A worthy but not entirely successful attempt to bring the past’s wisdom to a new audience.
Adapting a tale from a national epic such as the Persian Shanameh, or “Book of Kings,” is a task that takes great artistry. This effort doesn't quite make the grade.
Using an unnecessary frame story, the tale follows the original without the traditional flowery embellishments and can be easily understood. Bijan, a knight, is sent by the Persian king to rid a far-off region of wild boars. During his return, he meets the princess of a neighboring kingdom, Manijeh, but he does not know that she is his enemy’s daughter. She daringly brings Bijan into her father’s fortress, but the lovers are found out. Bijan is thrown into a pit and covered by a magic rock, and the princess is exiled. She eventually finds the pit and feeds the knight through a hole; the rock is immovable. The Persian king realizes that Bijan is not returning and uses his magical golden cup to see Bijan’s plight. He sends Rostam, “the bravest of all knights” to rescue him. Rostam, Bijan and Manijeh return to Persia, and the lovers marry. The paintings, almost too intense in color, are awkwardly rendered and lack the subtle patterned juxtapositions of the Persian miniatures that the artist is trying to imitate. The background note is useful, but the “Interpreting the Story” note will be heavy going for most adults, let alone children, not versed in Persian symbolism.
A worthy but not entirely successful attempt to bring the past’s wisdom to a new audience. (Folktale. 6-10)Pub Date: July 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937786-01-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
Fantasy training wheels for chapter-book readers.
Elliot’s first day of school turns out to be more than he bargained for.
Elliot Eisner—skinny and pale with curly brown hair—is a bit nervous about being the new kid. Thankfully, he hits it off with fellow new student, “punk rock”–looking Uchenna Devereaux, a black girl with twists (though they actually look like dreads in Aly’s illustrations). On a first-day field trip to New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, the pair investigates a noise in the trees. The cause? A Jersey Devil: a blue-furred, red-bellied and -winged mythical creature that looks like “a tiny dragon” with cloven hooves, like a deer’s, on its hind feet. Unwittingly, the duo bonds with the creature by feeding it, and it later follows them back to the bus. Unsurprisingly, they lose the creature (which they alternately nickname Jersey and Bonechewer), which forces them to go to their intimidating, decidedly odd teacher, Peruvian Professor Fauna, for help in recovering it. The book closes with Professor Fauna revealing the truth—he heads a secret organization committed to protecting mythical creatures—and inviting the children to join, a neat setup for what is obviously intended to be a series. The predictable plot is geared to newly independent readers who are not yet ready for the usual heft of contemporary fantasies. A brief history lesson given by a mixed-race associate of Fauna’s in which she compares herself to the American “melting pot” manages to come across as simultaneously corrective and appropriative.
Fantasy training wheels for chapter-book readers. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-3170-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Warp back in time for a prehistoric spinoff adventure with Geronimo Stilton’s ancestor, Geronimo Stiltonoot, in Old Mouse City.
Readers will find Geronimo Stiltonoot a familiar character, outfitted differently from descendant Stilton yet still running a newspaper and having wild adventures. In this introduction to prehistoric mouse life, someone has stolen the most powerful and important artifact housed by the Old Mouse City Mouseum: the Stone of Fire. It’s up to Stiltonoot and his fellow sleuth and friend, Hercule Poirat, to uncover not only the theft, but a dangerous plot that jeopardizes all of Old Mouse City. As stand-ins for the rest of the Stilton cast, Stiltonoot has in common with Stilton a cousin named Trap, a sister named Thea and a nephew named Benjamin. The slapstick comedy and design, busy with type changes and color, will be familiar for Stilton readers. The world is fictionalized for comedic effect, featuring funny uses for dinosaurs and cheeky references to how far back in time they are, with only the occasional sidebar that presents facts. The story takes a bit long to get started, spending a lot of time reiterating the worldbuilding information laid out before the first chapter. But once it does start, it is an adventure Stilton readers will enjoy. Geronimo Stiltonoot has the right combination of familiarity and newness to satisfy Stilton fans. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-44774-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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