A bland rendition, without much sense of the popular story’s usual course or cultural milieu.
In this reworked folk tale, clever Ganesha disguises himself as a shepherd boy to keep an evil king from becoming even more dangerously powerful.
Related in lumbering rhyme and blocky cartoon illustrations, the episode is not only abbreviated, but robbed of features that might have increased its appeal to young readers. Described as a ferocious, many-headed demon king in the Ramayana (for instance) but depicted here as a hunky but conventional, pale-skinned villain with a Snidely Whiplash mustache, Ravana sets out to secure a stone promised by Shiva that will give its bearer immortality and great power. Shiva reluctantly hands it over, with the proviso that once it touches the ground it will be forever immovable. Commenting “I know, he has his evil plans / to take over the world, / and capture all lands,” the elephant-headed Ganesha transforms himself into a lad and volunteers to hold the stone for a count of three while Ravana rests and prays (or in other versions, pees). As if. Down the stone drops, “…and Ravana’s dreams of fame and glory, / are gone forever. That’s the end of this story.” In traditional versions the end isn’t quite so abrupt, and the “stone” is actually a lingam or sacred phallus that is here only a glowing, egg-shaped crystal—though at least it does assume an elongated shape in the final scene. A small sheet of stickers and step-by-step instructions for drawing the portly blue pachyderm are appended.
A bland rendition, without much sense of the popular story’s usual course or cultural milieu. (Graphic folk tale. 5-8.)Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-93-81182-24-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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