May 2012 - Page 3 of 4 - Dogear Diary

The Last Unicorn

by Peter S. Beagle adapted by Peter Gillis

I haven\’t read the original Last Unicorn in years, but I remember it dearly. Saw this graphic novel version on the library shelf and had to bring it home. It\’s a fitting tribute to the original tale of a unicorn on a quest. She lived peacefully for centuries in her wood until one day overhearing some men talking about how unicorns have disappeared from the world. Afraid of being the only one, she sets off on a journey to find others of her kind. Along the way she meets many different characters, most of whom fail to recognize the unicorn for what she is (they just see a white horse) others who still believe. Although she never asked them, two companions accompany her to discover the fate of the unicorns- a bumbling magician and a bitter woman (who still believes in unicorns). The ending is bittersweet, and the cat is my favorite character (although his personality comes across much fuller in the original book).

I liked the artwork by Renae de Liz for the most part, except that the unicorn herself often looked awkward to me, the head too small and the lack of a chin kept bugging me – even though I know in the original Beagle said her head was like a deer, and this is, it still doesn\’t quite fit the image in my mind. And the story often felt fragmented- it was okay because I remember the book so clearly, but I\’m afraid that someone reading this who hadn\’t already read the original might get lost. For example, the part where Lir is writing poetry to Amalthea- it wasn\’t clear at all that he was even writing poems, or for what reason. For all appearances, he\’s just saying random things… well, even so I enjoyed it. If you\’re a fan of The Last Unicorn, definitely give this one a look. If not, I\’d suggest reading Beagle\’s words in full first.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 152 pages, 2011

more opinions at:
great fiction read here
Good Books and Good Wine
Imaginary Reads

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Graphic Novels

Pride of Baghdad

by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Based on a true incident during the Iraq War, this graphic novel illustrates what happens to a group of lions when the zoo is hit by bombs and the wild animals escape. The story is brief; the lions only wander for a short time before encountering soldiers, but the strength of the book is in their characters. And in the amazing illustrations. The animals are drawn so life-like and expressive. I must have gone back through the book two or three times just to look at the pictures. It\’s one I want to add to my own shelves someday. Ah, back to the tale: so the lions all have different personalities and perspectives; some are cautious, others remember their days in the wild with nostalgia; the cub is just in awe of every new thing he sees. The animals are bewildered by the chaos and novelties they encounter outside the zoo, also the uncertainty of their plight: who will feed them? they attempt hunting but aren\’t practiced at it, or get interrupted by bombs falling. They meet other animals: a turtle who remembers a previous war, a band of horses, antelope and baboons also escaped from the zoo, and in the end a huge bear (apparently some rich person\’s pet?) who battles the male of the pride. The ending is very sad and feels abrupt: I would have liked to walk in these lions\’ footsteps longer. It definitely gets across the message of how wasteful and horrific war is. Not a book for children: there are graphic scenes of animals getting hit by bombs and gunfire, there are moments when the lions mate, there is plenty of blood and violence. The orange color palette is very striking; it\’s not a color scheme I really like but it worked excellently in this case. And did I say the pictures are beautiful? for all their violence and disturbing depictions. they are beautifully drawn.

This was wonderful. I\’m glad my library had a copy.

Rating: 4/5 ……… 136 pages, 2006

more opinions:
Thoughts of the Graphic Sort
It\’s a Dan\’s World

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Graphic Novels

Preludes and Nocturnes

The Sandman

by Neil Gaiman

The King of Dreaming gets caught by some muddling fools who are just clever enough to entrap him but can\’t get who they really want- Death. Sandman is enclosed in their glass prison for ages. While he is trapped people all over the world get stuck in their dreams or suffer otherwise because the dream world is gone rampant without his rule. When he finally gets free he wants revenge but first he has to retrieve three magical objects that were taken from him, without which he is powerless. Most of the story seems to be about his quest to get his belongings back, which includes a trip into hell.

