Elizabeth LairdBesprekingen

Adaptations of Iranian folklore. Tales include: Miss Cockroach and Mr Mouse, The Giant Okah, Kayvan the Brave, The Sparrow's Quest, Pea Boy, The Prophet Khizir, and The Cloth of Eternal Life.

This is a wonderfully written and an amazing novel by an amazing writer, Elizabeth Laird. This book is heart-warming, brilliant and can't be avoided which deals about two boys - Mamo and Dani and their lives, experiences and adventures. This is and will be one of the best books ever written and is definitely my favorite and is my winner.

good - Ruthie

On the one hand, it's a great slice-of-life story set in Ethiopia, 23 miles outside of Addis Ababa, and it's short, accessible and well written. On the other, I think it's problematic that it's written by a white British Commonwealth author. She lived there for years, she's clearly researched it, but there's also a never ending niggle that makes me wonder if this is a portrait that an 11 year old boy from Kidame would recognize? Is it a good book ? Yes. Is it the book I was looking for? Almost.

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Please consider this review to be petty. Like many others, I read this in seventh grade for school. It was assigned a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks. I remember wondering if there was a reason it was assigned then, or if every school had to read it. Reading this book as an adult brought back flickers of memories of reading it then. School comp/lit classes always made me hate reading, and I'd come home and dive into my pile of library books and ignore the rest of my homework. I also loathed my seventh grade teacher. Everyone who had her did. I was a real jerk to her, especially about this book. I couldn't relate to it, had no idea why we were reading it, and found it boring and confusing.

As an adult, I was determined to read it in one sitting, and I did, and I hoped for a different opinion. I'm ashamed that I still can't relate and that I'm critical of the writing: repeated pretty setting! Bombing! Long journey! Arguing! Long journey! Barely-there emotions! This book is clearly for young teens, and that's fine, but it really feels like the author normally writes for adults and is somehow holding back. The little kids add nothing to the story and annoyed me. From the way they were written, I wonder if the author had kids the same ages when she wrote this. Reading this in one sitting overall reinforced my lack of enjoyment or connection.

Set during the Napoleonic War, when twelve-year-old John Barr and his father are falsely accused of murder they are forced to run for their lives through the streets of Edinburgh. At Leith harbour they are pressed into the Navy and posted to different ships. John is sent to join HMS Fearless where a chance discovery thrusts him and his shipmate Kit into the shadowy world of secrets, spies and adventure.

Now I should point out that I'm at least 40 years past the true target audience for this book but a friend who knows I'm a sucker for naval yarns sent it to me saying that I should give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. It's a quick read with a plot that rattles along at a decent pace and whilst it requires a bit of a leap of imagination it is at least credible; John and Kit's characters are reasonably developed; the historical details are interesting without being too detailed as are the on-ship elements. So, whilst this book probably won't live that long in the memory it did provide me with a decent piece of escapism, that I can imagine younger readers enjoying.

This is probably going to be the best book I'll read this year. The ending was tied up better than most books I've read so far, it was such a satisfying ending. Even though we don't know how Maggie will specifically go ok with her life, the ending left no questions at all.

1983 Dolors

Jake has lived with his mother and her abusive boyfriend for most of his life. As the abuse gets worse, Jake starts to imagine a special tower where he, his mother, and his real father would live. One night, when the abuse gets out of hand, Jake's mother packs their bags and takes them to a most unexpected place.

Jake's Tower shows a family in crisis and the desperation that causes people to make difficult choices. The characters of Jake and his mother are fairly well developed as we feel the pain and anxiety they both go through in order to change the pattern of abuse in their lives. Other characters in the story are less well developed, leaving a bit of a whole in the story, but overall, Jake's Tower is a realistic rendition of living life in the midst of abuse.

An interesting story about refugees following 12-year-old Omar who is forced to leave Syria.

For most of the book I was going to give it three stars with a frown, but the ending. It makes up for how much rambling on about Anna wanting to date Tony that a large part of the middle of the book.

Young teen Anna can't wait for the birth of her baby brother but when he is born disabled (hydroceph... ) she is angry and embarrassed. How Anna comes to terms with her brother's limitations, her friends' teasing, and her own feelings of being neglected are the stuff of this book. Well-written but some of language may seem stilted to US readers (author is a Kiwi). More profound, this reader wishes the author had gone into more depth about the relationship and the book's ending, while perhaps honest, seems abrupt. That said, this is a must-read for students who have siblings that are "different."

Apparently based on a tale (or poem) from the Sufi poet Rumi, Grobblechops is a picture book that focuses on familiar nighttime fears of children. Amir’s dad is readying him for bed, but Amir worries that the monster (Grobblechops) may arrive through the night. For a while the two strategize about what Amir can do to get the monster to go away. Ultimately, the best solution is for Amir to share his toys with the creature.

The illustrations are serviceable, but not exceptional. Grobblechops, the monster, is more whimsical than truly frightening. (I don’t think he’d scare little kids. That’s a plus, I suppose.) Really, though, I feel fairly indifferent to this picture book—which appears to be intended to encourage kids to make friends with their fears.

