Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales is a wildly successful series of historical stories told in graphic format. He’s also written short stories with the same style for various anthologies. In his 13th book in the series, he goes full tilt into the short story format with a series of creepy, gross, terrifying, and weird stories, most, but not all, centered around the United States.
The story is framed by his original narrators and characters from history—Nathan Hale, the hangman, the British provost, and, added in Major Impossible, Bill Richmond. Hale starts the story with his narrators peering at a sketch of the front cover, with the historical Nathan Hale explaining that “this book was created by hand by a real human artist.” There’s a humorous warning at the beginning about the scary content, then the framing plot opens.
The four narrators are sheltering from the rain under the gallows and decide to tell scary stories, starting with Captain Hale. Since it’s his thirteenth tale, he tells a scary story about a thirteen baby—the Jersey Devil. Black and white art, picked out with spots of green, illustrates the gruesome creature and its victims, ending with a short discussion on folklore and history. The provost demands a true story, so Hale begins “A Sip of Radiation” and the backgrounds glow a ghostly green as he tells the true story of Radithor, radium-infused water. The story jumps between Curie’s discovery of radium and the effects of Radithor on a welathy young man, Eben Byers, who died a gruesome death due to the “miracle cure” and ends with the radium girls and a creepy correlation between overuse of radium and the possible effects of unlimited internet use. The stories continue with the ghostly “The Demon Cat,” a grotesque tale from Edgar Allan Poe, “Hop-Frog,” and more. They include snapshots of US history, like a dream of Abraham Lincoln, a ghost story from the Civil War, and, of course, reappearances of the Jersey Devil.
Bill Richmond’s contribution, “The Boo Hag” is framed in a slightly darker green and features a cast of Black characters with creepy fleshless monsters, and placid, swirling waters in the South Carolina Sea Islands that hide dark secrets. Hale switches to a sharper contrast in “The Head in the Jar” which features the folk legend of Joaquin Murrieta. Stark white backgrounds on the small panels show the bare desert of the stockades and Gold Rush towns then switch to a mass of grays as Murrieta suffers and reenacts his vengeance in the dark of night.
The story ends with a transition that takes the readers to Denmark and introduces the berserkers of the title. Hale’s characters in this tale show sharply defined faces with pointed, craggy noses and long-haired, narrow faces contrasting with bulky, bearded warriors and fleshy tyrants. The story comes to a gory and dark end, featuring monstrous beasts and dense, packed panels showing heroes battling creatures in the dark. The stories return to the US and the true crime story of “The Butler Goes Berserk” featuring the mysterious crimes at Frank Lloyd Wright’s estate, Taliesin, committed by his butler, Julian Carlton. The collection is finished with a goofy story from the hangman, framed in glowing green and a final appearance of the Jersey Devil.
Hale ends the book with his usual meticulous research; in this case he adds additional information to the sources explaining which parts of each story are factual and which are folklore or legends. He also includes an encouragement for readers to explore short stories and some recommendations and sources.
This is a fitting transition to twelve wonderful historical graphic novels and hopefully marks the beginning of a new set of these histories. It’s also a fun way to get readers to try something new as well as stop to think a little more deeply about the media and stories they consume, since Hale includes lots of discussion points throughout the story as well as plenty of gore, monsters, and creepy happenings. A sure bet for middle school readers and anyone who enjoys creepy stories and interesting historical tidbits, this will delight both old fans of Hale and those new to his work.
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Bones and Berserkers By Nathan Hale Abrams, 2025 ISBN: 9781419773204
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
In 1978, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il had South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee kidnapped because he loved her films. Spat’s graphic novel recounts this true story, interspersing it with a reimagining of a folktale that Korea’s first kaiju film, Pulgasari, was based on. This serves two purposes – it becomes an allegory for political strife in both Koreas, but its also a failed South Korean film that Kim wanted remade. To do so, he later captured Choi’s director ex-husband, Shin Sang-ok, as well.
This dual story-telling format means that Spat has quite a bit of ground to cover. This includes Choi and Shin’s first meeting, their romance, film careers, marital troubles, kidnapping, reuniting, and escape in less that 200 pages. It’s hardly enough time to sketch in details even if half the pages weren’t devoted to a folktale where a blacksmith’s daughter’s relatively carefree life is upset when the king kidnaps her father for forced labor. She must work with her fellow townspeople and some magical beings to rescue or avenge their loved ones.
