Demi sprinkles droll humor and liberal doses of common sense throughout a traditional tale of Nasrettin Hoca, Turkey’s most famous folk hero. On his way to a banquet given by a rich friend, Nasrettin stops to catch a goat. Now late for his dinner, he doesn’t have time to change from his dirty, smelly clothes. Ignored by his friends, Nasrettin leaves and then returns after bathing and dressing in his most elegant clothing. Now greeted as a welcomed guest, Nasrettin feeds the finest banquet food to his coat—since it must have been his fine coat that his friends had wanted at the banquet, right? With the lesson learned, his friends cheer and toast his wisdom. The moral? “He who wears heaven in his heart is always well dressed.” Characteristic of Demi’s earlier work, the elegant illustrations are touched with golden accents, surrounded by ornate borders of tiny details, and filled with the rich colors and patterns of traditional Turkish paintings. Exquisite retelling; exquisite illustrations; exquisite choice. (afterword) (Picture book/folktale. 6-10)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-689-84680-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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