Tim Edler’s Little Cajun Books
A South Louisiana small press success story, Tales from the Atchafalaya reimagined Cajun country as a zany children’s fantasy world.
From 1977 to 1985, Tim Edler, a native of Loreauville, Louisiana, built a mail-order, small-press empire out of Baton Rouge called Little Cajun Books. Across a 12-book run that sold over 100,000 copies, Edler enchanted children with an extended, intertwined Cajun fantasy universe teeming with flying alligators, nearsighted turtles, moss monsters, swamp witches, Acadian unicorns, crustacean kingdoms, and fish courtroom dramas.
His most famous character, Crawfish-Man, predates X-Men’s Gambit by 11 years as the world’s first Cajun “super hereaux”—a mild-mannered Bayou Teche fisherman named Mr. Bonin who clutches Spanish moss to transform into a powerful man-crawfish chimera. Collectively titled Tales from the Atchafalaya, Edler’s independently produced children’s books quickly eclipsed his day job as an engineer, spawning a fan club that thrilled young subscribers with Crawfish-Man T-shirts, posters, and cassette tapes.
Edler authored each of his dozen swamp sagas, illustrating about half of them himself and, for the others, hiring guest illustrators, often graduates from South Louisiana college art programs. Though he was the first to admit in interviews that he wasn’t an artist in the formal sense, his self-taught style became one of the series’s most enduring signatures—charmingly off-kilter linework jam-packed with grin-inducing designs and details that no classically trained artist would have thought to put to page. His visual idiosyncrasies call to mind a Cajun cousin of the Japanese heta-uma (bad-good) movement of the same era, in which manga artists deliberately drew “unskillfully” in ways that were nevertheless carefully considered and visually captivating. Coincidentally, Edler’s aesthetic developed concurrently with a boom in Hitachi rice cooker sales in Cajun country—much to the bewilderment of Japanese business executives.
Edler’s work grew out of the grassroots Cajun cultural revival movement of the 1960s and ’70s, which sought to preserve and celebrate the folkways, traditions, and Cajun French language of the 22-parish Acadiana region (then a new term) after decades of state-sponsored suppression. In 1921, the Louisiana state constitution banned French from public schools, and well into the 1960s, Cajun children regularly faced corporal punishment and humiliation for speaking their native language in class—sometimes being forced to kneel on uncooked rice.
1986 Tim Edler TV News Feature
Little Cajun Books actively combatted that erasure by weaving Cajun French words and phrases throughout its pages, complete with footnote translations. Ironically, the Lafayette-based Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) became an early critic of Edler’s. The organization, which privileged continental French and European French culture, objected to the phonetically spelled Cajun French sayings used by Edler—drawing a harsh distinction between the “proper” Parisian form and the Creolized variety Cajuns actually spoke. Edler named one of Crawfish-Man’s bumbling alligator villains “Kodofeel” in response. CODOFIL would eventually reverse its stance, going on to become the active champion of homegrown Creole and Cajun French it is today.
The Historic New Orleans Collection proudly displays The Adventures of Crawfish-Man in its permanent exhibition A Vanishing BountyOpens in new tab and houses the complete run of Edler’s rare, out-of-print Little Cajun Books in the Williams Research Center. Explore summaries and selected excerpts from each of his Tales from the Atchafalaya below.
Maurice the Snake and Gaston the Near-Sighted Turtle | 1977
Edler’s first book follows the two eponymous best friends on a carefree swamp adventure that carries them too far from home—straight into Cajun fishing territory. Gaston’s poor eyesight gets him scooped up by a fisherman in a pirogue who salivates at the thought of turtle soup, leaving Maurice no choice but to slither his way into the fisherman’s house and mount a rescue.
T-boy the Little Cajun | 1978
This book marks the first appearance of Edler’s recurring character T-boy—a shirtless, shoeless, adventure-prone Cajun boy—and his sister, Colinda. More earnest than Edler’s surreal later output, the story offers a warm, straightforward portrait of Cajun life as seen through a child’s eyes: fishing with dad, collecting Spanish moss, making preserves, and spending time with T-boy’s pet raccoon, Shah-wee, and crawfish, Bra-Gett.
