A child-friendly book about Islamic figures’ names that speaks mainly to the initiated.
What’s in a name when it belongs to an important figure in Islam? A nonfiction book uses a graphic novel format to demystify the subject for older children.
“Our names are a very special part of us,” Mir writes. “Many times, they shape our personalities and even explain who we are or the person we would like to become.” So it’s fitting that this book pays close attention to names as it profiles 14 important figures in Islam, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad and moving chronologically through to Imam Al-Mahdi. Each chapter focuses on a different person and includes key facts about its subject’s life and a timeline of its religiously and historically significant events. But comic book–style stories about the figures—and how their words and deeds exemplify their names—form the heart of the collection. Mir, the author of Tales of the Messenger (2019), uses eye-catching pages to describe people like Imam Al-Kadhim, whose name means “the one who swallows his anger.” One day a farmer insults Imam Al-Kadhim, based on falsehoods he’s heard, and the imam’s companions want to use violence to teach the farmer a lesson. But the imam treats the man kindly, asking what he hopes to earn off his land. When the farmer says “Two hundred gold coins!,” Imam Al-Kadhim gives him 300, changing the man’s opinion of his character. As the book tells such stories, it abounds with undefined Arabic words and phrases—and references to events in Islamic history—which only readers who understand Arabic may be able to appreciate. Although some word bubbles have confusing placement, the engaging illustrations nonetheless may appeal to preteen and older children.
A child-friendly book about Islamic figures’ names that speaks mainly to the initiated.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-68312-132-9
Page Count: 191
Publisher: Kisa Kids Publications
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
More story than study, the book provides an accessible introduction to Goodall’s, Fossey’s and Galdikas’ lives and work.
Veteran science writer Ottaviani (Feynman, 2011, etc.) teams up with illustration newcomer Wicks in this semifictionalized overview of the “Trimates,” three women primatologists championed by Louis Leakey.
The book opens with Goodall’s cozy first-person account of her childhood dreams of studying animals in Africa, her recruitment by Leakey, the establishment of her long-term chimpanzee study in Nigeria and her key discoveries regarding chimpanzee behavior. The narrative then shifts from Goodall to Leakey’s other protégées, Fossey and Galdikas, and their influential research on, respectively, gorillas and orangutans. Fossey and Galdikas also tell their own tales in distinct, often funny, voices. Wicks’ cheerful drawings complement the women’s stories by highlighting their humorous moments. However, the simplicity of Wicks’ rounded figures and flat backgrounds make the panels documenting primate behavior less effective than they could be. Another weakness is the text’s tendency to summarize when more scientific and biographical detail would be welcome. For example, the final chapter covers the later stages of the Trimates’ careers but only briefly addresses the circumstances surrounding Fossey’s death. Readers looking for more substantial biographies or science should seek out other sources after whetting their appetites here.
More story than study, the book provides an accessible introduction to Goodall’s, Fossey’s and Galdikas’ lives and work. (afterword, bibliography) (Graphic novel. 10-14)Pub Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59643-865-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
Insofar as the reading level of the book for adults is on a par with this effort—for the most part, only the substance has...
This distillation of the best-selling Killing Jesus: A History (2013) retains the original’s melodramatic tone and present-tense narration. Also its political agenda.
The conservative pundit’s account of Jesus’ life and, in brutal detail, death begins with a nonsensically altered title, an arguable claim to presenting a “fact-based book” and, tellingly, a list of “Key Players” (inserted presumably to help young readers keep track of all the names). Like its source, its prose is as purple as can be, often word for word: “There is a power to Jesus’s gait and a steely determination to his gaze.” Harping on “taxes extorted from the people of Judea” as the chief cause of continuing local unrest, the author presents Jewish society as governed with equal force by religious ritual and by the Romans, and he thoroughly demonizes Herod Antipas (“he even looks the part of a true villain”). Alterations for young readers include more illustrations, periodic sidebars, far fewer maps and a streamlining of context so that the focus is squarely on Jesus, with less attention on the historical moment—an unfortunate choice. Assorted notes on 16 various side topics, from a look at Roman roads to the rise of the cross as a Christian symbol, follow. A mix of 19th-century images, photos of ancient sites and artifacts supplement frequent new illustrations (not seen) from Low.
Insofar as the reading level of the book for adults is on a par with this effort—for the most part, only the substance has been simplified—it’s hard to see the value of this iteration. (source list, recommended reading) (Biography. 12-15)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9877-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
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