Like Brendan the Navigator (1979), this sprightly bit of biography is "drawn from an old legend, much of which is certainly true." The Irish monk Columba, goes the story, had such a great love for books, in those sixth-century days when "books were hard to come by," that he secretly copied out a volume from his friend's private collection. The friend, claiming property fights, took him to court; and when the High King ruled against him, Columba called his chieftain father's army to battle. Columba won the battle, but was then so overcome with remorse (three thousand of the king's men lay dead) that he exiled himself to a Northern island, vowing never to set eyes on Ireland again—a vow he kept, for when called back to mediate in another dispute he wore a blindfold for the occasion. This is told with the Fritz ease and some color, but St. Columba's story doesn't yield up A the tales that Brendan's did. An agreeable extra.
Pub Date: Feb. 13, 1981
ISBN: 039961284X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1981
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Dr. Seuss has a faculty for telling modern tales with a folk lore twist, and this new king-with-a-quirk story has a novel element that nonsense loving children will love. The quality of magnificent exaggeration, carried to the nth degree.
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 1939
ISBN: 0394800826
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1939
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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