Lavish illustrations elevate this adaptation of a classic.
In this retelling of an ancient Chinese poem, a writer imagines the doomed love between the earthly and heavenly in this oversized picture book for older readers.
Returning from a visit with the emperor, poet Cao Zhi passes by the River Luo. “As the ancient tale goes, underneath the river lives a beautiful goddess”—so, as a writer, Cao decides to put forth his own story of a different goddess of the majestic river. Cao’s goddess is ethereal: “she dazzles like the sun rising in the morning…she’s as luminous as the lotus that grows in the shallows.” Love is instant between poet and goddess, but with love comes hesitation and worry. Ultimately, the goddess concludes that “the world of humans and gods could never exist together.” Readers unfamiliar with the poem will likely find the level of narrative detail insufficient, and consequently the melancholy ebbs rather than flows forth. Ye’s illustrations, however, are lush in detail and lovely in strangeness. The illustrator injects traditional elements of Chinese paintings with a modern playfulness and whimsy. Big-eyed fish, fantastical creatures, and odd flora and fauna fill the pages. Elements of the natural world adorn the Goddess of Luo to evoke the otherworldly. Instead of being enrobed by traditional Chinese clothing, a flowing cape ending in a fish tail drapes over her body. Strands of pearls surround her and come to life as fairies. Four multipage gatefolds stunningly capture both the movement in the illustrations and the scale of the tale.
Lavish illustrations elevate this adaptation of a classic. (glossary, notes) (Picture book. 9-14)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-988-8341-94-8
Page Count: 78
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Unusual and useful.
Surprising schools to be found around the world include new schools that work with the environment, schools in places where none existed and schools that meet children more than halfway.
Directly addressed to the reader, lively text in short chunks on double-page spreads introduces 23 schools from 20 countries. Each is located on a map, described briefly and shown in colorful photographs emphasizing the students. Sidebars may spotlight a particular student or offer more details about school life, the building process or events from the school’s history. Each spread also includes a boxed fast fact or two. Many of these schools are new, in remote, out-of-the-way places, places where kids weren’t previously served or places where man-made or natural disasters have disrupted children’s lives. The author makes a point of noting the use of local materials and energy-efficient construction, and she gives credit to the founders. Schools for street kids and refugees, one for girls who would otherwise be married, another for children with sensory impairments, schooling by e-mail and unschooling are some of the more unusual examples. The text concludes with a list of websites of schools and sponsoring organizations and another reminder of the U.N. declaration that every child has the right to an education.
Unusual and useful. (acknowledgements, credits, index, map) (Nonfiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-926818-85-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
Homer himself would be agog.
A highlight-reel version of Odysseus’ journey home, framed as a graphic novel and plastered with fantastically dramatic pop-ups and other special effects.
Opening with Penelope working on a tapestry that transforms into an entirely different scene with the drop of a step-flap, the tale plunges on into the many escapes of Odysseus and his crew: from Polyphemus, from Circe, the Sirens and (after visiting the land of the dead) from Scylla and Charybdis. Then it’s on to Ithaca for a slaughter of suitors with a bow strung with real string, peace at last after Zeus rears up to get everyone’s attention with a foil thunderbolt and a final clinch between Odysseus and Penelope as their connubial bed levitates to reveal the deep tree roots beneath. Ita (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 2008) tells the tale in balloons of colloquial dialogue (“Where have you been for the last twenty years?” “Well, sweetheart, it’s an awfully long story”). Well-defined sequential panels give way to larger scenes of Polyphemus getting it in the eye with a sharpened log, of a ship with oars that row frantically with pulls of a tab, of Circe turning a man into a pig in a particularly masterful bit of paper engineering and other climactic moments. As transitions range from quick to nonexistent and the order in which gatefolds should be lifted isn’t always evident, some familiarity with the original is recommended—but even newbies will be riveted by this nonstop, high-energy retelling.
Homer himself would be agog. (Pop-up classic. 10-13)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4027-5867-6
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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