However, the brevity works. There’s certainly enough story to fill volumes of nonfiction prose, but as an enticing introduction to Korean history and folklore, this shines. Readers are likely to finish this with many questions that are readily answerable with a bit of research. The downside is that occasionally the narrative feels abrupt as it switches between Choi and the pulgasari story. This is amplified by the spare art style. Sheree Domingo’s art style emphasizes emotion and vibe. For instance, Choi on a picnic with her children versus Choi as an actress talking to the press with Marilyn Monroe could almost be different graphic novels entirely – a great representation of the different eras of Choi’s life. The color palette consists mostly of blues and yellows, with occasional reds. Otherwise, it’s mostly black and white and contained in the expected panels. Domingo breaks free with phenomenal full page spreads where the passage of time occurs in torn off calendar pages or film cels.
There is something a little off-putting about the speech bubbles font in the English translation that isn’t present in either the Korean or German text. There is also a full-page panel featuring a protest that has footnoted translations placed rather awkwardly. The volume ends with a few pages of text that give a more succinct timeline, which is appreciated. It also may delight readers of a certain age since it mentions Choi and Shin’s involvement in the Three Ninjas movie franchise.
I happily recommend Madame Choi and the Monsters: A True Story for library collections as an interesting insight into Korean history. The kidnapping and strange behaviour of Kim Jong-Il is a great hook to draw readers in before giving them a greater insight into Korean culture and history. Aspects of Korea’s arts are trending these days with the love for K-pop, manhwa, and K-dramas continuing to rise, so that may translate into greater interest in Korea as a whole.
This title is geared towards adults not only because of the serious subject matter, but it does contain a couple panels of nudity in addition to domestic violence and infidelity. There is on page violence, but it is more disturbing for implications rather than the imagery.
Madame Choi and the Monsters: A True Story By Patrick Spat Art by Sheree Domingo Abrams, 2024 ISBN: 9781914224225
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+) Creator Representation: German, Character Representation: Korean, North Korean, South Korean,
Fans of Strange Tales may be familiar with Youtube personality MrBallen (real name John B. Allen). A former Navy SEAL, MrBallen doesn’t tell his stories of people’s actual accounts with the supernatural and fantastical on a set lit with black candles or a coffin sitting in the background. Instead, he wears a signature baseball cap and flannel shirt while sitting before a microphone. He doesn’t need Gothic ambience to pull his fans in; the stories themselves are enough. He, along with contributor Robert Venditti, seems to take that approach with his book MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark, & Mysterious: The Graphic Stories, illustrated by Andrea Mutti.
The nine stories within this book are from around the world. Many of them are typically spooky stories that one would tell around a campfire; hence, the book’s front cover has MrBallen sitting behind a campfire surrounded by skulls (the closest he comes to Gothic trappings) while he locks eyes with the reader as he prepares to tell these stories. His first story involves a stretch of Canada’s Northwest Territories that has made many people disappear over centuries, a story which sets the tone for the rest of the book, while other tales include a man who disappears in an abandoned Spanish village where a witch met her end, a woman who has a very strange and visceral dream while camping, a man encountering a persistent tiger, and an actual giant encountered in the mountains of Khanadar, Afghanistan.
The stories MrBallen and Venditti share are stories that he has researched, stories he’s heard from others (the story of the giant is one he’d heard from a fellow soldier), or ones he’s experienced himself. The stories are presented as nonfiction but MrBallen doesn’t spend time delving into the history of these encounters or trying to prove or disprove their veracity; he’s simply there to tell a story and entertain his audience. The way these stories are presented also bank on another part of MrBallen’s appeal: his approachability. His stories aren’t told with the dry delivery of a folklore scholar, but of someone sharing this story with a friend in a not-too-crowded local bar.
