Pithy tellings accompanied by sumptuous illustrations make for a delightful collection.
From a Dutch Iraqi author and storyteller, a collection of folktales that take place in ancient Iraq and Persia.
Characters range from humble to royal and include animals and even magical speaking objects. Familiar themes such as staying true to oneself and finding contentment in one’s circumstances are woven into the tales, sometimes as straightforward adages (“If you are satisfied with what you have, then you are rich”; “we must not listen to others, but to…our own hearts”), other times with complex twists and turns that challenge readers to deduce their own moral before arriving at the ending. Many stories are presented within frames, and the relationship between storyteller and listener changes throughout; sometimes it’s father and son, other times grandmother and grandchild; still others it’s friends. There is a strong undercurrent of humor, as in the tale told by one traveler to another—who falls asleep before the raconteur is finished. Aalders’ vivid, brilliantly colored cut-paper illustrations present insects and vegetables with the same loving level of detail as scenes of the Euphrates, palaces, and expansive deserts. Two stories feature characters who twist Islam into a bitter, untrue faith, to be corrected by a loving God in the end; they are the only explicitly religious characters in the book. Short, witty, and direct, these tales make perfect short bedtime reads or interludes during the day.
Pithy tellings accompanied by sumptuous illustrations make for a delightful collection. (collector’s note) (Folktales. 7-12)Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1450-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.
Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.
Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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
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