by V. Geetha ; illustrated by Rohima Chitrakar ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2017
A clever format and appealing content provide a joyful glimpse at another culture.
Designed to suggest a scroll created by the Patuas, an artisan community in West Bengal, this title presents a day in the life of the Santhal people—an indigenous Indian people.
The book has a landscape orientation, but the sturdy paper unfolds vertically, one section at a time; when the book is completely “unscrolled,” it can be hung from a grommet. The top portion of each opening shows teeming crowds of brown, orange, and gray bodies moving through their tasks and celebrations against a vibrant red background, from morning until night. Children will enjoy listening to the informative, interactive text—displayed on the restful, white lower spreads—and searching, Where’s Waldo–style, for specific items mentioned in the text: the special chair for the bride, the musicians with drums and horns, the village cow. The yellow border unifies the six foldouts, which navigate from the wedding feast and common space to evening activities and the rainy season. Every object and figure is outlined in black, including the eyes, which express a range of emotions, even within the limits of faces shown in profile. Energy emerges from strong colors, bold patterns, and the diagonals formed by roads and train cars. Close observers will notice some of the same characters moving through the scenes of fishing, cooking, baby-washing, wheat-cleaning, and dancing.
A clever format and appealing content provide a joyful glimpse at another culture. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-93-83145-43-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tara Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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by Carson Ellis ; illustrated by Carson Ellis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 24, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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by Michelle Worthington ; illustrated by Joseph Cowman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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