adapted by Gita Wolf ; illustrated by Sunita ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2013
Though the story will feel familiar to Western readers, its fresh visual expression sets it far apart.
Readers familiar with a certain old lady who swallowed a fly will revel in this adaptation of a Rajasthani trickster tale.
Beautifully illustrated in a traditional finger-painting style called Mandna, practiced by the Meena tribe in Rajasthan, the black-and-white pictures on thick, tan paper are eye-catching in their graphic qualities. Ultimately, the art outshines the simple text, which is told in a cumulative rhyme that occasionally falters in its cadence. Despite this quibble, the picture book is a visual feast for readers as it depicts the gluttonous, lazy jackal who doesn’t want to hunt for his food and instead tricks a succession of animals into becoming his meal. When he is quite literally full-to-bursting, the picture depicts all of the animals he’s eaten within his “huge balloon” of a tummy. Mistakenly thinking that some water will help him, he drinks from a river—until “BLAMM! his poor tummy finally gave up…and BURST.” The animals tumble forth, alive and well, leaving jackal “as thin as a whip” and in search of a tailor bird to sew him up. Itself hand-sewn and bound (as well as -printed, as the ink smell wafting from the pages attests), this handsome volume is an art object in itself.
Though the story will feel familiar to Western readers, its fresh visual expression sets it far apart. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-81-923171-4-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tara Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2013
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edited by Kanchana Arni & Gita Wolf
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by Gita Wolf ; illustrated by Dhwani Shah with Bhaddu Hamir
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by Michelle Worthington ; illustrated by Joseph Cowman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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by Megan McDonald & illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2012
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
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