Both an exciting spirit ride and a cultural artifact that is presented with careful respect and enough background for...
A vision song passed down among Western Australia’s Yindjibarndi people, interpreted both verbally and visually in rousingly dramatic fashion by a comics artist.
Typical of stories transmitted verbatim from traditional sources, the original lyrics read to a modern audience as a series of disconnected comments on the action: “The white ochre hill is frightened to see the red water worms… / …bound together like string, fleeing the banks of the river at Gaatharramunha.” Sutu (Stu Campbell) fills in the storyline’s blanks with sequential panels of jagged, magnificently strange figures aglow with pulsing digital light. Depicting a grizzled seer staring into a crackling fire, then suddenly embraced by a giant praying mantis and later riding an immense golden serpent as it twists through and around a tumultuous river, the art is a mix of captioned and wordless sequences. When matching text does appear, it can be toggled back and forth with a tap between the original Yindjibarndi and an English translation that the illustrator reads with low-voiced urgency. Along with a background note that traces the song from its first singer to those of today, extras include a video of a modern public performance by two Yindjibarndi elders (another recording of the song plays over the main story’s credits) and a presentation of the lyrics line by line, with vocalization and translation.
Both an exciting spirit ride and a cultural artifact that is presented with careful respect and enough background for context. (iPad storybook app. 7-9)Pub Date: June 19, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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