Sunita

The handmade sticker on the front of the book immediately drew my attention. The artwork is detailed and gorgeous and I love the historical info provided on the last two pages. The story reminds me of one of the dark fairy tales my mother told me as a little girl; which were always very different from the disney-fied things my classmates got.

This book provides culture to a classroom and knowing the history of it would be great to inform children on. I really like how it showed that the art form of this book is practiced by only women, and they usually don't display their art outside of their village. Books like these would support their beautiful artwork and provide children with the knowledge of the history.

Gobble You Up! is a story in cumulative rhyme, centering on a wily jackal, who is too lazy to hunt for his food. He tricks his friend, the crane into becoming his prey… and then proceeds to gobble up every animal he comes across… The book features Meena art from Rajasthan, done by women on the walls and floors of their homes. This is the first time that this style–rarely seen outside the confines of Meena villages–has been used in a children’s book. Meena artist Sunita’s show more black-and-white drawings rework traditional imagery to illustrate a gamboling tale. To re-create the quality of the original art and rendering, the book has been silkscreen-printed by hand onto kraft paper using black and white ink. Each book is a numbered edition. show less

This book was interesting but not one of my favorites... although I understand and have begun to appreciate traditional tales it really takes a certain something to engage me, and this just didn't have it. What I can say for this book is that I enjoyed the artwork and found it set itself apart from many of the other illustrations from titles I have read this term.