Thursday, August 11, 2016

The storyteller by Evan Turk -OPTIONAL

Turk, Evan The storyteller Paula Antheneum (Simon), 2016 $18.99.  PICTURE BOOK
In this story, set long ago in the past in Morocco, a city is out of water, and the Saharan desert is coming, by way of a storm. A little boy is searching for water, and meets a story teller instead. He learns, bit by bit, from the storyteller, of a similar situation. Then how magical yarn, a magical bird, and the art of storytelling, all come together and may save their town.  
This story is a nod to the ancient Moroccan art of storytelling, is quite complex. It’s a story within a story within a story, which is way above the head of younger readers. For upper grade readers, I am not sure they would really get the point of how important storytelling is. I get that the boy in the story accomplishes great things through storytelling, but it’s so convoluted how the magic and the belief come together, that I am not sure they would enjoy it. The artwork is busy, so it would be challenging to share with a group.

EL  –OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

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