Seven folktales are presented to the reader as having influenced Shakespeare in the writing of The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Hamlet, King Lear, and The Winter’s Tale. In a continuation of the ancient practice of storytelling, the bard adapted the tales he had heard as a child for the audiences of Britain’s new public theaters. A marvelous introduction to the collection describes the transformation of storytelling from oral tradition to written word, as well as the background of theater in the 1500s. An introduction to each tale gives a brief summary of the play and the variations on the folktale that may have influenced his writing. At times, it is rather difficult to follow this confusing literary trail, but the introduction is saved by the look into the social and political atmosphere of Shakespeare’s day that it affords the reader. While Ryan (George W. Bush, not reviewed, etc.) gives a brief one-paragraph synopsis of each play, the subtle connections of each folktale will be better understood by those who have some level of familiarity with Shakespeare’s works. But of course, the folktales are enjoyable in and of themselves. Especially fun is “The Devil’s Bet,” in which a lazy and contrary girl must tame her harsh ways and mean tricks so as not to be eaten by a monster who lives in the spring—and so that she can be a proper wife for her husband. On every story’s introductory pages, Shakespearean quotes frame the text, and one or more main characters are drawn and labeled to aid the reader in following the plot. Mayhew’s (To Sleep, Perchance to Dream, p. 947, etc.) detailed watercolors fill the margins of the pages, and each tale features a full-page illustration. A lovely supplement to the Shakespeare oeuvre. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-84148-307-9
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
This profoundly moving story is all the more impressive because of its basis in fact. Although the story is fictionalized, its most harrowing aspects are true: “Today, more than two hundred million children between the ages of five and seventeen are ‘economically active’ in the world.” Iqbal Masih, a real boy, was murdered at age 13. His killers have never been found, but it’s believed that a cartel of ruthless people overseeing the carpet industry, the “Carpet Mafia,” killed him. The carpet business in Pakistan is the backdrop for the story of a young Pakistani girl in indentured servitude to a factory owner, who also “owned” the bonds of 14 children, indentured by their own families for sorely needed money. Fatima’s first-person narrative grips from the beginning and inspires with every increment of pride and resistance the defiant Iqbal instills in his fellow workers. Although he was murdered for his efforts, Iqbal’s life was not in vain; the accounts here of children who were liberated through his and activist adults’ efforts will move readers for years to come. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85445-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2003
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