A delightful follow-up to Naj’s Tear that delivers a sky serpent and a strong heroine.
Written in rhyming verse, a children’s chapter book continues Brisa’s exploits as she helps her friend Naj return to his distant home.
In Brisa’s Tales: Naj’s Tear (2012), the first book in this series, young Brisa meets Naj, imprisoned in an enchanted brook by a witch. Brisa retrieves a magic pearl from the witch’s house, making some friends along the way, and she releases Naj from his enchantment; the book ends before revealing his true form. In this second book, readers learn that Naj is a sky serpent, as in Mesoamerican mythology. When his wings are strong enough, Naj plans to fly home and see his mother again (his father, the Sky King, “flew off into the heavens” long ago). But when he and Brisa finally arrive there, they can’t find his mother. After searching in another city, Naj returns and discovers that his father can manifest at certain times; the Sky King explains that Naj’s mother died long ago but loved him and wanted him to be happy. Brisa, too, embarks on several escapades, including dodging a leopard and being captured by Wicked, an evil man trapped for centuries in the city’s temple. Meanwhile, Naj has one more transformation in store. As in the first book, Robbins writes an exciting adventure story with an appealing, resourceful heroine who proves her courage. Naj’s Tear effectively drew on traditional fairy-tale motifs, and here, Robbins makes intriguing use of elements from Mayan culture, such as the feathered serpent and twin brothers (monkeys, in this case). Although it has a light touch, the book handles Naj’s sorrow over his lost mother with sensitivity. A few lines don’t scan well, but Robbins is a skillful versifier, using tools like rhyme, repetition, and varying line lengths with evocative results, as when a stalking leopard notices that Brisa’s wand “wasn’t particularly long / nor was it particularly thick. / So he wasn’t particularly worried / at that particular time / because this particular leopard / had breakfast on his mind.”
A delightful follow-up to Naj’s Tear that delivers a sky serpent and a strong heroine.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4990-5241-1
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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