Demi

Prolific American author/illustrator Demi, who is known for her picture book folklore retellings and biographies, here presents a Tibetan folktale about two honest and hardworking men, an accident that leads to a quarrel, and the wisdom of a king. When a poor man travels down the mountain to bring his oil to the market to sell, only to see the oil jar destroyed and the oil dispersed by a passing donkey—itself bearing the wood of another poor man, also making his way to market—the show more resulting argument cannot be resolved between them, and they go to the king for judgment. This wise man declares there will be a trial, in which both the donkey and the rock on which the jar was sitting will be tried. All the people are agog with curiosity, having never heard of such a trial, and make their way to the king's palace. His judgment—in which the people are fined for their foolishness in believing in such a trial—is unexpected, and manages to recompense the poor man whose oil was destroyed, leaving everyone happy...

I enjoyed The Donkey and the Rock, primarily for Demi's detailed and gorgeous illustrations. That being said, I'm not sure I understood or agreed with the lesson that this tale seeks to impart. I don't know what the right or just solution would be, to the situation presented to the king—it was clearly an accident, and both parties involved were honorable men—but the one settled upon seemed somehow... distasteful to me. While it's true that a trial involving a rock and a donkey would be foolish, and that the king's subjects showed up out of "silly curiosity," it's also true that more than a few monarchs and authority figures throughout history have done some irrational things. If the people felt the king was being unwise, in this or any other case, could they have done anything about it? Given the power dynamic involved, the king's actions felt more like he was using dishonest means to set a trap, manipulating the people through their curiosity, in order to get them to pay for the loss of the oil. Who's to say these curious subjects weren't as poor as the two men involved in the accident? Why is it just or wise to make them pay, and if that was what the king wanted, why not just make that decree in a straightforward way? It smacks of wanting to appear wise and virtuous, while giving away other people's money—other people who possess far less. No doubt I'm overanalyzing, and not for the first time in my life, but I really struggled to see this as a wisdom tale. I do recommend the artwork here, but not much else. show less

Prolific American picture book author and artist Demi retells eleven Jataka Tales—tales attributed to the Buddha—in this gorgeous picture book. Inspired by the world's first printed book—a Buddhist suttra or teaching made with woodblocks in 600 A.D., with gold print on indigo pages—Demi's text and illustrations here appear in gold, on deep, blue-black pages. The stories included are:

The Lion King, in which that leonine ruler must reassure his subjects, when a panicked rabbit leaps to show more the conclusion that the earth is breaking up after a coconut falls to the ground and cracks, and causes a general panic. This story, which concluded with the moral, "When one person tells a falsehood, one hundred repeat it as true," reminds me of folktales like Chicken Licken (AKA Henny Penny), in which the sky is falling.

The Turtle and the Geese, in which a turtle is befriended by a gaggle of geese, and offered a ride to their beautiful home, if he will promise to keep his mouth closes, and thereby not let go of the stick being used to carry him through the air. The sad ending teaches the lesson that "Disaster can come from opening you mouth at the wrong time."

The Black Bull, in which a beautiful black bull, always treated well by his human, suggests a contest that will benefit him, only to be mistreated. Refusing to comply, the bull causes the human to lose the contest, and reproaches him for his conduct afterward. Taught how to behave to one who has served him faithfully, the human wins the next contest, teaching the reader to "Treat others with kindness and your deeds will be rewarded."

The Beautiful Parrots, in which two gorgeous birds are captured and made much of in the king's palace, until the attention they are given is supplanted by a new monkey. One parrot is wise, and does not believe all attention should go to him, while the other laments his change of status. This tale teaches that "Riches and fame come and go like the wind."

The Cunning Wolf, in which a trapped wolf vows to reform his ways, but fails when tested by the Buddha, who takes the shape of a goat. The moral of this story is that "It is easier to make a promise than to keep it."

The Little Gray Donkey, in which a dishonest merchant disguises his donkey as a lion, and sets him loose in the farmers' fields at night to eat, confident that the frightened farmed will do nothing, thereby allowing his donkey to steal their grain or rice. The trick is discovered when the merchant becomes too cocky and does this during the day, teaching the listener "Don't be deceived by a donkey in a lion's skin." This was an interesting inversion of the better known (at least today) story of the wolf in sheep's clothing!

The Clever Crab, in which a crane tricks a pondful of fish into allowing him to carry them to a better residence, in the form of a nearby lake, only to eat the fish in his cave nearby. When the crane tries this trick on the crane, he soon finds the tables turned, teaching that "If you cheat on the earth, the earth will cheat on you."

The Monkey King, in which this primate leader teaches a human king a lesson, when the king and his men attempt to take all of the mangos from the monkeys' tree. By helping his subjects to escape the humans, the monkey teaches the human king what his priorities should be, imparting the moral that "If the family lives in harmony, all affairs will prosper."

