A worthy but not entirely successful attempt to bring the past’s wisdom to a new audience.
Adapting a tale from a national epic such as the Persian Shanameh, or “Book of Kings,” is a task that takes great artistry. This effort doesn't quite make the grade.
Using an unnecessary frame story, the tale follows the original without the traditional flowery embellishments and can be easily understood. Bijan, a knight, is sent by the Persian king to rid a far-off region of wild boars. During his return, he meets the princess of a neighboring kingdom, Manijeh, but he does not know that she is his enemy’s daughter. She daringly brings Bijan into her father’s fortress, but the lovers are found out. Bijan is thrown into a pit and covered by a magic rock, and the princess is exiled. She eventually finds the pit and feeds the knight through a hole; the rock is immovable. The Persian king realizes that Bijan is not returning and uses his magical golden cup to see Bijan’s plight. He sends Rostam, “the bravest of all knights” to rescue him. Rostam, Bijan and Manijeh return to Persia, and the lovers marry. The paintings, almost too intense in color, are awkwardly rendered and lack the subtle patterned juxtapositions of the Persian miniatures that the artist is trying to imitate. The background note is useful, but the “Interpreting the Story” note will be heavy going for most adults, let alone children, not versed in Persian symbolism.
A worthy but not entirely successful attempt to bring the past’s wisdom to a new audience. (Folktale. 6-10)Pub Date: July 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937786-01-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
Warp back in time for a prehistoric spinoff adventure with Geronimo Stilton’s ancestor, Geronimo Stiltonoot, in Old Mouse City.
Readers will find Geronimo Stiltonoot a familiar character, outfitted differently from descendant Stilton yet still running a newspaper and having wild adventures. In this introduction to prehistoric mouse life, someone has stolen the most powerful and important artifact housed by the Old Mouse City Mouseum: the Stone of Fire. It’s up to Stiltonoot and his fellow sleuth and friend, Hercule Poirat, to uncover not only the theft, but a dangerous plot that jeopardizes all of Old Mouse City. As stand-ins for the rest of the Stilton cast, Stiltonoot has in common with Stilton a cousin named Trap, a sister named Thea and a nephew named Benjamin. The slapstick comedy and design, busy with type changes and color, will be familiar for Stilton readers. The world is fictionalized for comedic effect, featuring funny uses for dinosaurs and cheeky references to how far back in time they are, with only the occasional sidebar that presents facts. The story takes a bit long to get started, spending a lot of time reiterating the worldbuilding information laid out before the first chapter. But once it does start, it is an adventure Stilton readers will enjoy. Geronimo Stiltonoot has the right combination of familiarity and newness to satisfy Stilton fans. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-44774-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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