adaptable to the speech and the circumstances of whoever feels like telling them. 'The Tar Baby', 'The Moon in the Pond' and 'Brer Rabbit and the Mosquitoes' are all here (the latter with a lubricious reminder that the originals weren't necessarily intended for children), and the entire collection provides an invaluable resource for browsing, sharing and retelling.