A lighthearted, beautifully illustrated lesson on appreciating multiplicity through a Hindu lens.
Hindu deities argue over who has the best beast transport in this children’s picture book.
In Hindu mythology, the term vaahana, usually translated as mount or vehicle,refers to the animals that carry deities around. As explained in rhyming verse, eight divine children gather to play but then start debating the merits of their vaahana, each claiming theirs is the best. For example, Vishnu praises his eagle vaahana for its speed and strength, while Sariswati’s swan is said to be “the most perfect mix / Of beauty, brains, and brawn.” After a lengthy argument, the deities hear laughter nearby, which turns out to be the sound of their vaahana playing happily together; as far as they’re concerned, their differences don’t matter. The deities, “humbled and impressed,” decide to carry their vaahana home that day. In his third picture book,Jatkar entertainingly introduces elements of Hindu mythology, providing helpful character lists with pronunciations. Although the verses doesn’t always scan well due to inconsistent meters, the text vigorously conveys the mounts’ qualities. Durga’s lion, for example, “can crush many a bone / In his magnificent jaws!” The author’s collagelike, full-color images depict richly patterned characters that are all the more vibrant against the pages’ simple backgrounds.
A lighthearted, beautifully illustrated lesson on appreciating multiplicity through a Hindu lens.Pub Date: July 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-9977181-3-3
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Monkeymantra
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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