Perhaps I shouldn\’t have been so eager to read it. I liked Dream Hunters so much, but Preludes and Nocturnes did not work for me. I had trouble following the storyline from the very beginning, sometimes the images would not make sense to me, or I couldn\’t see how they progressed the story. Characters come in and out without much introduction and I felt like I was supposed to know who they were just because they were part of a comic- the format is still relatively new to me so there were references and allusions to things that I figure I would know about if I read comics all the time but I don\’t, so I didn\’t. I made myself keep reading and I did find the bit about Sandman visiting hell to retrieve his objects and having a magical duel with a demon interesting, but after that things just mattered less and less to me and pretty soon I realized I didn\’t want to read anymore. Which disappoints me, because so many people seem to rave about Sandman, and it seems like a lot of fans aren\’t big on reading other graphic novels at all; this is one series that is supposed to transcend the genre. But I gather from other reviews as well that it gets better with the next book, so I might give at least one more volume a try before I give up on Sandman as being not-for-me.

Abandoned …….. 240 pages, 1993

more opinions:
the Blog of Litwits
richardmbray
the Book Coop

Tags: 0/5- Abandoned, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Graphic Novels

Jungle Book Stories

by Rudyard Kipling adapted by P. Craig Russell

I\’ve always been fond of the Jungle Book stories, perhaps the second volume even more than the first, as there\’s more variety to the tales (not all about Mowgli) and they\’re not as well-known. This richly illustrated graphic novel includes three of the later stories.

\”The King\’s Ankus\” relates how Mowgli is shown a treasure in a ruin beneath the jungle, guarded by a white cobra. Mowgli is puzzled at why men value the jewels and riches, he doesn\’t understand the worth of something you can\’t eat. He\’s intrigued by the design of an instrument used to prod elephants and wants to carry it away into the light but the cobra warns him that it will bring death to many. Mowgli doesn\’t believe this, but when he later tosses aside the ankus, he discovers that indeed, men will kill each other in order to possess it (there are jewels in the handle). He and Bagheera follow the trail of six men who die over the ankus, then they recover it and return it to the treasure cave, disgusted with the waste of human life.

In \”Red Dog\”, rumor of a large dhole pack coming into the area makes all the animals anxious. Mowgli is advised to leave the area until the dhole are done hunting there, but instead he comes up with a scheme to outwit them in battle with the help of Kaa the python. First he taunts the dogs into a fury, then he leads them through swarms of bees, over a cliff into a tumultuous river, and finally the survivors are met by the wolf pack who engage them in bloody battle.

The last story, \”The Spring Running\” shows Mowgli feeling out of sorts. All the animals in the forest are infected with spring fever and seeking mates. Mowgli doesn\’t know what to do with himself or why he feels unsettled. He visits his mother, returns to the jungle again, then finally takes his leave of his animal friends, deciding to go back to mankind.

I remembered all these stories from when I read the books long ago, although I had forgotten many details. It was nice to revisit them in a format completely new to me.

rating: 3/5 …….. 88 pages, 2003

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Michael Vance (Flickr)

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Fiction, Graphic Novels, Juvenile Fic

The Dream Hunters

The Sandman

by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell

Set in ancient Japan, this is the story of a shape-shifter fox and a young monk who fall in love. The fox at first has a bet with a badger to see who can drive the monk from his temple and take it for their own home. They both fail, but during the process the fox (after taking the form of a woman) unexpectedly falls in love with the monk. She overhears some demons in the forest plotting to take the monk\’s life, and has to use all her fox wits to save him if she can. It was such a wonderful, intriguing story. Each turn of the plot had me sitting up all alert and fascinated again. The artwork is superb (there must be a few versions of this novella, because I found the same book with different artists as you see in links below).

I am not familiar with the Sandman universe at all, so I wasn\’t sure until I looked it up how this one fit into the rest of the series. Turns out it\’s kind of a stand-alone story, published after the main Sandman series was finished. I enjoyed it a lot. The character of Sandman has a small appearance here, when the monk visits dreamland, and I was intrigued to find there was also a master dream-fox that the fox-woman visited for counsel. I also found curious the idea that dreamland was somehow equated with the land of death…. I\’m eager now to read all the Sandman graphic novels in order, at least as far as my library has them (sometimes I woefully discover they only have part of a series, or are missing a few books in the middle… )

