An amuse-bouche of world mythology that may leave readers craving more.
Myths and legends communicate key values and beliefs within a society, though the stories may share many similarities across time and culture.
In this brief compendium, Nardo examines common themes across mythologies pulled from around the globe. The famous mythologist Joseph Campbell and contemporary expert E.J. Michael Witzel claim that myths the world over share common themes, values, and tropes because of a shared heritage of storytelling that dates back to the earliest humans. These tales often involve powerful and wise creator deities as well as heroic humans, and each communicates something of the values and traditions of each culture to the listener or reader. This title serves as a cursory primer of several major mythical traditions from around the world. Through each retelling and subsequent background exposition, readers discover particulars about the cultures from which each myth sprang but also their many similarities. Classical historian Nardo begins with the Greco-Roman and Norse mythological traditions that Western readers are most likely already familiar with before expanding to Hindu, Chinese, Aztec, and Igbo mythical traditions. Though a great primer for reluctant readers and those looking for a brief overview and laudable for its inclusion of non-Western traditions, readers hoping for a deeper dive will need to look elsewhere. Ample illustrations add interest and support the text.
An amuse-bouche of world mythology that may leave readers craving more. (source notes, further reading, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-6782-0082-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For a guide to fashion, there's not much flair here. But there's plenty of valuable info for budding fashionistas and...
A matter-of-fact tone removes the mystery from style in this work that is one-part fashion manual and one-part career guide.
Flaherty begins by explaining what a stylist is and the tools he or she uses. She moves on to a wide range of different looks like Socialite, Tomboy and Hipster; fashion elements like color and prints; and a thorough understanding of body type. While the number of fashion personalities is impressive, not one is male, a confusing omission given that boys wear clothes, too. The section on body types is very useful with its real-world examples, Naomi Campbell representing the Inverted Triangle type. The second half is more practical, focusing on "curating" a closet, building a wardrobe, styling oneself and others, and styling as a career. Sprinkled throughout the text are activities like a fashion-movie night and organizing a clothing swap. The illustrations are attractive, yet it's too bad there isn't a greater variety of body types represented.
For a guide to fashion, there's not much flair here. But there's plenty of valuable info for budding fashionistas and stylists, going beyond the shallow glitz of fashion magazines and blogs. (index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9827322-4-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Zest Books
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
Considerably more edgy satire than Happily Ever After here; a bracing take for teens.
From Puss in Boots’ swaggering descendant “Puss-in-Trainers” to the titular break-and-enter artist caught on security cameras, Agard lays urban-inflected modern twists on 29 folkloric characters.
Written in rhyme or free verse with hip-hop cadences, the poems are nearly all in first person and range in tone from funny or acid (“Bring on your shining armour, dude. / I’ll be your damsel in distress with attitude”), to dark, even threatening. Many offer fresh approaches to the familiar, such as quick portraits of Cinderella in biker leathers and Iron Jack as an emotionally vulnerable Gulf War vet. An apple and a magic mirror provide unusual points of view about their assigned roles, as do “Two Ugly Sisters” who defiantly declare that they “won’t be face-down in no make-up kit / We give the thumbs-up to hair in the armpit,” but end with a sobering “Never mind the eye, we enchant the ear / From our ugly mouths come song, come prayer.” The poems are printed in a variety of typefaces, and Kitamura’s heavily inked black-and-white cartoons or silhouettes likewise change looks while adding appropriately dark, angular, energetic visual notes.
Considerably more edgy satire than Happily Ever After here; a bracing take for teens. (Poetry. 12-16)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84780-183-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
