Her style of writing clearly reflects both her life as a puppeteer, and her passion towards folktales. Books such as �Counting Crocodiles�, �The Gift of the Crocodile�, �Tasty Baby Belly Buttons�, and �The House That Drac Built� among others, show clearly that their origins come from folktales from either the United States, or other countries. �Counting Crocodiles� for example, is a Pan-Asian trickster folktale in which, according to Sierra�s version, a monkey tricks crocodiles into building a bridge for her by allowing her to jump on their backs. The tales this version is based on, however, feature either �a monkey, a rabbit, or a mouse deer� which �persuades crocodiles or sharks to form a bridge over water, under the pretext of counting them,� (from copyright page of �Counting Crocodiles�). (To view a more detailed review, CLICK HERE.)
Likewise, other stories she has written, are based on versions which she tells in her own way. �The House That Drac Built� is based on the well-known nursery rhyme, �The House That Jack Built,� except she adds her own Halloween twist to it, changing it to, �This is the werewolf that chased the cat that bit the bat that lived in the house that Drac built.� It is a cumulative tale full of chaos in which a group of young trick-or-treaters put everything back in order.
The idea for �Tasty Baby Belly Buttons� was acquired from a Japanese folktale in which evil oni (or what are known to us as ogres or giants), come to a village and steal all the babies�in search of their �tasty baby belly buttons�. In the original story, a boy named Momotaro, born from a peach, is the hero of the story. He goes off to fight oni, although the author�s note does not tell us why. In Judy Sierra�s version, Uriko-hime is a strong little girl born from a watermelon (�pronounced ooh-ree-koh-HEE-may�, her name means �melon princess��from author�s note in the book). In Japanese oral tradition, oni are said to have �an insatiable appetite for human navels.� Parents nowadays still jokingly tell their kids to �cover their belly buttons, lest an oni come and munch them� (from author�s note). In Sierra�s story, we are told how Uriko has no belly button due to the fact that she was born from the insides of a watermelon, therefore, the oni do not take her away along with the other children of the village. Along her way to find the oni and the kidnapped babies, she encounters a monkey, a pheasant, and a dog who help her wind the battle against these huge brutes, all in exchange for some millet dumplings. Once the oni are defeated, they too get their share of millet dumplings in exchange for the babies, and to get them to stop crying and begging for mercy. The story is sprinkled with plenty of sound effects, typical of Japanese storytelling. In the author�s note, we are told these sounds (�boro, boro, zushi, zushi") are similar to our stories where the giants say, �fee-fi-fo-fum�. The illustrations are a perfect accompaniment, with beautiful colors and great detail. Meilo So, the illustrator, used a perfect blend of watercolors in order to create the beautiful watermelon colored robe Uriko wears, as well as the horrible details of the awful oni. Pen and ink were used to give detail and add brighter color to the pheasant and the watermelon which carried Uriko as a baby. Parent�s Choice awarded it the Silver Honor medal in 1999 and described the �wonderful pink-and-green hued watercolors� as being what �boost this book into the �bound-to-be-a-favorite� realm.� Publisher�s Weekly states that the book�s �irresistible watercolors effectively combine traditional elements of Japanese paintings with modern girl-power.� In my opinion, this book gives great insight into what Japanese folktales are like, and provide readers with an opportunity to discover what people in another culture believe and share with their children.
Another great book which Sierra created from an idea obtained from another folktale is, �The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story�. This is a variant of the Cinderella story we all know. In this book, Judy Sierra presents us with the Indonesian version of the story. The protagonist is a young girl named Damura, who lived with her mother in the Spice Islands. The story, as is typical in folktales, is set in a faraway place long ago. Damura�s mother taught her to start a fire, to cook, to tend to gardens and most importantly, to dance the dances of their ancestors. When her mother passes away, she advises Damura to always respect all living things because they will one day take good care of her. Sure enough, it is a crocodile whom she helps that later ensures her happiness. The crocodile provides her with beautiful clothing to go to the ball in which the prince falls in love with her. Additionally, it is her dancing that convinces him that she must be his bride. After an attempt against her life, all is well in the end and Damura lives happily with her prince and several kids. From the folklore note found at the end of the story, we learn that this tale is �from the island of Halmahera in the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in Indonesia�. In her version of the story, Sierra has included folktale elements found in Cinderella variations from all over the world. In many of these versions, the main character loses something in the river and it is there where she finds a magical being that helps her. In �The Gift of the Crocodile�, Damura loses her sarong (robe), and her kindness towards the crocodile�s baby is what brings her good fortune. In other versions of the story, the helper might be either a bird, a crab, a fairy, a crocodile, or as we know from the Chinese version, a fish. The illustrations accompanying the book are quite colorful. The illustrator, Reynold Ruffins, has received the Coretta Scott King Honor medal. This is apparent in the masterpieces he created for this book. The dustjacket features the crocodile and Damura dancing by the side of the river, surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers. They are holding the beautiful golden sarong and slippers which are spoken of in the story. Beautiful landscapes are shown in each of the pages, and Indonesian lifestyles are portrayed throughout. Publishers Weekly refers to the style as �strategic use of spot art and small silhouettes in addition to full-page and full-spread compositions.� They go on to say that �even with an abundance of available Cinderella stories, this version is memorably vivid.� School Library Journal says, �Sierra�s retelling is strong and fun to read aloud...a fine addition to the groaning shelf of Cinderella stories.�
The two stories, �The Gift of the Crocodile� and �Tasty Baby Belly Buttons� are similar because they both originate from folktales around the world. Another similarity is that in both stories, the main character is a female. A difference is that in Belly Buttons, the main character must travel in order to fight and defeat the enemy, where as in The Gift of the Crocodile Damura does not need to travel or even fight against anyone. Both stories are similar in that animals accompany the main character, but in Belly Buttons, the creatures are not magical. In one story (Belly Buttons) the main character fights against imaginary beings (the oni, or giants), but in The Gift of the Crocodile, all human characters are regular beings. As is typical of folktales, both stories are fast paced and contain situations which could not occur in real life.
Judy Sierra�s style is both unique and educational. She brings folktales from other countries and allows us to experience them in a fun way. With the author�s notes she provides at the end, she gives us an insight as to the origin of her stories. Stories which we may otherwise never hear, she has managed to bring them to the United States and into our libraries. Her life experiences are clearly visible in her style of writing. She is quickly proving herself to be an author which can easily become a classic among young readers and a permanent on libraries� shelves.
To see her entire bibliography, CLICK HERE.