T-boy and the Trial for Life | 1978
Originally written when Edler was 12 and published here at age 30, this T-boy adventure takes a dark, fantastical left turn from its cheery predecessor. Our young hero is put on trial before an underwater court of choupiques (bowfish, called “shoopiks” here) on a grave charge: hooking a catfish. After the catfish’s testimony, the choupique jury delivers a unanimous guilty verdict, and T-boy is sentenced to fry in the electric eel chair—only to make a last-second escape from the court’s alligator bailiffs during his death march.
T-boy in Mossland | 1978
The third entry in Edler’s early T-boy trilogy puts a swampy spin on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, sending T-boy tumbling down a hollow oak tree into a bayou wonderland complete with a turtle-brick road. The kingdom is ruled by the crawfish King Dark Claw—named for his claw that reddened when humans once tried to boil him. In retaliation, King Dark Claw declares that T-boy himself shall be boiled and eaten. A sudden turtle attack on the kingdom and a sympathetic crawfish give T-boy the opportunity to escape his hot-pot fate. The story was Edler’s first as both author and illustrator, debuting the outsider art style and imaginative down-the-bayou designs that would define his next five books.
The Adventures of Crawfish-Man | 1979
“TO LOUISIANA, I give you a superhero.” So reads the dedication of the book that introduced Edler’s most iconic creation: Crawfish-Man. When young T-boy is threatened by the sharp-clawed Moss Monster during a pirogue ride down Bayou Teche, Cajun fisherman Mr. Bonin springs into action. Grabbing a bundle of moss, he bellows his iconic recurring catchphrase for the first time—“SPANISH MOSS IN MY HAND TURN ME INTO CRAWFISH-MAN”—transforming into a part-man, part-crawfish superhero armed with a bullet-proof shell, giant claws, and a muscular swimming tail. An epic battle follows as Crawfish-Man showcases his beaucoup Cajun powers in a victorious battle against the Moss Monster.
Crawfish-Man Rescues Ron Guidry | 1980
Issue six of the Tales from the Atchafalaya series opens on a 3–3 MLB World Series tie—and a crisis. The evil Koshons (pigs), rival team to the Yankees, have kidnapped Cajun major league pitching ace Ron “Louisiana Lightning” Guidry and locked him at the top of the Statue of Liberty. Crawfish-Man speeds his airboat from the swamp to the Big Apple, makes quick work of the Koshon roster with his bulletproof carapace, claw-cuffs, and crab-a-rang, and delivers Guidry to Yankee Stadium just in time for him to clinch the series win with a no-hitter.
Swamp Wars: Dark Gator, Villain of the Atchafalaya | 1980
One of Edler’s more elaborate tales, this book introduces two of Crawfish-Man’s most formidable foes. The wicked Fat Pa-Tot (potato, after the Cajun French patate) is a swamp witch who commands an army of bumbling, flying alligators called Po-Choms, named for their chamber pot helmets. The Po-Chom leader, Kodofeel, is named as a pointed jab at CODOFIL for their criticism of Edler’s phonetically spelled Cajun French. Fat Pa-Tot schemes to capture swamp creatures and sell them off as slaves to lazy aliens from the planet Waylabah (a layered English and Cajun French pun on eh la bas, meaning “way over there”). After Crawfish-Man repeatedly foils her plot, a desperate Fat Pa-Tot dunks a Po-Chom into her magical sugar pot to create Dark Gator, a hulking, two-tailed brute who pushes the Cajun hero to his limits in combat. Their climactic battle ends in a draw.
