THE PARROT AND THE MERCHANT

Name: THE PARROT AND THE MERCHANT
Author: Rumi
ISBN: 978-1-910328-03-3

From the Tales by Rumi series

by Rumi ; adapted by Marjan Vafaeian ; illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian ; translated by Azita Rassi ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019

This 900-year-old story has not lost its classic feel.

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A tale of Rumi, the famous Persian poet, in which interactions between humans and animals result in a memorable moral.

Mah Jahan is a Persian merchant who travels widely and trades in all sorts of things. On one of her trips to India, she brings back a “beautiful bright parrot” to add to her collection of caged birds; it quickly becomes her favorite bird, and she loves it dearly. Before traveling again, Mah Jahan asks her servants and the parrot what they would like her to bring them back as gifts. The servants share what they would like, but the parrot’s request is unusual: It asks Mah Jahan to tell all its old friends in India it misses them and to solicit their advice for it. In seeking to bring the parrot’s requested gift, Mah Jahan does not get what she expected, and the gift eventually results in the bird’s freedom. This old Rumi tale is adapted by making the merchant a woman but is not otherwise significantly modernized. Iranian illustrator Vafaeian’s ornamented, often surreal illustrations depict Mah Jahan in enormous, colorful skirts and frequently surrounded by comparatively tiny servants. The parrot’s cage is likewise stylized, an ornamented circle that contains the unhappy captive. Despite the exuberant color used as highlights, the gray-and-sepia illustrations are often gloomy, befitting its theme.

This 900-year-old story has not lost its classic feel. (Picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: May 14, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-910328-03-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Tiny Owl

Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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HORRIBLE HARRY SAYS GOODBYE

From the Horrible Harry series , Vol. 37

by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018

A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.

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A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.

Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.

A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)