Rating: 4/5 ……..144 pages, 2011

more opinions:
Stuff As Dreams Are Made On
My Honor is Called Loyalty!
Page 247

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Graphic Novels

Mirrormask

by Neil Gaiman

Helena lives with a circus. When her mother suddenly becomes hospitalized, the circus halts in a grimy tenement building and the performers anxiously wait to get on the road again. Worried about her mother\’s condition, Helena escapes into the world created by her drawings, where she meets some strange characters who remind her of people she knows in real life…. At first she\’s just wandering around there, but then she realizes that she\’s trapped, the dream-world is getting destroyed, and she has to find a hidden Charm to restore things to order. To make matters worse, a girl who looks like her has taken her place in the real world where she\’s causing all kinds of trouble, and her mother\’s well-being is somehow tied into this as well… The story is really a wonderful mix of emotions and dream imagery, echoing the real world but also very much influenced by it.

Mirrormask is one of my favorite fantasy films, so when I saw this graphic novel version at the library, I thought I was in for a treat. I had kind of a mixed reaction to it, though. I really liked the text by Neil Gaiman. The words flowed just right, and in fact made some things clear to me that didn\’t come across well in the film. The imagery was something else, though. It\’s a mixture of drawings by Dave McKean and stills from the film. The film images were usually dark, though, and often blurry or unclear. They didn\’t at all communicate the quirkiness and rich imagination that made the film so wonderful. I would have preferred all the visuals in this book to be illustrations, and more of them. It felt like it was a heavily illustrated book, not a true graphic novel. So overall, I felt like the book kept reminding me how much I like the film, but didn\’t stand well on its own.

Rating: 2/5 …….. 80 pages, 2005

more opinions:
My Awful Reviews
Yup, Reading is Sexy

Tags: Current Reads, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Graphic Novels, Juvenile Fic

Foiled

by Jane Yolen

I know almost nothing about fencing, which made this graphic novel all the more interesting to me. It\’s about a teenage student who doesn\’t really fit in with any of the cliques at school. She stands by herself, as her main interest is fencing and practice leaves her little time for other activities. She\’s really good at it, too. Then a new boy comes to school, happens to be very attractive but he\’s also a little strange. He\’s her lab partner and slowly they sort-of-become friends (over the grossness of dissecting frogs). Ali (our heroine) also happens to be color-blind, so most of the pictures are in shades of gray. When color starts coming into the book, you know it means something significant! Anyway, Ali has always felt awkward around boys and she\’s pretty stunned when the new guy asks her out on a date… and then things happen. I was quite surprised. Surprised at the sudden turn into fantasy, surprised at the boy\’s secret identity. Expectant of a sequel, as the book\’s close just seemed to be introducing some wonderful possibilities. It was a careful set-up for who Ali is and I\’m expecting some big adventures in the future.

The artwork was very good. I went through the book a second time, just to look at all the pictures again. The first time I was focused on how the images told the story, and the main characters. But if you look at the scenery and background figures there is so much more expressed there in people types and other things going on in the background. Like the birds. I\’m really curious what meaning those crows had…. Guess I have to wait for the sequel to find out. I knew Yolen was a very prolific writer, but I didn\’t know before that she had authored a graphic novel! It was a really fun, engaging read.

vating: 3/5 …….. 160 pages, 2010

more opinions:
Ex Libris Dragonis
Mom Read It
Tamaranth\’s Creative Reading

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Graphic Novels, Young Adult

Oogy

the dog only a family could love

by Larry Levin

This is the story of a family adopting a dog who survived against the most horrendous odds. As a small puppy, Oogy was used as bait for fighting dogs. When a policeman rescued him, his head had been severely mauled. The vets didn\’t think they could save him, and it was doubtful they could find him a home even if he did live (he looked like a pit bull). But something about the puppy\’s calm demeanor and friendliness even when he was suffering horribly and had been awfully abused, made them determined to save his life.

