An unusual, artfully rendered story that will appeal to children as well as adults.
A dark, dreamy tale illustrated with rich, textured collages.
Told in the second person, this fictional picture book uses surreal imagery and poetic language to weave an unusual story of subconscious desires and wishes. “Imagine this, you have always been afraid of gypsies, and for good reasons too,” the story begins, explaining that gypsies carry children away in sacks and take them away from their homes and loved ones. As the story unfolds, Zinganas, the blind king of gypsies, shows up at your door and finds you despite your pitiful attempts to hide. The king tricks you with the false promise of “what you wanted most,” then disappears in the night with the moonbeams from your eyes, leaving you alone to find your way back to them. The book is illustrated with multicolored collages, assembled from pieces of photographs, colors and images that often appear as though they were cut from tissue or textured paper. The illustrations, which vaguely resemble Cubist paintings in their blocklike forms, are easily the book’s most striking feature. An image of Zinganas depicts two crowned figures constructed from fragments of photographed faces, jagged edges and textured blocks of color. Above the scenario hovers a single, closed eye, referencing Zinganas’ blindness, or perhaps the subconscious fears he evokes. In contrast, images depicting the main character appear ambiguous, either showing a blank, simplistic face or avoiding showing it entirely, as such illustrations stand in for any reader who encounters the book. The fragmented images work well with the strange narrative and add an eerie, nightmarish element to the story. The book closes with a gorgeously textured image of children swinging across a crimson background, ending on a mysterious note that will leave readers wondering what happens next.
An unusual, artfully rendered story that will appeal to children as well as adults.Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-0983826705
Page Count: 19
Publisher: Button-down Bird
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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