Mutti’s art style also shows a distinct lack of ostentatious ambiance, which benefits the book. Mutti forgoes detailed images of many of these terrors, particularly the supernatural ones, and shows just enough to let the reader’s unsettled mind fill in the blanks. For settings, he only places the bare minimum within a scene to create the proper atmosphere, whether that be fog winding through a dark forest, or the terrified eyes of the people experiencing these stories. Even Mutti’s watercolor style artwork, with pale colors and realistic detail for the non-supernatural elements, complements rather than distracts from the stories’ elements.
In the public library nonfiction shelves lurk books about real-life hauntings and stories meant to raise hackles on unsuspecting adult patrons. The patrons who enjoy those books will enjoy MrBallen’s tales; perhaps they are even fans of his Youtube show. If they are not fans, they might discover MrBallen through reading the solidly spooky tales he has collected.
MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious The Graphic Tales By John B. Allen Art by Andrea Mutti Ten Speed Press, 2024 ISBN: 9781984863430
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Clar Angkasa skilfully breathes new life into three traditional folktales from her native Indonesia, offering a fresh look from the perspective of her female characters. In these retellings, her female protagonists are the ones with power and agency as they defend and defeat attacks against them physically and psychologically.
The first story, “Keong Mas,” revolves around two competing princesses as they combat selfishness by employing magic and, over time, selflessness. When the proud one is turned into a snail and regretfully thrown away by her younger sister, she is rescued by a fisher woman who teaches the princess the meaning of compassion, friendship, and, ultimately, affection. This is done through flashbacks of the backstory and there is an element of mystery concerning the identity of the person transformed into the snail. The flashbacks are established with muted colours while the palate of most of this tale is primarily shades of purple and gold.
The second story follows two sisters as well, but in this case, they are younger, the best of friends, and stepsisters. Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih develop a deep attachment to each other as well as their individual stepparents, but when the mother dies, the beloved father becomes despondent and angry, so much so that he is dangerous to both of the girls. When they meet a helpful stranger in the forest, they are offered a pumpkin containing a fortune. This fortune does not ease their situation, but it does release them from the inertia and hopelessness of their father’s heartbreak. Along with the purples used in the first tale, this story is augmented with shades of green and brilliant reds.
“Timun Mas,” the final story, is about a young woman who is a healer and horticulturalist living by herself and selling her seeds and natural medicines in the market. One day, to her horror, she is confronted by a giant who commands her to plant a magic seed that will produce a “fruit” he will claim when he returns in 17 years. Reluctantly, she plants the seed in her garden and grows . . . a young baby from a cucumber plant. She names the child The Golden Cucumber, or Timun Mas. The years pass by much too quickly. But before her daughter’s seventeenth birthday, mother and daughter concoct a plan to defeat the giant and his plans. This story’s palate shines with shades of greens and browns.
All three tales celebrate the rural lush landscapes of Indonesia, local customs and traditions, and magical forces and strong female characters through the colourful, cartoon-like illustrations. The panels are bursting with flowing patterns, fonts, and dialogue, adding an additional dimension to the visual telling of the three tales. There is a feeling of joy interspersed with the danger of the situations the protagonists find themselves caught up in through, for the most part, no fault of their own. The swirling panels, the colours, and the expressive features of the characters all add to an enjoyable adventure for the reader.
In the author’s note following the three stories, Angkasa explains her rationale for reworking these particular tales, focusing on feminine matters and issues ahead of the masculine focus of the traditional tales. She briefly explains why these three stories were chosen for the book before providing the texts for the original folktales. As a storyteller I would have also appreciated definite source notes for these tales, but understand that she is providing the texts that she is familiar with herself.
Highly recommended for the intended readership of 8- to 12-year-olds as well as adult readers who enjoy a well adapted tale that, while including some familiar tropes and motifs, will possibly be new to them too. Perfect for school and public library folklore collections.
Stories of the Islands By Clar Angkasa Holiday House, 2023 ISBN: 9780823449781
Publisher Age Rating: 8-12 NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Middle Grade (7-11), Picture Books (3-8) Creator Representation: Indonesian Character Representation: Indonesian, Asexual
Silent meditation retreats are havens for deep, spiritual enlightenment, and it’s the last place Binh wants to be—especially after fighting off a bully in school for having taunted his Vietnamese heritage. From award-winning author and graphic novelist Minh Lê (Drawn Together, Green Lantern: Legacy) and New York Times bestselling illustrator Chan Chau (Baby-Sitter’s Club) comes Enlighten Me, a coming-of-age story steeped in Buddhist traditions, history, and folklore.
