A brilliant tapestry woven not of yarn but of stories, both fresh and faithful to its historical roots.
Forty-five (compressed from the original 1,001) nights of interwoven stories map Scheherazade’s courageous campaign to heal the heart of her murderous and disillusioned husband—and save her own life in the bargain.
Drawn from authoritative sources and retold in plain (and, aside from references to the Almighty, nonreligious) language, the selections are arranged in several sequences of nights, with “extras” interposed and interludes that set up and flesh out the frame story. Brave and clever women stand out in these versions, notably Ali Baba’s wife, Marjana, the princess who marries Maaruf the Cobbler (and Maaruf’s comically abusive first wife, Dung Fatima)—and especially Scheherazade herself, who over the many nights, any one of which could be her last, presents Shah Rayar with three children as well as tantalizingly strung-out adventures featuring moral quandaries, decisions wise and foolish, reversals of fortune, love, and wisdom’s growth. Overall, Napoli sees the Arabian Nights as more “optimistic” than the Greek, Norse, or ancient Egyptian mythologies she has explored in previous collections in this series: “There is a strong sense that good behavior will lead to good results and that the world is basically a lot more delightful than it is frightful.” Balit whirls bright patterns around stylized figures to add notes of grandeur to each tale. Faces are light-skinned, but she does add hints of regional features and dress for stories set in “China” or “the Indies.”
A brilliant tapestry woven not of yarn but of stories, both fresh and faithful to its historical roots. (introduction, index, extensive source notes) (Folk tales. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2540-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
Readers interested in mythology and paleontology will be intrigued.
Researchers have used fossils to understand much about the prehistoric world, but this work shows how a passionate woman with a curious mind studies them to understand how early peoples devised their myths and legends.
Mayor’s family heritage includes both a knack for storytelling and an interest in the natural world. She developed a love for the myths and legends of Greece and Rome, and her curiosity about the origins of the legendary part-lion, part-eagle griffin led her to seek answers. “[W]hat creature with four legs and a beak like a bird could have been so real to Greeks thousands of years ago?” Her search for fossils that could have inspired such an image led her to sites throughout Greece, ancient texts and even CIA maps of Central Asia. By following a series of clues, Mayor was able to connect the griffin image to fossil remnants of Protoceratops, making the case that ancient civilizations based their stories and legends on what they observed in the natural world. Supporting his text with Muller’s illustrations and copious photographs, Aronson reveals Mayor’s story as she searches for answers, demonstrating how one woman’s curiosity and determination provided a new view of the origins of some of our oldest stories. The excellent list of suggestions for further reading will encourage readers to dig deeper on their own.
Readers interested in mythology and paleontology will be intrigued. (glossary/index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1108-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
More-systematic treatments abound, but the airy tone and quick-facts presentation give this some potential as a...
In Basher’s latest set of breezy “self”-portraits, 58 gods, demigods and mythological creations of diverse sort step up in turn to the microphone.
The entrants are limited to the ancient Egyptian, Norse and Greco-Roman pantheons and arranged in no particular order within their respective chapters. They range from the usual celebrities like Poseidon (“rhymes with ‘Joe Biden’ ”), Odin and Osiris to some who have gotten less press, such as Hebe—“Waitress to the Olympians”—and Gefjon, Aesir goddess of plowing. Along with mixing in such non-Olympians as Odysseus, Budzik swells the ranks by lending voices to Bifrost, Yggdrasil and even the battle of Ragnarok. The author’s introductory claim that the gods gave mortals “something to believe in and ideals to aspire to when life was looking bleak” is massively disingenuous considering the speakers’ own accounts of their exploits (Hel complains, “It’s really grim here. I get the dreariest dead”). Nevertheless, the sex and violence are toned down to, for instance, Hera’s tart reference to “my hubby’s mortal girlfriends” and Isis’ allusion to “complicated family vibes” (following her brother/husband Osiris’ dismemberment by their brother, Seth). In a radical departure for Basher, some of his dolllike cartoon figures bear grimaces rather than cutesy smiles.
More-systematic treatments abound, but the airy tone and quick-facts presentation give this some potential as a lighter-than-air refresher. (chart and foldout poster of Greek/Roman equivalents) (Mythology. 10-12)Pub Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7534-7171-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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