Review - The Circus Comes to the Village

The Circus Comes to the Village
by Yutaka Kobayashi
Date: 2009
Publisher: Museyon
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 41
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

When fall arrives, the circus comes to Paghman village, one of the few pleasures for the villagers. Yamo and his friend Mirado are very excited. Yamo misses his brother, who has gone off to war. Mirado’s father is also away at war. At the circus, the boys browse the vendors, ride the swings and enjoy the shows. Mirado plays his father’s flute with the circus band and his music moves the people’s hearts. When the circus moves on the next day, Mirado leaves with it. As the villagers prepare for the severe winter ahead, Yamo thinks about his friend Mirado and wonders how he is doing. Finally, snow falls. The villagers are happy, since the snow leads to the next year’s harvest. Kobayashi's illustrations portray the beautiful village life that fall. Then, on the final page we are stunned to learn: "This winter, my village was destroyed by the war, and people escaped to other villages.” But the reader is ultimately left with hope, as the springtime announces the villagers' return.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I don't seem to have much luck with books translated from the Japanese. I don't know if it's a translation issue or a cultural thing or what. But I've found that many of them have disjointed narratives and some don't seem all that suitable for their target audience.

This is a story set in Afghanistan, although without the illustrations (and the fact that the setting is mentioned), you wouldn't necessarily know it. No effort was made to include any words from the local language, and this extends to the main character calling his mother "Mom". It's difficult to pinpoint what time this takes place in, too; I'm guessing it's present day (or, at the very least, within the last 50 years or so) given the presence of trucks.

There really isn't a lot of plot, other than the circus coming to town. Yamo and his friend Mirado (are those Afghan names? They almost sound Japanese to me...) are excited when they get to go. They ride the rickety wooden rides, look at ice cream (which is apparently only to be looked at, not eaten), and watch a show. Mirado plays his flute, gets applause, and decides to leave town with the circus (his grandma said it was okay). Snow comes to the village, and everyone is excited because it's good for the crops.

And then the book hits the reader with this weird gut-punch that seems to come out of nowhere. The village is destroyed by war that winter and the survivors abandon it. The village then sits empty as it waits for people to come back.

What the heck does that have to do with anything? If the synopsis didn't give all that away, it would've been a terrible shock. I went into this knowing that the village would be destroyed, but I thought maybe there would be some nuance or sign of hope. And I expected that it would tie in with Yamo's story somehow. But... no. The destruction of the village doesn't have anything to do with the circus or the plot of the book. It's almost like the author thought, "Well, I set this thing in Afghanistan. I guess I have to blow something up to show the horrors of war." But it doesn't work, and it just seems like a cheap trick to add some shock value. (It might've been too much for a picture book, but if Yamo had been killed or injured in the destruction of the village, it would've made more sense and tied the whole thing together. As it is, it seems like this book contains two disjointed narratives: one about the circus coming to town, and one about the war.)

So... I didn't like this one. The illustrations are nothing special, the writing doesn't evoke a sense of time and place, and the story is disjointed and relies on a shocking twist that barely relates to the rest of the plot. I've read better children's books set in Afghanistan. Try The Breadwinner: A Graphic Novel for a better look at a child's experience in the war-torn country.

Thank you to NetGalley and Museyon for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.17 out of 5

Review - Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan

Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan
by Maxine Rose Schur
illustrated by Patricia Grush, Robin DeWitt & Golsa Yaghoobi
Date: 2019
Publisher: Yali Publishing LLC
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 44
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

This is the extraordinary story of Queen Goharshad, a 15th century monarch, who many historians now believe was the most powerful woman in world history. Ruling from the Timurid artistic and cultural center of Herat in western Afghanistan, Queen Goharshad ushered in a remarkable, rare period when poetry, music, calligraphy, painting and the sciences flourished as never before. A poet and an architect, she designed a complex of buildings that were considered to be some of the most beautiful structures ever built on earth.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

How many picture books are there about 15th-century women? Not many, I'd imagine. Even rarer are books about women from this particular part of the world. Brave with Beauty tells the story of Goharshad, who grew up to become a queen and a patron of the arts.

The narrative is fairly strong here, painting the character of Goharshad with lovely words. There are a few punctuation typos, but nothing too glaring. The pictures are good, for the most part (although there are some small perspective issues that don't look quite right); they've lively and colourful and really create the historical setting.

