AZIZI AND THE LITTLE BLUE BIRD

In this tale translated from Flemish, a diminutive hero takes on larger-than-life villainy.

Tan-skinned Azizi lives in the Land of the Crescent Moon—a kingdom shaded by citrus trees, fragranced by aromatic jasmine, and inspired by Revolution-era Tunisia. Tyrannical leaders Tih and Reni rule with an ever-growing avarice. Intent on stripping the land of its beauty for superfluous self-gain, each day they demand increasingly sumptuous feasts, more luxurious wares, and the capture of “every last blue bird there was.” Self-enriched but never content, the pair grow larger and larger while their subjects shrink—effectively illustrating the effects of corruption-borne oppression—until one day, a newly teensy Azizi receives an avian caller, a wily bird who’s escaped captivity and who arrives with an urgent call to action. Prepared to answer, Azizi wields a needle as a sword and, together, the courageous duo lead the resistance, taking flight toward the palace with a garland of jasmine in tow. While the trope of physical-largeness-as-villainy can be fraught, and Koubaa’s antagonists are characterized by insatiable hunger, the piece deftly avoids conflating fatness with iniquity, instead clearly establishing greed as the obscenity and feting the bravery of responsive action. De Leeuw’s scrabbly artwork, Quentin Blake–esque in its stylish charm, lends a grounded whimsy to the piece, while jewel- and saffron-toned detailing evokes a distinct sense of place, serving up a visual feast. The result is a triumph.

A lovely and empowering homage to real-life resistance.