 While on an expedition to the Himalayas, aristocratic young Lady Agatha Farlingham is kidnapped by a yeti father and his family. She stays to teach the kindly yeti English speech, good manners, and fairytales. Decades later, she transports the yetis back to her ancestral home in England for safety. They journey through Asia and Europe, liberate a zoo, save Alpine rescue dogs, and interrupt a Spanish bullfight. Upon arrival to England, the yetis are met by hateful Abominable snowman hunters. But, British school children and royalty save the day in this whimsical story with its message of human rights and environmentalism. mjw |
| Title: The Abominables Author: Eva Ibbotson Illustrator: Fiona Robinson Publisher: Amulet Press, an imprint of Abrams Copyright: 2013 Original language: English ISBN: 978-1-4197-0789-6 Hardcover pages: 272 Age range: 8 up Genre: Fantasy Author’s residence: England Illustrator’s residence: United States (Illustrator lived in England) Subjects: England, Europe, Fantasy, Himalaya Mountains, Voyages and travels, Western Europe, Yeti |
The Abominables
Leave a reply
This small format story is about a child who walks home from school along the same road every day. It builds over seven sequences. The first contains three images: school, path, and home. The next builds to school, street, path, forest, and home. New words and images are added: a blue witch, a pipe-smoking stranger, foxlike bandits, a hot air balloon, a kidnapped queen, and more, until the child’s world has become enormous. Layer upon layer of bewitching silkscreen tableaux grow in strangeness in this allegory of life’s complexity. mjw
Gus, the pea-green supersaurus takes children to school as if he is a bus. No one misses school. Bus stops aren’t necessary. And Gus is fuel efficient. But there are problems. He leaves dino-sized potholes, gets tangled in telephone lines, and knocks down traffic lights. Everyone is sad when the principal has to pull Gus off the road, until Gus becomes the school’s new playground, complete with a swing and slide. Watercolor and pencil drawings are wacky and resemble child-created, crayon-colored artwork. mjw
TIn 1968, in the coal mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, nine-year-old Jenny dreams of being a famous singer, but she suffers from stage fright and has become the target of bullies at school. She makes friends with Melody, a proud Mi’kmaq girl who has moved from a residential school. The girls bond. They both love books, nature, and music. The powerful harmony they develop helps them face challenges of peer cruelty, racism, and grief. The time and place of socially evolving Canada are captured perfectly in the first-person narration. mjw
When her new teacher mistakes twelve-year-old Simone for a boy, the excitement and complications of her double life begin. Quirky and eccentric characters; amusing episodes; and themes encompassing teenage identity, sexuality, gender, intergenerational friendships, and death make this an interesting and entertaining story. Simone’s world of fruitloops and dipsticks includes an impulsive and artistic mother, ducks in the classroom, lost dogs, and kooky friends. First published in Sweden in 1984, this beautifully written first person narration is a product of its time with a real Scandinavian flavor. mjw