Goharshad is an interesting character, and not what one might expect from a woman of this time period. She comes across as very forward-thinking, and even though she lived in a patriarchal society, she was still highly respected.

The ending of the book is terribly sad, showing the almost apocalyptic destruction of Goharshad's legacy. Given this, it's odd that her manner of death (she was executed) is glossed over. The book makes it seem like she simply died of old age. While the decision to leave out her manner of death may have been because of the target audience, it doesn't make a lot of sense when the rest of the ending is so depressing; disclosing the true manner of her demise could've provided some interesting jumping-off points for discussions about women's roles in the past, especially when it came to ruling kingdoms and empires.

Overall, though, this is an appealing picture book about a strong woman. I'd like to see more books in this vein, showing today's girls that, even in times when women had even fewer options than they do now, they could still make their mark on the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yali Publishing LLC for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Review - Azadah

Azadah
by Jacques Goldstyn
Date: 2016
Publisher: La Pastèque
Reading level: C
Book type: graphic novel
Pages: 56
Format: hardcover
Source: library

Au contact d'une photographe, une petite afghane constatera que le monde est vaste et que les possibilités sont infinies...

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is just depressing and weird. I'm not even sure if it's fantasy or contemporary.

A little girl named Azadah lives in war-ravaged Afghanistan. She's obviously made friends with a photographer who's come to photograph the conflict. But the photographer is leaving. Azadah begs her not to go, or to take her with her. She says (and she's probably right) that she won't have any opportunities if she stays there. She won't get to do any of the things she's dreamed of doing. But the photographer leaves anyway, getting into a UN truck and departing, but not before leaving Azadah her backpack of belongings. Azadah takes them all out and spreads them on the floor. She gets an idea; using sheets (or burqas?) from a washing line, she uses the objects in the backpack to build a hot-air balloon and fly herself out of the conflict zone. That's literally all there is to the story.

I'm not sure if it's supposed to be metaphorical, pure fantasy, or something else. But Azadah's pleas to not be left behind are heartbreaking, and the book just left me feeling depressed. Kids in war zones need more than imagination to help them get through the horrors they face. They can imagine themselves flying away, but that's not going to help them in reality.

There's very little text in this one (it's more of a graphic novel than a picture book), so I flew through it pretty quickly, even though it was in French. I think it could've benefited from being a little longer, though; as it is, the ending is kind of abrupt and the reader is left wondering what this point is.

Premise: 2/5
Story: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5

Review - The Breadwinner: A Graphic Novel

The Breadwinner: A Graphic Novel
by Deborah Ellis
adapted by Shelley Tanaka
Date: 2018
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Reading level: MG
Book type: graphic novel
Pages: 80
Format: e-book
Source: library

This beautiful graphic-novel adaptation of The Breadwinner animated film tells the story of eleven-year-old Parvana who must disguise herself as a boy to support her family during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan.

Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for having forbidden books, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food.

As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner.

Readers will want to linger over this powerful graphic novel with its striking art and inspiring story.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This graphic novel is apparently based on an animated film, which I haven't seen. To be frank, I think I would've rather seen the film. I don't know if it's the e-book format or what, but the text adaptation is absolutely horrendous. Unfortunately, this detracts from what could be a moving story.

Parvana lives with her parents and siblings in Kabul. One day her father is taken away and thrown in jail, leaving the family without a means of support. Parvana cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy so she can go out into the city and make a living. Meanwhile, her mother has arranged a marriage for her older sister, and war is coming. Parvana makes a desperate attempt to see her father in jail, while her mother and siblings end up being taken away by family members.

The book ends like many graphic novels do, as if it's to be continued in future installments (which I don't think is the case here). So I'm not sure if I like the ending; there are a lot of unanswered questions.

The story and setting are fraught with peril and heartache, but I found it kind of difficult to concentrate on those things when the text was so abysmal. It wasn't even a matter of a few typos (although there was a rather spectacular one with "first" spelled as "fiflrst"). Every instance of the word "find" seemed to be capitalized. Random words were in all caps. Half the names started with lowercase letters (but only some of the time). There were missing spaces all over the place so words ran together. I have no idea what happened with the text, but it's awful. Its only saving grace is that it's still intelligible enough to get the gist of the story.

If the physical editions of the graphic novel don't have these technical issues, then this is a decent book. As to the version I read, it seemed like it was rushed and slapped together just to cash in on the popularity of the film. And that's disappointing.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 1/5
Illustration: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Rating: 2.75 out of 5 ladybugs