Not being overly familiar with Rumi’s work, I wish a short note about sources had been included.

Beatrice is a young girl who lives in Africa. She sets out to bring her granddad a present. She meets many different animals on the way. Each one accidentally messes up her gift and gives her a replacement in return. Finally, she ends up with the same gift that she started out with. In this book the author shows how a circular chain of events works. I think that this book is a great model for writing this type of book.

"The Ogress and the Snake," is the Somali version of a Hansel and Gretel story. It is about five little girls who have been abandoned in the desert and try to find safety in the house of a man-eating ogress. This story has a trickster character, magic powers and a talking camel. There are more than one story in this book. Great for our folklore unit in 4th grade and provides diversity in cultures and stories.

A book filled with tales of Persia, including illustrations and a character list to reference.

Read for the Carnegie Book Award 2015

A tiny collection of Iraqi folktales adapted by an author who obviously loved her time in Iraq.

Award-winning novelist Elizabeth Laird has gathered together the very best Iraqi stories during her time in the Middle East...Meticulously researched and elegantly retold, the stories reveal the true, traditional heart of Iraq, far removed from today's news headlines.

While Laird's love for Iraq and travelling the world is made clear in her introduction to A Fistful of Pearls, I couldn't help but sense her adaptations were heavily anglicized. For example, in "Zirak and the Ring-Dove," Zirak says to Ring-Dove, "Ain't no one can hold a candle to you, girl, and that's my last word on the subject." Word choices like that jarred me out of more than one story. If not for the illustrations by Shelley Fowles, character names, and a few Middle Eastern specific references (Caliph, jinn), I would not have know these tales were from Iraq.

Best used as a brief introduction to Iraqi folklore. If you're seeking more connectedness to original stories the peoples of the Middle East have shared for centuries, do what I'm doing, seek out the source material Laird used for A Fistful of Pearls.

3 stars

Contents:

"Lazy Ahmed" - A clever wife saves the day. I couldn't help noting, though, that lying and cheating are rewarded.

"Zirak and the Ring-Dove" - A tale of friendship and self-sacrifice.

"The Pots that had Babies" - It never pays to be stingy.

"The Moon Pool" - A clever hare saves her people and teaches the bullies a lesson.

"The Suit of Stone" - An arrogant tailor is saved by a clever daughter.

"A Fistful of Pearls" - A young girl and a young prince (son of the Sultan of the Jinns) fall in love. Reminded me of Beauty and the Beast tales.

"The Sign of the Tassel" - A clever wife devises a way to calm her hot-tempered husband.

"A Coat for a King" - A trickster tale involving a wolf and a lion.

"I Want my Son!" - Not really sure about the point of this one. Kindness leads to greater rewards?

Laird's sources as listed in the Acknowledgments:

Tales From the Arab Tribes: The Oral Traditions Among the Great Arab Tribes of Southern Iraq, C.G. Campbell, 1949

Folktales from the City of the Golden Domes, Sarah Powell Jamali, 1965

Folktales of Iraq, E.S. Stevens, 1931

Arab Folktales, Inea Bushnaq, 1986

The Fables Of Kalilah And Dimnah, (trans) Saleh Sa'adeh Jallad, 2002

This retelling and translation of the Shahnameh is gripping from start to finish. Filled with stories of romance, heroes, gods and mortals.

I liked this book for several reasons. The main message of this story was to combine several traditional tales from Iran and re-tell and illustrate them. The first think I liked was the layout of the book. The book begins with a table of contents which is helpful for someone who is looking for a particular story. The table of contents tells the reader exactly which pages the stories begin and end. I also liked that the illustrations help to enhance the stories. For example, the illustrations feature many Iranian patterns. When people are illustrated, they are also dressed in traditional Iranian clothes. This helps the stories feel more authentic and related to the culture that the stories are describing. The only thing I did not like about the book was that I feel like the text may be too cluttered and small for younger readers.

Probably not one of Laird's best offerings but still an interesting book about a young, Kurdish girl who has to flee Iraq with her family to join the growing band of refugees in Iran. This book would sit nicely along side the "Parvana" series by Deborah Ellis.

This was an action-packed read about two boys from vastly different cultures who find themselves caught up in a holy war. Despite being sworn enemies, unusual circumstances keep throwing them together as gradually they develop a mutual respect and friendship towards each other.

Elizabeth Laird always writes a good book and this one is no exception as it focuses on the life of young camel jockeys; stolen from their families and forced to work on camel farms where they are underfed to keep their weight down, given electric shocks to stunt their growth, subject to harsh punishment if they disobey orders and face constant danger when racing the camels. "Lost Riders" is about Rashid, an eight year-old camel jockey.

I am a real fan of Elizabeth Laird! She has a wonderful capacity for bringing a period or culture alive for the reader, and this book is set in 17th century Scotland where Maggie and her grandmother are accused of being witches. However, with help from an old friend Maggie manages to escape and live with her uncle, and his family, who are Covenanters refusing to acknowledge the king as the head of the church. As with all her books, Laird has created some wonderful, realistic characters. Young Maggie is extremely likeable who gradually learns to stand up for herself and become a reluctant heroine and old Tam is a real sweetie.