Authors: Elizabeth Alalou and Ali Alalou

Illustrator: Julie Klear Essakalli

Publisher/Year: Charlesbridge, 2008

Pages: 30

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Analysis:

One Saturday evening, Nora could not wait for Baba’s couscous and begged for a pre-dinner snack; Baba refuses and tells Nora a story of living in Morocco during a drought and famine. Baba recalls how his favorite treat—butter—quickly ran out and he had to wait patiently for the Butter Man to walk through town so he could enjoy his bread. Although the Butter Man never showed, Baba’s father’s return home triggered a wet spring season and their family could buy the cows needed to make butter.

Young readers who have felt the gnawing pain of hunger or experienced the frustration of having to wait for everyone to come home to eat a meal, can personally identify with the difficulties Nora and her father endured. The Butter Man acts as a window to the struggles faced by people living in the small villages of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, where families survive by farming, and food sources are limited and unpredictable. The Butter Man exposes readers to a lifestyle very different from that of many Americans—a life where needs are not immediately satisfied and the art of being patient and resourceful is key to passing time. Finally, Baba’s childhood story provides an honorable model of behavior for readers of all kinds. Baba teaches Nora and readers that good things come to those who wait patiently, and how waiting allows a person to better appreciate and enjoy the awaited thing when it is finally in their possession. After many long days of waiting and the disappointment of not seeing the Butter Man, Baba received an even greater gift: the return of his father, and in due time, butter and a revived farm.

In The Butter Man, power is not an external force, but exists within the individual; it is the ability to wait for something meaningful. Just as Baba’s mother taught him the virtue of patience, Baba hoped to do the same for his daughter Nora. The Butter Man affirms and accurately portrays Moroccan and Islamic culture. Essakalli draws the Morrocan people in authentic cultural attire, and together, the text and illustrations depict Moroccan people as hardworking and humble people. Readers can empathize with Baba and his neighbors who must look for work to support a family during famine, in villages that lack electricity, cars, and paved roads. The book also provides a fresh look on modern Moroccan-American culture, as shown by Baba’s continued tradition of cooking the couscous for Saturday dinner (while the wife works).

The importance of one’s heritage and culture is communicated through the Alalou’s inclusion of authentic Berber language (e.g. baba, bahalou, mahalou) and Moroccan traditions (e.g. Bismillah: pre-meal blessing; use of special Moroccan pot to prepare couscous). Illustrations in The Butter Man are unframed with some even spanning two pages; this encourages the reader’s involvement in the hunger and impatience felt by Baba and Nora. Folk art paintings fit with the lesson-giving nature of The Butter Man. Intense, yet subdued, colors (burnt oranges and reds) convey the intensity of the drought and famine. Likewise, the disproportionately large size of the Moroccan pot and couscous dish help portray the strength of these time-honored traditions and also remind readers of the great deal of waiting Baba and Nora had to endure before savoring the dinner. As a whole, The Butter Man challenges gender roles (Baba cooks the Saturday dinner), celebrates the symbolic connection between food and heritage, and shows patience and humility to be virtues and character-builders.