Queen of the Sea - a graphic novel review

Queen of the Sea
By author/illustrator Dylan Meconis

Candlewick, 2019


Queen of the Sea is a 400-page historical fiction, graphic novel adventure set in a time and place reminiscent of the sixteenth century British Empire. A prologue introduces a queen in mortal danger, and the story then shifts to Margaret, an orphan who lives on a remote island in the Silver Sea. She has been raised in a convent. The nuns, a few servants, a priest, and Margaret are the island's only inhabitants, and life for Margaret is peaceful, pious, and predictable. A ship with supplies arrives twice a year to bring supplies. However, one day, the ship brings a boy and a lady, and life on the island will never be the same.

Queen of the Sea is a rousing adventure, but it's also an education in sixteenth century politics and the lifestyle of a religious order in the early days of modern Western history. Though the destiny of women was often determined by men, Queen of the Sea offers strong, but believable, female protagonists in young Margaret, Lady Cameron, and the nuns. A sequel will be most welcome!




Read a sample chapter of Queen of the Sea.

Inside spread from Queen of the Sea by author/illustrator: Dylan Meconis ©

Note:
My advance copy of Queen of the Sea was in black and white with only a sample page in color.  The first 3/4 of the book were finished black and white drawings, the latter portion of the book was comprised of sketches.  I almost wish that everyone had an opportunity to see a graphic novel is this format. It makes one so much more aware of the work that goes into every aspect of a book.

My copy of Queen of the Sea was provided by the publisher.

Picture Book Roundup - Una princesa, bears with cares, and a wolf who despairs

Picture Book Roundup - Una princesa, bears with cares, and a wolf who despairs

It's been a while since I've done a picture book roundup.  Here are a few newly or soon-to-be-published favorites. 

La Princesa and the Pea
by Susan Middleton Elya
Ill. by Juana Martinez-Neal
Penguin Young Readers, 2017


The highly successful duo of Susan Middleton Elya and Juana Martinez-Neal (La Madre Goose: Nursery Rhymes for Los Niños) has teamed up again for another re-working of a classic children's story.  In La Princesa and the Pea, Martinez-Neal uses acrylics, colored pencils and graphite on handmade paper to create Peruvian-inspired illustrations that burst with expression and humor, yet have an air of gentle softness and beauty.  It's a fine mix.  The rhyming text is sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases highlighted in red text.  A group of "strong workers," (which includes a girl and two small kids! 😃) stacks veinte mattresses while the queen munches  from her box of bombones.

The queen ate her treats.  The bed was stacked high, and right when they finished, la niña came by.

"Here is your cama, a place you can sleep."
"Thanks!" said the girl. "I won't even count sheep."

 It would be a wonderful story even without the surprise ending! Great bilingual fun with many humorous illustrated details to find.

A Glossary and A Note from the Illustrator are included.  Helpfully, the Glossary appears in the front!

Full disclosure: This was my favorite fairytale as a child.

The Curious Cares of Bears
by Douglas Florian
Ill. by Sonia Sánchez
Little Bee Books, 2017

I've long been a fan of Douglas Florian.  His books are poetic and nature-inspired.  His books on the four seasons (Autumblings, Winter Eyes, Summersaults, Handsprings) are favorites of mine, as is Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars.

The Curious Cares of Bears is a fanciful look at a year in the lives of bears.  Each double-spread illustration contains a short, rhyming explanation of the season's activity.

Some, like the one above, are mostly accurate (although I'm not sure a full-sized bear would venture out on the comically thin branch!).  Other activities are pure fancy,

In autumn there's playing in leaves all day long,
then building a campfire and sharing a song.

The illustrations are mixed media that appear to be a combination of charcoal sketches, simple brushwork, and digital enhancements.  The bears and their environs are portrayed simply with a measure of whimsy, and a reverence for nature. The combination of crafted rhyming and delightfully simple illustrations is beary likeable.

