An unusual tale with obvious curriculum applications in weather units or projects about the region, it also serves to bring...
An orphaned Inuit girl and her brother flee to the sky and create the forces known as lightning and thunder.
Hungry and rejected by those gathering for the spring festival, the girl and boy steal caribou meat and some necessities of daily living. Using the dried caribou skin and flint and rock, the children begin to have some fun, making noises and creating sparks. As they realize that they will be accused of thievery, they plan their escape. The younger brother suggests they turn into Arctic animals like “Rabbits? Ptarmigans? Grizzly bears?” The wiser older sister thinks flying into the sky is the better escape, and they go, bringing their playthings. And so the pourquoi tale explains that the children, when bored or lonely, create lightning and thunder. This Canadian publisher specializes in folklore retold by Inuit authors, in this case a young woman who has experienced both traditional and urban life. The illustrator has worked on contemporary graphic novels and combines a mangalike portrayal of the children with a more traditional style employed in Inuit printmaking. The brown and gray tones with just a hint of red evoke spring in the vast Arctic; the dejection in the lonely children’s body language is palpable.
An unusual tale with obvious curriculum applications in weather units or projects about the region, it also serves to bring the far north a little bit closer . (Picture book/folk tale. 6-10)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-927095-28-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Inhabit Media
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Best for readers who have clearly indicated they would like to take their writing efforts to the next level.
A young white girl writes and illustrates a story, which is critiqued by the narrator as it is created.
The girl begins her story by drawing a Hero. Then she thinks maybe a Heroine would be better. Then she decides both will work. She places them in “a good town, filled with good people, called our Setting.” The narrator, an unseen editor who lurks over the artist’s shoulder, tells the storyteller she needs to put in some Conflict, make the Evil Overlord scarier, and give it better action. This tongue-in-cheek way of delivering the rules of creative writing is clever, and paired with Le Huche’s earnest, childlike illustrations, it seems to be aimed at giving helpful direction to aspiring young creators (although the illustrations are not critiqued). But the question needs to be asked: do very young writers really need to know the rules of writing as determined by adults? While the story appears to be about helping young readers learn writing—there is “A Friendly List of Words Used in this Book” at the end with such words as “protagonist” and “antagonist” (glossed as “Hero and Heroine” and “Evil Overlord,” respectively)—it also has a decidedly unhelpful whiff of judgment. Rules, the text seems to say, must be followed for the story to be a Good one. Ouch.
Best for readers who have clearly indicated they would like to take their writing efforts to the next level. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2935-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Will leave readers as happy as a pig in mud.
It’s good to embrace change.
Although an unseen narrator attempts to tell an accustomed version of “The Three Little Pigs”—here named Alan, Alfred, and Alvin Albert—their younger sister, Alison, wants to get in on the action because she’s a natural storyteller. The narrator grudgingly allows Alison to tag along, but her added bits of flavor and the unexpected personalities of her brothers soon send the story off its traditional tracks and into hilarious hijinks. For example, Alan’s love of building allows him to design a functional house made of plastic drinking straws, Alfred’s stick house is actually constructed by Alan because Alfred’s clearly a star and not stage crew, and Alvin’s shacking up in a pumpkin behind Cinderella’s castle because he’s…not the crispiest piece of bacon on the plate. Alison’s quick thinking leads the brothers to be one step ahead of the wandering wolf. When the narrator hits their limit, a conversation with Alison proves that collaboration can lead to unexpected but wonderful results. The story flows well, accompanied by energetic cartoon art, and the choice to color-code the speech bubbles of each character (and the text of the narrator vs. Alison) ensures readers will be able to follow the snappy dialogue. Those who love to make up their own stories will be inspired, and readers who march to the beats of their own drums will be delighted. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will leave readers as happy as a pig in mud. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-3243-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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