Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Since my son and I have been learning about Ancient Greece and Greek mythology over the last few weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit some familiar stories. Given my more recent lack of reading time or inclination, I determined not to attempt The Odyssey this year; but I did manage to read
The first quarter of 2012 has been spare on the blogging front, but it’s been busy and delightful on the home front from my perspective! My daughter is now five weeks old, and my son (age 4) and I are starting to settle into a routine again of reading picture books. I’m reading my baby
Cinderella: An Islamic Tale by Fawzia Gilani and illustrated by Shireen Adams (The Islamic Foundation, 2011) is simply what the title indicates: a retelling of the Cinderella story using an Islamic context. I am not as familiar with Islamic traditions as I am with Hispanic or Judeo-Christian traditions and so forth, and this book was
Aesop’s Fables by Beverley Naidoo and illustrated by Piet Grobler (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2011) adds a new multicultural layer to Aesop’s tales. Using her knowledge of African folktales and noting the similarities to Aesop’s own tales, South African author Beverley Naidoo gives an African twist to the tales that seems remarkably appropriate. I grew
The Ugly Duckling illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, with Hans Christian Andersen’s text adapted by Jerry Pinkney (Caldecott Honor 2000), is a picture book with sprawling, all-encompassing detailed watercolors. The illustrations do the traditional, familiar story justice. Pinkney does an incredible job of getting in to detailed “close-ups” of the scenes. From the birth of the ducklings
Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky is absolutely beautiful and much deserving of the 1998 Caldecott Award. Zelinsky explains in the note at the end that he was trying to imitate the Renaissance style of art because that is what he thought of when he recalled the story of a girl in a tower. The story is
Rumpelstiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky (Caldecott Honor 1987) is a beautiful picture book that retells of various versions of the Grimm’s story. I liked the tenderness in the expression of the mother and baby and the golden room was gorgeous. Rumpelstiltskin himself was exotic and strange and highly appropriate for the story at hand. I have
Chanticleer and the Fox by Barbara Cooney takes its story from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It is the story of the rooster named Chanticleer who let himself be flattered by a cunning fox. He is saved in the end, but the reader learns the lesson. There are few things about it that don’t sit well for me
The 1985 Caldecott winner is a retelling of a story from Edmund Spencer’s Faerie Queen, Saint George and the Dragon, by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. I’m not familiar with the original story, but this retelling is full of adventure as the brave knight faces the dragon day after day until it is
Cinderella, or, The Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown (Caldecott Winner 1955) has crayon, watercolor, and ink with appropriately gentle pictures for the story of a little Cinderella, who pines after the ball. At first glance (the cover) I wasn’t sure about the illustrations, but once I opened the book and saw the coloring of
I went through a summer children’s and YA binge during my blogging break. These books did not take long to read, and I read them for the pure entertainment value. They also are not ones that I’ll remember for long, although they were enjoyable. It may be that I am not thinking much of them
The introduction to my volume of Zora Neale Hurston’s retelling of the Biblical Exodus calls this a “badly flawed novel” and I’m sure it is. Hurston is basing her novel on a Biblical tale that lacks strong women characters, and she’s trying to make it feel modern. The introduction also criticizes the stereotyped way in
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