Santa’s Cajun Christmas Adventure | 1981
While 1973’s Cajun Night Before Christmas might be the most famous Acadian Christmas book, Edler took a shot at his own in 1981, giving Santa a pirogue pulled by flying crawfish (including one always seen eating a long link of sausages). After the children go to sleep, Santa comes down the chimney of a Cajun family to deliver toys, but burns his behind in the fireplace. The mother of the family mends the hole in his underwear while Saint Nick enjoys a nighttime Cajun card game of bourré (or "boo-raye") with the father. In a rush, he heads out to deliver more toys, forgetting he left his underwear behind. The family jumps in their speedboat to catch up with him, delivering the underpants to a very thankful Santa.
Crawfish-Man’s 50 Ways to Keep Your Kids from Using Drugs | 1982
A cultural artifact from the midst of the War on Drugs, this book delivers on its titular promise with 50 alternatives to drug use, including magic, bowling, hunting, growing and maintaining beautiful long hair, school politics, and starting collections (a suggestion HNOC wholeheartedly endorses). The book closes with the official Crawfish-Man Drug Oath—redeemable when signed by the whole family for a mail-in “Think For Yourself” sticker—and a connect-the-dots activity revealing Crawfish-Man flexing over the message “DRUGS ARE PA BON (No Good).”
Cooncan, Boy of the Swamp | 1983
“Many years ago in Iberia Parish near my hometown of Loreauville came stories of a swamp dweller,” Edler writes of Cooncan in the foreword to this book, which follows the eponymous orphan boy with a turtle-shell cap on his adventures along Bayou Teche. Cooncan is accompanied on his journey by his friends Kongo the friendly water moccasin, Shaw-Tig the bobcat, and E-boo the owl. According to the intro, Edler’s grandmother confirmed that the Cajun legend of the swamp-dwelling orphan boy Cooncan was true, claiming that her family often invited the real Cooncan over for meals. This would be the last Edler-illustrated book before he handed art duties back to guest illustrators.
Crawfish-Man’s Night Befo’ Christmas | 1984
Edler’s second Christmas book doubles as the grandest crossover event in his Cajun fantasy universe, featuring Crawfish-Man, T-boy, Colinda, Cooncan, Cajun Santa, and villains Fat Pa-Tot and Dark Gator in a single holiday adventure. United by their hatred of Christmas, Fat Pa-Tot and Dark Gator kidnap Cajun Santa and haul him to their Cypress Castle lair—but sharp-eyed Cooncan witnesses the whole thing, alerts T-boy, and the two of them bring Crawfish-Man into the fight. This time, unlike their earlier draw, Crawfish-Man defeats Dark Gator decisively, saving Santa and Christmas.
Rhombus the Cajun Unicorn | 1984
This book follows T-boy and Colinda after they dig up a Jean Lafitte treasure chest containing an “ugly” unicorn statue. Disinterested, T-boy heads home, but when curious Colinda rubs the statue’s horn, it comes to life and reveals itself as Rhombus the Cajun Unicorn, the living son of Pegasus. Petrified by Medusa, Rhombus has passed through countless hands in statue form across the centuries, including those of British Nova Scotia governor Charles Lawrence, who oversaw the expulsion of the Acadian French settlers in 1755. Rhombus endures the journey alongside the exiles all the way to Louisiana, where the Acadians would become known as Cajuns. After telling his tale, Rhombus gives Colinda a magical unicorn ride back home through the swamp before nightfall. The final page promises more Rhombus adventures, but unfortunately, none followed.
Crawfish-Man Rescues the Ol’ Beachcomber | 1985
In this final Crawfish-Man issue, the super hereaux heads to the Gulf to rescue a fisherman from Monstreaux, a monstrous, sharp-toothed whale that swallows the two of them whole. Luckily, hailing from Iberia Parish, Crawfish-Man doesn’t go anywhere without a bottle of Tabasco, which he employs to great effect to get Monstreaux to spit them out. While the title marked the end of Edler’s Little Cajun Books, the Edler family began a food company selling Cajun cookbooks, joke books, cooking classes, and boxed Cajun food mixes in the early ’90s under the brand umbrella Louisiana Crawfish Man’sOpens in new tab, which continues operating out of New Iberia to this day. A flexing Crawfish-Man superimposed over the state of Louisiana serves as the brand logo.
By Kelton Sears, editor
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