The story begins with Binh and his family headed to the peaceful Three Jewels Mountain Retreat, a silent meditation camp where he surrenders his treasured Game Boy upon arriving. This is the last place he expected to find himself after defending himself from a school bully who directed anti-Asian slurs at his Vietnamese culture. Why was he punished for being the victim? The vice principal figured a weekend family trip here would address his violent behavior. He joins the others kids to practice the art of meditation, but before long, sore legs, a stiff back, and disruptive thoughts invade his mind and distract his focus. Not until Sister Peace, one of the Buddhist monks, begins recounting wondrous tales about the Buddha does Binh embark on a path toward self-enlightenment and deep understanding.
The plot shifts into gear as Binh learns about Prince Siddhartha—a young boy sheltered from the evils of the world—who would one day venture beyond the walls of the royal palace, destined to become the Buddha. Another story drawn from the Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha’s past lives, reveals how as a young prince, he wielded five deadly weapons to combat a ferocious monster lurking deep inside a dark forest. In another tale about devotion to family, Buddha in the form of a golden deer gets caught in a trap, so its siblings come to its aid, refusing to leave its side even when a hunter comes along. Lê and Chau have created a delightfully heartwarming story that blends snatches of humor with moments that capture Binh’s hyperactive fascination with videogames. From serene images of nature to the digital world of Donkey Kong, he envisions himself floating through nebulous space in dynamically arranged panels. Events in the present unfold as Binh imagines taking part in adventures from the traditional tales, each one bearing a nugget of wisdom.
Structured in a semi-episodic style similar to the Arabian Nights, Enlighten Me paves an intriguing path into Buddhist philosophies, yet also weaves in themes of bullying, fitting in, self-control, community building, and finding oneself in the moment. This entertaining and thoughtful semiautobiographical graphic novel highlights a unique perspective on how one middle-schooler learns to navigate the challenges of life to find inner peace through self-disciplined mindfulness, thereby adding a culturally enriching experience to middle grade collections.
Enlighten Me Vol. By Minh Lê Art by Chan Chau Little, Brown, 2023 ISBN: 9780759555488
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Vietnamese American, Character Representation: Vietnamese American,
This review refers to the hardbound trade which comprises the first five issues of Animal Castle. It’s marked volume 1 and it is a handsome volume, indeed! I read the first five issues as the individual comics, through my subscription at my favorite comics pusher, so I was curious to see what the compiled edition looked like. This glossy library bound edition shows the richly painted art from the first comic cover and includes a preamble by the author, all the variant covers, and lots of bonus material displaying the original pencils and thumbnails. The cover art wraps around to the back side. It should hold up to many circulations.
This storyline is essentially Orwell’s Animal Farm, yes, but updated and retold in a new chilling way, putting a wider variety of animals in the different roles, and exploring more intimately what each character has to give up to change their brutal conditions. The dictator and general for life, Silvio, is a corpulent shaggy bull with googly stern eyes, Texas Longhorn-type horns, a protruding lip, and large jowls that somehow seem familiar. His hench-dogs are slobbery, idiotic, and brutal, and are rendered in Felix Delep’s lanky whispy pencils. All the animals have amazingly human expressions, and it’s easy to empathize with each. Indeed, many of the scenes are heartbreaking.
The story revolves around a starving young mama cat named Miss Bengalore and her attempts to organize the Castle against the brutality of Silvio’s reign. The Hindi-sounding name is not a coincidence, as she’s shown early in the book what happens to those who speak up and riot. She has all she can handle with her three kittens and her forced work hauling stones all day to Silvio’s commanded building of a wall fortress, but, one night, she sees an old gray rat, a traveling storyteller named Azelar, do a performance about, “a little man, a fakir who fights against a king and an empire….” Is Azelar’s appearance a coincidence? Or does he have more to teach the Castle animals? When the old rat is injured trying to escape the guard hounds, Miss B. rescues him. Can he convince Miss B. and the other animals to work towards a better life away from Silvio’s grasp?
