Inspired by a Kafir folk tale published in an 1895 collection, Caldecott Honor winner Steptoe has reset the classic Cinderella pattern in an ancient Zimbabwe city. Mufaro has two beautiful daughters. Bad-tempered Manyara taunts Nyasha behind Mufaro's back; Nyasha is saddened by her sister's anger, but goes on about her business of tending a garden, singing even more sweetly when the pretty little snake, Nyoka, is there. When the Great King sends for candidates to be his wife, Manyara sets off first, thrice turning down requests for help on her way. But on her journey, Nyasha, as is her wont, offers assistance whenever it's needed and so passes the tests, arriving to find Nyoka, who like the wayside supplicants, turns out to be the king in another form. Joyfully, they are married; Manyara becomes Nyasha's servant. Steptoe has chosen a tone of nobility and the pristine glories of an unspoiled world for his illustrations for this universal story. Meticulous crosshatching defines his sculptural forms; rich, darkly luminous colors convey Africa's visual excitement; yet his carefully realistic treatment will help make the story immediate and accessible to unsophisticated readers as well as to those who appreciate his subtlety. (Note: Because of tight side-sewing, the full sweep of these generous double spreads is interrupted even in the trade edition.) A beautiful book, deserving a permanent place in library collections.
Pub Date: March 31, 1987
ISBN: 0688040454
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1987
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
With the same delightfully irreverent spirit that he brought to his retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" (1987), Marshall enlivens another favorite. Although completely retold with his usual pungent wit and contemporary touches ("I don't mind if I do," says Goldilocks, as she tries out porridge, chair, and bed), Marshall retains the stories well-loved pattern, including Goldilocks escaping through the window (whereupon Baby Bear inquires, "Who was that little girl?"). The illustrations are fraught with delicious humor and detail: books that are stacked everywhere around the rather cluttered house, including some used in lieu of a missing leg for Papa Bear's chair; comically exaggerated beds—much too high at the head and the foot; and Baby Bear's wonderfully messy room, which certainly brings the story into the 20th century. Like its predecessor, perfect for several uses, from picture-book hour to beginning reading.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1988
ISBN: 0140563660
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988
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