Levin\’s family met the dog when they came to the veterinary hospital with their cat who was ready to leave this life. The puppy hurled himself at them with love and after their initial shock at his appearance, they felt he simply belonged to them. They took him home. The book tells the story of how he became part of their family, the trials he survived, and the bond that grew between them. It\’s a pretty organized little book, each chapter having a strong focus. One tells all about the author trying to discover more about Oogy\’s backstory, another details a daily routine in their household, so the reader can see how completely the dog integrated himself into their lives. Another chapter relates his destructive puppy years, another focuses on the veterinary care and surgeries Oogy required to keep him healthy, another talks about reactions the public had when he was taken for walks, and how he enjoys dog parks. Surprisingly, it turns out that Oogy isn\’t a pit breed at all, but a Dogo (which pretty much explains his wonderful temperament). Near the end of the book, the author had decided to train Oogy to be a therapy dog. He hoped that the dog\’s friendliness and survival story would touch the hearts of hospitalized children or veterans who could relate to having disfiguring injuries. I kind of wish he\’d waited a bit before writing his book, so the reader could find out about his experiences working as a therapy dog as well… All in all, it\’s a very touching story and a rapid, easy read.

Borrowed this one from the public library.

Rating: 3/5 ……… 214 pages, 2010

more opinions:
Broken Penguins
A Foodie Bibliophile
Fiction Addiction
Pull up a Chair and Have a Cup of Tea

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

Born Wild

the Extraordinary Story of One Man\’s Passion for Africa

by Tony Fitzjohn

This book caught my eye sitting on a library display shelf: a man embracing a lion, now that looks like the kind of book I like! It\’s a memoir of Tony Fitzjohn\’s several decades spent working in Africa to help reintroduce wildlife. He started out as an assistant to the famous George Adamson (Born Free) and worked at his side for about two decades before moving on to establish wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in Kenya and Tanzania. The efforts they made were astonishing; living in remote, harsh conditions, dealing with corrupt government, political unrest, violence, poachers, and all kinds of difficulties. For every moment actually working with the animals it seems they had to spend hours struggling with other, mundane or exasperating tasks. I\’m sure that\’s pretty accurate, as he writes later in the book about spending ten years setting up infrastructure and manpower before they could bring the first black rhino into Tanzania. It was a bit tedious for me, because I\’d rather read about the animals themselves- their personalities, behavior, anecdotes about actually working with them- and aside from the first few chapters, the parts about animals are just scattered here and there throughout the book. Most of it is about the efforts in all other aspects that were necessary to deal with living in the area, getting proper permits and dealing with locals and officials in order to work with the wildlife. It kind of makes your head swim all the names Fitzjohn mentions, but at the same time he is a good writer, and you can tell he was determined to give everyone credit, who helped him along the way. It just shows the reader how many people are involved in saving wildlife. And the work they did was amazing- rehabilitating numerous lions and leopards into living fully wild lives, as well as elephants, rhinos and wild dogs. These people were incredibly brave and hardworking- they were mauled by lions, barely escaping with their lives, and quite a few staff members get killed. Some of the animals they loved and successfully rehabilitated also get killed by poachers, so be aware there are very sad moments. The ending is very upbeat, as the author had achieved his goals and continued working hard to forward the cause of African\’s wildlife as well as helping and educating its people.

Phew. It was a hard read to finish, as I found the constant litany of names and events a bit tiresome. Fitzjohn is a good writer, or I never would have made it all the way through. It was interesting to come across a few names I recognized- of course Joy and George Adamson (sad to read of their deaths) also Christian the lion! If you\’ve read of him, or seen the clips on Youtube, know that the story of his reintroduction to the wild is in the first few chapters here. Fitzjohn also writes about meeting Roberto Canessa, who was one of the survivors of the plane crash recounted in Alive. There\’s really lots of incredible stories here; the man has led an amazing life and does wonderful work for wildlife; I just wish more of the book had actually been about the animals themselves.

Rating: 2/5 …….. 318 pages, 2010

more opinions:
Rae\’s Book Reviews
Opions of a Wolf

Tags: 2/5- Just Okay, Bios / Memoirs, Current Reads, Nature, Travel/Adventure

Lion Cubs

Planet Earth

by Scholastic

This sturdy little book shows the family life of lions- how the babies are cared for by the adults. How they play and practice roaring. Their mother shows them where to drink and carries them to safety. They nap together. My favorite was the page that says no matter what, they stay together with a line of little lions marching along, so many blurring together in the rear that you can\’t count them. The photos are all nice and clear. For some reason this book doesn\’t interest my baby much, but I liked it. Maybe I\’ll borrow it again when she\’s older.

From the public library.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 12 pages, 2009

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Baby books, Current Reads

Month: May 2012

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