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32 pp.
| Shambhala
| February, 2017
|
TradeISBN 978-1-61180-365-5$16.95
(4)
K-3
"Want Monsters" can be helpful, but also prompt greed and other vices. A child resolves to do something about the fact that Want Monster Oskar has gotten too big. The concept's potential as a teaching tool crumbles under the ponderous narration. The striking illustrations feature thumbnail-size characters against what look like multicolored-chalk backdrops.
86 pp.
| Shambhala
| December, 2015
|
TradeISBN 978-1-61180-264-1$19.95
(4)
4-6
McGinnis presents tales adapted from the Jataka of the Buddha's animal incarnations. The concise stories (many of which, such as "The Donkey and the Lion Skin," have variants in Aesop's Fables) are told in simple prose; each is paired with a striking (if sometimes disconcerting) painting. With dark themes and occasional opacity of morals, slightly older, thoughtful readers are the best audience. Lack of sources is unfortunate.