The tradition of mazes and labyrinths hearkens back to ancient times, and a multitude of examples can be found throughout the world, made from a range of materials and serving a variety of purposes. This absorbing picture book travels to Western Europe, Africa and the Americas, detailing and illustrating the locations, construction and uses of the various mazes. Mazes discussed include the Egyptian Labyrinth, which was built of stone more than 2,000 years ago to cover funeral vaults; the tile mazes of France, which substituted for pilgrimages; the labyrinth patterns used on some Native American baskets and carvings, which convey mythological elements; and South Africa’s modern hedge maze, which features a cornucopia of plants and depicts local folktales. Lankford, maven of multicultural entertainments, surveys many historical and current examples and provides fascinating snippets of information on each one. Colorful illustrations depict the different mazes in action and highlight both differences and similarities. Includes an author’s note, mazes to unravel (with a finger rather than a pencil) and additional maze-related information. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-688-16519-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Collins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2008
A beguiling retelling of a 19th-century Lincolnshire tale that fairly dances with an impatience to be read aloud. Mouth-filling words dot this story, the context making them easily understood while taking away none of their mystery. Bogles and other horrid things live in the cracks and cinders and sleep in the fields in the old times, and at darkling every night folk walk round their houses with lights in their hands to keep the mischancy beings away. In autumn, “they sang hush-a-bye songs in the fields, for the earth was tired” and they fear the winters when the bogles have nothing to do but make mischief. As the year turns, they wake the earth from its sleeping each spring, and welcome the green mist that brings new growth. In one family, a child pines, longing for the green mist to return with the sun. Through the long winter she grows so weak her mother must carry her to the doorsill, so she can crumble the bread and salt onto the earth to hail the spring. The green mist comes, scented with herbs and green as grass, and the child thrives, once again “running about like a sunbeam.” The green, gold, brown, and gray of the watercolors show fields and haycocks, knobby-kneed children and raw-boned elders, a counterpoint to the rich text. (Picture book. 4-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90013-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A polished, poignant retelling of a familiar legend and its worthy moral, that some things in life are worth more than their weight in gold. Greed drives King Midas when a mysterious stranger decides to grant his wish for a golden touch; too late the king realizes that everything he touches—roses, bed sheets, food, coffee, his beloved daughter—turns to cold yellow metal. By the time the stranger reappears, Midas is more than ready to return his gift. Rayyan’s illustrations create a rich, busy background for the events; harpies, sphinxes, and satyrs scurry around, while careful observers will spot Icarus plunging toward the earth at the same moment that Midas transforms his daughter, Marygold. Such wonderful details bind the art and the text with perfect alacrity, ensuring that this book will not be long on the shelves. (Picture book/folkore. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1423-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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