In this witty book based on an African folk tale, Thulani prefers sitting in the sun to doing his chores. Tired of milking the cow, he trades her in for a goat. When the goat gets into the corn seed, he trades it for a sheep. Sick of shearing, he buys some geese, which then get exchanged for some sunflower seeds. With each trade, his hard-working wife gets more and more exasperated. Can Thulani redeem himself and still have time for his favorite hobby, doing nothing? Droll text and lively illustrations make this book ideal for repeated readings. (amazon)

Genre: Folk Tale
Media: water color
Age Appropriateness: Primary
This book is about Thulani. Thulani loved to spend his days in the sun. He got tired of milking the cow, so he sold it for a sheep. This made is wife unhappy, because she did not have milk. He spent a long time continuing to trade and sell an animal for another or for products. Eventually he found a way to have the hens produce more eggs, which gave them more money. With this money he bought a cow and several other things. He was able to make his wife happy and made time to milk the cow every day. This is a good example of a Folk Tale because it is a story passed down from generation to generation. It is also a good example because there is one central character and the theme is happiness, and how to get there by overcoming obstacles. ( )

Thulani loves to sit in the sun all day and gets sick of having to milk the cow at dusk. So he sells the cow and buys a goat. But the goat eats all their seeds, so he buys a sheep. Thulani has to look after it and misses sitting in the sun, so in spring he sells both the fleece and the sheep -- and buys three geese. But they need seeds so he exchanges them and plants sunflowers. His wife is critical of his every decision. She says the flowers are as useless as he is -- they just follow the sun. But Thulani gathers the sunflower seeds and feeds them to the hens, who increase production, so they can buy a sheep, who give birth to lambs. By selling the sheep, they can have a cow again. Which makes his wife happy. A circuitous route back to happiness. ( )