An uneven collection, but one that provides unique insight into tales of a particular African region.
This sparsely illustrated picture-book debut from Garang, Kenyang, and Garang features a collection of folk tales from the village of Ajok in South Sudan.
Following an introduction suited to teachers or parents, this collection shares two tales that explain why people can’t live forever. In the first, a mother sparrow, angry that a human killed her child, cuts a cord so that people can no longer climb to heaven, be healed, and return; in the second, a haughty woman hits heaven with a pestle, startling it away. Both stories include Judeo-Christian references. The next explains craters on the moon, and in another, Cunning Fox marries his sister off to several suitors, proclaiming each inappropriate before the last turns her into a mushroom. Several brief stories about a hardworking, big-eating giant named Choldit take up another section, followed by other miscellaneous vignettes. These African tales will likely be unfamiliar to most American children. Some lose a bit in cultural translation (“ ‘Cut to the chest,’ as Americans would say”), but most are universal enough to entertain and offer moral lessons, helpfully pointed out by the authors. The few illustrations and photos are adequate but not engaging, and they do little to enhance the narrative.
An uneven collection, but one that provides unique insight into tales of a particular African region.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5434-5164-1
Page Count: 36
Publisher: XlibrisUS
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2018
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
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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