THE OLD ANIMALS’ FOREST BAND

A delightful adaptation sets the Brothers Grimm’s “Bremen Town Musicians” in the Indian countryside. Cow (used here instead of the traditional cat), donkey, dog and rooster, thrown out by their respective masters because of their age, rout a band of robbers from an abandoned house. When they return the stolen jewels and gold to the villagers, their owners suddenly want them back, but the animals have other plans: They’ll form the Old Animals’ Forest Band. The swiftly told tale differs from the original in some details (the animals never set out specifically to be musicians, for instance), but the story has the same general outline of events and retains the familiar image of the four animals perched on each other’s backs. Bai, a Gond artist from Madhya Pradesh in central India, gives the illustrations subcontinental flair. Within each flat object, animal or person, repetitive shapes and cross-hatchings in delicate ink lines build up fascinating patterns that hold the eyes, making for a striking visual effect that shifts depending on the viewers’ distance. A highly successful blend of text and illustrations. (Picture book. 3-7)