When Julius Lester wrote his first Uncle Remus book he was rewriting a collection from Joel Chandler Harris. This collection had 263 tales and 113 with Brer Rabbit. Thus, it was not surprising that after receiving the Coretta Scott King Award for his first Uncle Remus book, he wrote another. IN the introduction, by Julius Lester, he explains that Brer Rabbit is not a personified slave or even a black man but a personification of all people - black or white. These are considered by Lester as "Trickster tales" and thus this collection and are not to be interpreted as moral lessons. Lester does say though that Brer Rabbit was created by slaves and thus the importance in Afro-American history. This collection has Brer Rabbit teaming up with Brer Fox, falling in love, and the introduction to Mr. Man.
This is a great continuation of the Uncle Remus stories as presented yesterday and could be taught in a similar way, but using different characters or talking about how those characters interact and what impact they have on Brer Rabbit's life.
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