The Greatest of All

Retold by Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Giora Carmi

Bibliographic data
Kimmel, Eric A. 1991. The Greatest of All. Ill. by Giora Carmi. New York: Holiday House.
ISBN 0823408856

Plot Summary
This is a retelling of a Japanese folktale. In the tale, father mouse is in search of a husband for his daughter to marry. He is not looking for just any husband, but “the greatest of all” to marry his pretty daughter. The story ends with a marriage, but you have to read it to find out who becomes the husband.

Critical Analysis

This tale exhibits many areas of repetition. As father mouse approaches each possible husband he repeats the same phrases. “I bring good news. My daughter Chuko wishes to marry. My wife and I want only the best for her husband. We have chosen you, because you are the greatest of all.” With every suitor that father mouse approaches they say that there is someone greater than he. An interesting piece of the story is that the prospective husbands consist of an emperor, the sun, a cloud, the wind, a wall, and a mouse. An ironic part of the tale is at the end where the father says that he knew all along that the mouse was the right husband for his daughter, when at the beginning he believed there to be others better suited. Kimmel and Carmi present personification with the mice wearing clothes and shoes, and the facial features of the sun, cloud, wind, and wall. In a couple of illustrations you can see the mice wearing Japanese sandals.

Carmi does a fantastic job with the illustrations of the folktale. The strokes and coloring allow the reader to really see the texture of the images. There is an array of colors, but they are subtle instead of bright. Every page has a background color of a dark coral with specks of ivory. The main illustrations and text are in panels with black borders that provide a very clean and organized structure. There is a lot of detail in all of the illustrations. I was really drawn in to the features of the mice, especially the detail of their feet. I observed that Kimmel and Carmi did not provide any emotions for the characters in the text or illustrations. There are no smiles, frowns, or excitement for the facial expressions. All characters contain a straight face. Much to my surprise, this did not take away from the concept and pleasant storyline.

Review Excerpts

v “Carmi’s earthly elements are ferocious yet friendly, and Kimmel’s Father Mouse is comical rather than tragic.” Booklist

v “Warmly colored, amusing illustrations.” Horn Book

v “Warm colors and distinctive texture mark Carmi’s illustrations, which include effective renderings of the anthropomorphic nature elements.” Publishers Weekly

Connections

v Have the students discuss their favorite folktale.

v Discuss the wardrobe of the characters and the Japanese culture.

v Discuss what a haiku is and have the students produce their own.