When a Wolf is Hungry
by Christine Naumann-Villemin
Ill. by Kris Di Giacomo
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2017


A hungry wolf decides that he has a hankering for a rabbit,

Not just any ordinary cottontail, though. What he craved was a grain-fed, silky-haired rabbit, one with just a hint of sweetness.  A city bunny.

So with knife in paw, Edmond Bigsnout heads to the city to find his rabbit. As it turns out, the perfect rabbit lives on the 5th floor of an apartment building.  Every time that Edmond gets close to the apartment, a friendly neighbor appears and begs to borrow Edmond's instrument of death - knife, chainsaw, rope. The story is full of rich and language and dialogue,

"Delighted to meet you.  Oh, look, you have some rope! Any chance I could have it? This great big package is such a nuisance."
Drat!
"I suppose so," sighed the wolf.
The skunk was so pleased that he let out a little air.

Why do the neighbors need these items and where is Max Omatose, miniature rabbit?

A humorous ending will make everyone happy—perhaps there is something wonderful about living in a big city neighborhood. The double-spread illustrations in this generously-sized book are comically suspenseful.  Edmond rides a bicycle while wearing a black suit and bow tie. A middle-aged cow in a flowered dress and pearls eyes Edmond's pot hopefully.  A beautiful neighbor wolf, Miss Eyestopper, is straight out of film noir.

When a Wolf is Hungry is a perfect book for sharing with slightly older kids. I'd take this one on a school visit any day.



My review copies of La Princesa and the Pea and The Curious Cares of Bears were provided by the publishers at my request. My copy of When a Wolf is Hungry was obtained through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

The Queen of Frogs - a review

The Queen of Frogs

by Davide Cali with illustrations by Marco Soma
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2017


If you have seen the popular South African movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980, 20th Century Fox), then you will understand the premise of this delightfully illustrated cautionary tale of a colony of frogs who suddenly discover a crown. If you have not, I will suggest that queen in question has the desire and ambition of "Yertle the Turtle" (from Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories) and the clueless bravado of the infamous emperor in "The Emperor's New Clothes." Turnabout is fair play is exhibited in the book's humorous ending with a twist.

The illustrations appear to be a combination of pencil sketches painted with the muted earth tones of a frog bog. The anthropomorphic frogs cavort with great expression. Humorous details include frogs fishing with spools of thread for reels and a Venus Flytraps as bait. The frogs fish up, of course, as the target catch are flies! A bottle cap can also be spotted as the official seal on the the royal spokesman's podium.

The Queen of Frogs was first published in Portugal. My copy was courtesy of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program. I highly recommend it as a read-aloud for older listeners or a read alone for elementary school students.

The Whipping Boy

Fleischman, Sid. 1986. The Whipping Boy. New York: Greenwillow.

Once I while, I take time out to catch up on older classics. To that end, I recently read Sid Fleischman’s Newbery Medal winning book from 1986, The Whipping Boy. I’m not sure if it would win a Newbery Medal if it were published today, because later stories (like Kate DiCamillo’s, The Tale of Despereaux and The Magician’s Elephant), perhaps inspired by this comical, yet moving adventure story, have set a new standard for this style of writing. Nevertheless, The Whipping Boy is an amusing tale with plot twists and turns, as the kindly whipping boy is forced to accompany the hated, Prince Brat as he flees from King and castle. Lies and deceptions, murderous thieves, and compassionate peasants will keep the reader guessing about fates of Prince Brat and his whipping boy. Unlike DiCamillo’s stories, The Whipping Boy is a tale of historical fiction, revealing the lifestyles of both medieval royalty and peasantry. And yes, if you’re wondering, according to the author’s end note, “some royal households of past centuries did keep whipping boys to suffer the punishments due a misbehaving prince. History is alive with lunacies and injustices.”

A quick read with black and white illustrations by the renowned Peter Sis, The Whipping Boy is still relevant today, more than 20 years after its debut.