When the Bokuru tribe, their water supply exhausted, plans a feast for their ancestors in the hope of finding a spring celebrated in their oral history, Kisana (10) has a series of dreams in which a giraffe gives her clues to the spring's location. Following the giraffe's directions, she goes in search of an ancient baobob tree; along the way, she meets a Naba boy, Xu, whose voice reminds her of the giraffe's. Xu takes Kisana to his grandmother, who tells her that the tree is dead; Kisana then sings a song about the giraffe that is so sweet that the old woman presents her with the baobob's last pod—but when she returns to her village, her enemy Lavo crushes the pod. With no other gift for the ancestors, Kisana again sings the song of the giraffe, which sends the village leader into a trance that enables him to find the spring after all. Told in a simple, folkloric style, this lovely story brings tribal Africa and its plains vividly to life while incorporating a couple of contemporary concerns: with her light skin and small stature, Kisana differs from her tribe; she also, like the peaceful Naba, believes that hunters should take no more than they need. More serious than most chapter books at this level, but still lively enough to entertain. Johnson's soft, realistic b&w drawings are just reminiscent enough of African tribal art to add a pleasantly exotic flavor. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-316-45555-5
Page Count: 54
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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