Worthy of theme but lacking in execution.
A prolific Mongolian storyteller’s original legend of how the distinctive dwelling known as the ger came to be invented.
Adapted into spare and stately English by renowned storyteller Pellowski, the story is punctuated by quarrels. Once, all living things lived peaceably in “a big house called the earth.” But fights began, and all went to find homes of their own—including a man who, being “very old” and “very intelligent,” instructs his seven sons to gather willow branches, rope, and fleeces to construct a sturdy round shelter. But the house blows down after the old man dies because his sons have ignored his command to “work together and tighten the ropes that keep our home on the ground.” Perhaps to counter the all-male cast of the narrative, Vidal adds silent feminine figures in a few scenes. However, aside from the occasional Bactrian camel or golden eagle, her grassy settings have a generic look, and though each of the sons wears a differently colored robe, in face and feature they are indistinguishable. Moreover, aside from those plain robes there are no decorations or possessions of any sort, culturally distinctive or otherwise, to be seen, and though Pellowski appends a description of how gers are typically furnished, the illustrator’s one glimpse inside shows just empty space.
Worthy of theme but lacking in execution. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-937786-81-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Young readers on either side of the pond who are tempted to do as the queen does should not be dissuaded.
With winks broad enough to sprain his entire face, Wilkins offers a tale of the queen’s outing to London’s Natural History Museum with a reluctant corgi in tow.
Mr. Brown trotting gloomily at her heels, the queen impulsively stumps out of the palace one snowy day, marching past crowds of oblivious tourists and passersby. She’s off to see the museum’s spectacular dinosaur fossils—rendered in the scribbly illustrations with wide eyes and friendly smiles rather than bony skulls. Dismissing the asteroid-impact theory, she ruminates over why they went extinct. (Aliens ate them? Maybe they were “overwhelmed by the stink of their own poo”?) Continuing her woolgathering, she parks herself on a bench and nods off, dreaming of racing at Ascot…atop a Megalosaurus. But she’s “pipped at the post” by none other than Mr. Brown, riding a Carnotaurus. How annoying! Later a guard wakes her: “I hope you’ve got a nice, warm home to go back to?” “Thank you, yes yes I do. That’s very kind of you to enquire.” In the colored-pencil cartoons, done with childlike simplicity, Mr. Brown’s changing expressions provide silent, eloquent commentary. This is a British import, with Briticisms intact.
Young readers on either side of the pond who are tempted to do as the queen does should not be dissuaded. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-565-09325-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Natural History Museum/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Well-meaning but flawed.
An original tale based in folklore about a Native American girl’s willingness to help her people through the power of a mysterious stone.
Set before horses were introduced to the Cheyennes, here is the story of Stands-by-Herself, a girl who lives with her grandmother and “her people on the great plains.” True to her name, she is a solitary child, and the other children constantly tease her, causing her to wish she could “fly away with the ducks.” In an attempt to soothe the girl, her grandmother references the Creator, assuring her that someday she will find the power to do good. Soon she comes across the titular artifact, which will send her down the foreshadowed path soon enough, as her people, come summer, are hungry, undergoing drought and sickness. The author builds an affecting story that centers on his Native American protagonist and her love for her people, though he never names that people within it. The soft, pastel-hued watercolor illustrations evoke the pre-Colonial Plains and its peoples; unusually detailed notes provide further information in the backmatter. In his afterword, Myers contextualizes his position as an outsider, his interest in the story, and its fictional content. Although Myers’ research is evident, his omission of a specific tribe’s and Creator’s names within the story are problematic, as they reinforce a limited and monolithic view of Native Americans.
Well-meaning but flawed. (bibliography) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-937786-39-7
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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