The Fisherman and the Turtle

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kimmel, Eric. The Fisherman and the Turtle. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2008.  ISBN 0761453873

2. PLOT SUMMARY

This is an Aztec version of the Grimm tale about the fisherman and his greedy wife. One day, a poor Aztec fisherman catches a magical turtle that promises to grant a wish if he is let go. Initially, the fisherman wishes only for a large catch of fish, but upon returning home and telling of the magic turtle, the man’s wife becomes angry and sends him back to wish for riches. The man finds the turtle who grants the wish, but the wife is still not happy. She continually sends her husband back for more and more wealth and power, but he grows weary of her demands. Her final request to be a god sends the man back to the turtle where he admits that he just wants to go home and have his wife stop asking for more. Both wishes are then granted. The man returns to his hut, and his wife becomes a statue like all of the other gods.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This story is a classic lesson of being grateful for what one has and being careful about making wishes. As is common in traditional literature, the setting is established immediately in the distant past, “Long ago in the days of the Aztecs.” The fisherman and his wife are typical archetypes where the husband is good and the wife is greedy. These character traits do not change throughout the story, and the wife comes to a very tragic end. The plot of this story is very traditional and does not vary from the Grimm tale. There is a repeated pattern of behavior until the final and abrupt ending. The reader is able to learn a lesson, good triumphs over evil, and the story ends happily or cautionary depending on your perspective.

The illustrations and color choices perfectly complement this book and appear accurate and appropriate for depicting the Aztec culture. From an historical perspective, the buildings, from the small hut near the water to the palace in Tenochtitlan, and the clothing, from peasant to king, are drawn with incredible detail that is representative of the different classes that would have existed within this society. Based on what we know about the Aztec empire, the animal and crop illustrations as well as the dugout canoe, the fishing gear, and even the plants and weather are also historically and culturally accurate.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

From Booklist: "The vivid colors of the acrylic-and-watercolor illustrations and pages bordered with motifs from Aztec art give the tale an authentic flavor. A good choice to introduce children to a culture underrepresented in picture books.”

From School Library Journal: “Aviles uses acrylics and liquid watercolor, as well as motifs from Aztec art, in the brightly patterned illustrations. She changes the placid, blue-green sea in the opening pages to a truly frightful place at the end. Kimmel reminds readers that "the great turtle still swims in the sea" and asks what they might wish for.”

From Kirkus Reviews: “This welcome variant is well-suited to reading aloud, discussion and comparison.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Gather other Kimmel books to read such as:

•                      The Three Little Tamales. ISBN 0761455191

•                      Anansi Goes Fishing. ISBN 0823410226

•                      The McElderry Book of Greek Myths. ISBN 1416915346

Gather other books about the Aztec empire such as:

•                      Abnett, Dan. Hernan Cortes and the Fall of the Aztec Empire. ISBN 1404233911

•                      MacDonald, Fiona. You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice. ISBN 0531238555

•                      Mathews, Sally S. The Sad Night: The Story of an Aztec Victory and a Spanish Loss.  ISBN 0618117458

Use as a guidance lesson on being thankful.

Use as a poetry lesson to teach rhyme and stanza.

Use with a social studies unit on European explorers and ancient cultures, specifically the Aztecs.