8. Old Meshikee and the Little Crabs

Title: Spooner, Michael and Lolita Taylor. Old Meshikee and the Little Crabs. New York: Henry Holt and Company, c1996. Summary: Old Meshikee, a trickster turtle, plays his drum so loudly that his neighbors the sand crabs, the Shagizenz, can't stand it! They can't think, they can't dance; something must be done! The crabs decide to get rid of Old Meshikee forever. They tie him up with a rope and threaten to cook him in the fire. Meshikee doesn't seem to care and taunts them, claiming the only thing he fears is water. The Shagizenz now threaten to put him in a pot of water over the fire. Again, Meshikee says he doesn't care; what he really fears is cold, deep water. Now the sand crabs threaten to throw him in the lake so that he'll never play his drum again. Meshikee cries out and swoons, but the Shagizenz toss him in the water. Of course, Old Meshikee triumphs in the end. He swims back to his island and plays his old drum as loud as he wants and laughs and laughs.
Cultural origins and how identified: According to the book's colophon, this is "an Ojibwe story". The following is quoted from the afterword source note: "This traditional story about Meshikee is one of many that Lolita Taylor learned from her Ojibwe grandfather as a child in the early 1900s. She told the story to my father in the 1930s and first told it to me in 1981."
Audience: According to a School Library Journal review, the story is good for grades 2-4 [ages 7-10]. I think this could work for a younger audience as well as a family storytime at the library. It would also be appropriate for a school reading night or festival emphasizing multicultural stories.
Notes on adaptation for telling: There are many opportunities for fun sound effects with Old Meshikee's drums. There are also good opportunities for audience participation in Old Meshikee's repitition of "What you gonna do? What you gonna do?" and the crabs' chorus of "That's what we'll do! That's what we'll do!" This would be great fun for children.