edited by Erika Berg ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2015
An illuminating work of children’s hardship and self-expression.
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Debut author Berg edits a collection of art from young Myanmar refugees.
This book of visual stories includes work by escapees of what Berg terms “the longest-running civil war in the world”: the internal conflicts that have destabilized Myanmar (formerly Burma) ever since it first gained independence from Britain in 1948. With this anthology, she attempts to portray that war using displaced children’s paintings and drawings: “They illustrate that emotions conveyed and evoked by a single narrative image can tell a story of a thousand words, open hearts and build bridges of understanding,” she writes. The images are the result of workshops she conducted with refugee children in which they drew their responses to questions about their lives in Myanmar, their experiences as refugees, and their dreams of the future. Each work is accompanied by a brief passage that offers historical context and some of the artist’s personal experiences. There are accounts of massacres, prison camps, executions, and forced evictions, but also of courageous escapes and assistance from strangers. Many illustrations of schools, doctors, cities, and landscapes represent their artists’ visions of life after the conflict ends. The book is a beautifully laid-out art piece with full-color images on high-quality paper, and Berg keeps the art and the experiences of the children front and center; politics remain peripheral, invoked only to explain situations. Although many of the images may tug at the heartstrings (or cause a sinking sensation in the gut), there’s an optimism in the work that speaks to the indefatigable cheeriness of children. The young artists are idiosyncratic enough that their distinct personalities shine through their pictures and, as Berg claims, they really do say more than the text. In one painting, for example, a group of smiling refugees stands in a boat crossing a body of water at night, with dark figures looming on the shore: “They woried [sic] about soldier,” 11-year-old Siang Tha Dim writes in thought bubbles above their heads. “They woried about, they might fall down!”
An illuminating work of children’s hardship and self-expression.Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9908910-0-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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