The story pacing kept my interest and the colors are muted and appropriate for a difficult story like this. The lettering is very small, so I needed my cheaters to read it. Even though this story is based on Animal Farm, this is not a story for middle graders. There is considerable violence as well as adult situations, even though those are animal-portrayed adult situations. In a country where some try to ban mouse-nakedness, librarians should be aware that this comic discusses very hard political issues, and the brutality is explicitly portrayed. I suggest putting this title either in the adult area or young adult.
Animal Castle, vol. 1 Vol. 1 By Xavier Dorison Art by Felix Delep Ablaze, 2022 ISBN: 9781684970032
Publisher Age Rating: 16+ NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
In virtually all stories—novels, epic myths, fairy tales, movies, and even biographies—characters must undergo a trial of sorts. Mythologist Joseph Campbell coined this paradigm as the archetypal hero’s journey, wherein an individual must fulfill a series of tasks to achieve a goal and return from this quest with a boon to benefit society. A critical stage of this journey entails venturing into a katabasis, a sojourn into the underworld or land of the dead. In a dynamically fascinating exploration of this descent into darkness, Brian McDonald (Old Souls) and Toby Cypress (The Gravediggers Union) delineate how this universal voyage into the underworld permeates time and space in Land of the Dead: Lessons from the Underworld on Storytelling and Living. What unfolds is a most intriguing graphic essay spanning across countless cultures and stories that encompasses the multitudinous nuances of storytelling.
In folkloric fashion mirroring some indigenous cultures, a crow serves as the narrative guide who breaks the cinematic fourth wall, steering readers into the magical realms of imaginative storytelling. As an agent of the land of the dead, the crow recounts the earliest written story from antiquity—The Epic of Gilgamesh. This mythic tale embodies humanity’s eternal quest for immortality since the dawn of time, plunging readers into the depths of the underworld, for therein lies wisdom to be attained. Like a multifaceted puzzle box in the episodic tradition of the Arabian Nights, McDonald traverses the landscapes of literature, film, and oral storytelling, highlighting common threads across cultures similar to how Joseph Campbell illuminated familiar motifs, themes, and tropes in The Power of Myth.
This extensive graphic essay traces a literary history of stories from antiquity to the present for the young and old alike. From angelic characters in Cinderella and Steven Spielberg’s E.T. to Scrooge’s grim, sordid outlook on life in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Uncle Charlie’s sinister intentions in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, McDonald brilliantly connects varied themes of survival, necography, isolation, and memory. Cypress’s striking artwork shines through thoughtfully composed panels tinged with shaded hues. Meticulously rendered sketches of characters accentuated by sparing use of ambient coloring amplifies certain scenes and moods, adding a tonal richness to each story.
A treasure trove and visual feast for the literati, writers, cinephiles, and storytellers of classic and contemporary works, Land of the Dead exemplifies a monumental achievement that bears repeated readings for renewed insight. Although not necessarily a handbook on the craft of storytelling, one will discover the intricate underlying frameworks, motifs, and themes that infuse the mechanics and wizardry behind compelling stories throughout time. A fine addition to public and academic library collections, this literary masterpiece cuts across multi-interdisciplinary subjects and aims to attract a wide readership, demonstrating the alluring power of stories and the lessons they bestow upon humanity.
Land of the Dead: Lessons from the Underworld on Storytelling and Living By Brian McDonald Art by Toby Cypress Macmillan First Second, 2023 ISBN: 9781626727311
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Black
The Woman in the Woods and other North American Stories marks the fifth volume in the series of cautionary fables and fairy tales. The eight tales in this volume are from Indigenous nations, told and illustrated by Indigenous artists, and highlighting tales from Odawa, Chickasaw, Métis/Cree, Métis, Ojibwe, Tania, Navajo, and S’Kallam societies. The editors asked each of the authors to ask for permission from the Elders and/or nations to retell and rework the stories for inclusion in this anthology as they recognized and respected the protocol inherent in the gathering of the stories from the people. Unfortunately, there are no source notes included in the collection, making it of less value to educators, librarians, and storytellers than I had hoped. True, the intended audience is middle school readers, not scholars, but the authenticity of each of the tales should be paramount for them as well. I do appreciate the fact that each of the tribal affiliations has been identified for the tales.