The Golden Goose, in which a kindhearted goose gives his golden feathers to help an impoverished woman and her two daughters, only for the woman to become greedy, and decide the rob him of all of those feathers. Her daughters, horrified by her actions, help the goose, and are rewarded, while the mother suffers for the rest of her life, teaching that "The greatest wealth is the wealth of kindness."

The Magic Pig, in which an old woman cares for her two pigs as if they were her children, and refuses to part with them for any amount of money. When ruffians attempt to steal the pigs, one begins to recite the prayer, "The Perfection of Love," thereby taming the bad hearts of all around, and teaching that "Heaven remembers those whose hearts are true."

The Magic Elephant, in which a king becomes jealous of his beautiful white elephant, thinking it receives more praise than he does, and devises a series of tests meant to destroy the elephant. When the elephant trainer see how things are going, he exhorts the elephant to fly away and find a more worthy king, teaching that "Pride leads to a fall, but humility is rewarded in the end."

I enjoyed Buddha Stories immensely, both for the tales themselves and for the gorgeous artwork. I appreciated the unusual but striking design choice here, although it did sometimes make reading a challenge, given the dark background of the pages. I think perhaps the gold ink of the text should have been bolder (perhaps larger text?) to aid in reading, but other than this, I have no aesthetic criticism of the book, which is just beautiful. I can't critique the author for the front dust-jacket blurb which mentions Aesop as a reteller of these tales—in fact, Aesop and Buddha were roughly contemporaneous, with stories set down in print centuries later, and there is still some debate as to which culture influenced which, with many of these tale—as she is unlikely to have written the copy there. In any case, this was a wonderful collection of stories in its own right, and also a wonderful collection of Buddhist teachings. I think it would pair very nicely with Sherab Chödzin and Alexandra Kohn's The Wisdom of the Crows and Other Buddhist Tales, which I have also enjoyed. Recommended to anyone seeking Buddhist content for children, as well as to those who appreciate Demi's charming illustrations. show less

Prolific and talented picture book creator Demi, whose work is generally dominated by folktale retellings and biographies, here turns her eye on the alphabet, and on the fun of search and find games. Each two-page spread in this book is devoted to one or two letters of the alphabet, with an animal corresponding to that letter depicted, both in large format, and in smaller versions within that larger one. So, on the Aa spread, an alligator is seen, sprawled out across the two pages, with many show more little alligators depicted within the shape of the larger one. A specific small example of an alligator is given in a key, next to the letter, and the reader must hunt for that example within the larger picture. The detailed artwork alternates between vividly colorful and black and white, and an answer key (as well as one last puzzle) is given at the rear...

I wasn't sure what to expect when going into Demi's Find-The-Animal A.B.C.: An Alphabet-Game Book, although the sub-title did hint that there would be an interactive element. This is one of those alphabet books whose purpose is not so much to teach the alphabet to young children, but to use the alphabet as a structure around which to build the larger project envisioned by the book's creator. Here that project is the artwork, and the search-and-find game, and I think it succeeds on both counts. I found the visuals here beautiful, and appreciated the chance to see something a little different from Demi's usual work, which almost always features her trademark diminutive human figures. I loved the use of color in those illustrations which had color, and I loved the overall composition, with the many little animals fitting into the larger ones, or parading across the page. As someone whose eyes tire easily—a drawback of working mostly online—I confess that there were a few pages where I gave up the search, but I think for young children who enjoy this sort of thing, there will be much pleasure provided by the process of poring over the page. It is primarily for this purpose—use as a search-and-find puzzle book—that I would recommend this one, rather than as either an alphabet book or book about animals. show less

Rushing to attend a dinner given by an old friend of his, that celebrated Turkish wise man the Nasrettin Hoca does not bother to change his coat, old and tattered, and very soiled from his efforts to help out during a crisis at a caravansary he had passed along his ride. When he discovers that his host is not interested in entertaining or feeding him, and that the other guests ignore him, he goes away, making his way home to bathe and to dress in the finest of clothing. Returning to the show more dinner in his finery, he finds his reception is very different, and determined to teach his friend and the other guests a lesson, begins to feed his coat the food he is given. After all, it seems to be the coat that his host values, so it must be the coat which is fed...

Tales of the Nasrettin Hoca (or Nasreddin Hodja) abound in Turkish and Middle Eastern folklore (he's known as Juha in the Arabic world), and I have encountered the figure many times in my folkloric reading over the years. That said, I actually first encountered the specific story to be found in Demi's The Hungry Coat through a Mizrahi Jewish variant of the tale, retold by author Ronit Chacham and illustrator Shirley Waisman in the Israeli children's book Eat, Coat, Eat!. I immediately recognized the tale type when reading this book, which is always a pleasure—I like to compare and contrast similar stories across diverse cultures—and I appreciated author/illustrator Demi's engaging telling, with its humor, heart and insight. I also appreciated her gorgeous artwork, with its ornate decorative style—many of the paintings here look like they come from an illuminated manuscript—and vivid color palette. Recommended to young folklore enthusiasts, to those looking for picture book retellings of Turkish tales, and to fans of the artist. show less