At the gates of the Buddhist temple, Mai sees a cage full of sparrows for sale. Without the money to buy and release them, she offers to feed them. Thu, another little girl, helps and takes heed of Mai’s whispered “Fly, free, fly free, / in the sky so blue. / When you do a good deed, / it will come back to you.” Thu later gives her beautiful red slippers to another little girl with a cut foot. The “wheel of kindness” continues to turn, with various characters doing something good for someone else until a father, grateful that his son has recovered from illness, approaches the temple to pray, sees and purchases the cage and, to Mai’s joy, sets the sparrows free. Buddhist tradition and belief in reincarnation reflects the idea that one’s actions, good or bad, affect one’s rebirth. The smoothly written circular narrative with its reverent message is authenticated by Neilan’s muted watercolors, which are rendered on light tan board and softly depict a Vietnamese countryside peopled by folk wearing conical hats and traditional dress. (Picture book/religion. 4-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-550-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
Readers certainly don’t need to be familiar with the poem “The Night Before Christmas” or with the alternative lyrics to “On Top of Old Smokey” (about the runaway meatball) to appreciate the humor of this Chanukah offering, but it wouldn’t hurt. Owing its rhythm to the former and its plot to the latter, this hilarious take-off has a delicious flavor all its own. ’Twas the first night of Chanukah when a boy’s shiny new dreidel makes a run for it. “It spun past a shoe store and past a boutique / It spun past two delis, one kosher, one Greek.” When the dreidel leaves Brooklyn and heads for the hills, the scenery begins to look more like a Russian shtetl than anywhere in North America. Brooker’s (Isabella Abnormella and the Very, Very Finicky Queen of Trouble, 2000, etc.) madly tilting, fanciful oil and cut-paper collage illustrations are wonderfully textured and full of fabulous details: buttons that look like Greek coins, shirts and dresses cut from wallpaper, and a gift for grandpa in a Tiffany’s signature box. When the dreidel decides to go into orbit—“It sparkled and glittered and twinkled and shone / Like a jewel in the crown of a queen on a throne”—everyone goes home to celebrate the holiday. Naturally, Newman (Dogs, Dogs, Dogs, p. 738, etc.) ends with a nod to that well-known Christmas poem. A lively Chanukah romp that can be enjoyed by every denomination. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-8050-6237-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
A small donkey narrates the story of his role in the first Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem. His owner takes him to the village gate, where strangers ask for a donkey that has never been ridden. He is fearful and stubborn, but is led to a hillside, a grove of olive trees where there is a man in the midst of a crowd. The man is called Jesus and as soon as the colt sees him, he grows peaceful. He joyfully carries the man on his back with the people waving palms and throwing their cloaks on the path and the donkey knows that he is carrying a King. The donkey wishes to carry Jesus back to his hillside, where he will introduce him to his friends—the lizard, crow, cow, hen, and cricket. “My hillside will be a throne for him, and at night the stars will weave him a crown.” The lovely double-paged spreads are executed with impasto acrylic on handmade French watercolor paper. The city scenes are predominantly warm sienna colors highlighting the bricks and buildings while the country scenes are mostly rich blue-green and are a pleasant contrast to the city scenes. Endpapers are the patchwork colors of the cloaks worn by the people and thrown on the path of Jesus. A foreword cites the Gospel writers who tell the story of the Palm Sunday procession, especially Zechariah, Chapter 9, Verse 9: “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The palm branches and the tradition of the Palm Sunday procession are also included. A gentle story that small children and parents can enjoy together. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 15, 2002
ISBN: 0-8234-1695-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
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