While the tales are rendered in black and white with various hues of grey, the cover itself jumps with colour. Ironically, the story alluded to on the cover is not included in the collection. Editor and cover artist Alina Pete remarked that she had hoped to include the creation story of Sky Woman and Turtle Island, but she could not find anyone that had permission to tell this story. Sky Woman fell to the water-covered world and fell on the back of Turtle. One by one, the animals dive into the water to try and find land until Muskrat is successful in bringing back soil. Sky woman spreads the soil on Turtle’s back to create the world as we know it. She shows Sky Woman dancing for joy and two constellations on the back cover featuring two of the characters from the tales within the covers.
Most of the illustrations in the book itself have simple backgrounds, focusing on the characters of each tale. The different styles of illustrations make each of the stories individual in a collection continuous from tale to tale without any commentary. Most of the illustrations are rendered realistically, although one or two stories have manga-like characteristics and vary between historical and contemporary settings. They also vary in length.
The anthology begins with the Odawa creation story, “As it was told to Me,” retold and illustrated by Elijah Forbes, which demonstrates that the world needs the balance of good and bad to exist. It is followed by a trickster rabbit story about the cost of vanity from the Chickasaw people. “Chokfi” is written by Jordaan Arledge and illustrated by Mekala Nava. The next two stories are located closer to this reviewer. “White Horse Plains,” from the Métis settlement St. Francois Xavier, relates the tale of the dangers of greed and conflict. It is written and illustrated by Rhael McGregor. The second Métis tale is possibly the most familiar character in the collection for me. Written by Maija Ambrose Plamondon and illustrated by Milo Applejohn, “The Rougarou” tells the story of a werewolf like monster and a young boy who befriends the Rougarou. I must admit that while I am familiar with many Rougarou tales, this is the first time I have encountered this one. Alice RL’s Ojibwe tale of “Agonjin in the Water” relates a tale of another story of friendship between a human and a mythical creature: the mythical, Mishipeshu the Great Water Guardian of the lakes and rivers.
The Taino story that follows gave its title to the anthology. It is written and illustrated by Mercedes Acosta and also focuses on the relationship between a woman and a spirit of a young girl who sees the mysterious “Woman in the Woods.” The penultimate tale, “Into the Darkness,” is a Navaho shapeshifter tale about a character so frightful that no one dares to speak its name. It is written by Izzy Roberts and illustrated by Aubrie Warner. The final tale, written by Jeffrey Veregge and illustrated by Alina Pete, is a romantic tale from the S’Kallam people. The Moon in “By the Light of the Moon” falls in love with Octopus Woman, the Queen of the Salish Sea in Puget Sound. The bright light of the Moon makes it possible for the Moon to watch her dance and to send her kisses. The power of the kisses has a surprising repercussion.
The stories are followed by two pages of concise biographies of the creators including their tribal affiliations and, in most cases, their sexual orientations.
Recommended for middle school and public library collections. Because the book is part of the cautionary fables and fairy tales series, most of the stories have strong lessons imparted in the story line, but they are not dogmatic and do allow the power of the storytelling to shine through. I just wish there were adequate source notes—did I say that already?
Cautionary Fables & Fairy Tales, vol. 5: The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories Edited by Kate Ashwin, Kel McDonald, Alina Pete Iron Circus, 2022 ISBN: 9781945820977
Publisher Age Rating: 10-12 Series ISBNs and Order
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Cree, Metis, Navajo, Bisexual, Queer, Genderqueer, Nonbinary, Trans, Two Spirit Character Representation: Cree, First Nations or Indigenous, Metis, Navajo
Tedd Arnold, best-known for his long-running and extremely popular easy reader series Fly Guy, branched out into a higher-level, comic easy reader series a few years ago, featuring Noodleheads Mac and Mac.
Mac and Mac are literally noodleheads—they’re macaroni noodles with completely empty noggins! These stories are based on folktales of the “fool” type, and Mac and Mac have had many silly adventures over the last few books. In three short chapters they go through a variety of dangers and complications, always realizing at the end of each how lucky they are. From a falling apple to a trick played by their friend Meatball (literally, it’s a meatball) everything always ends well for these two goofy guys.
These are more than just silly stories though; they’re based on very specific folktale types. For example, in one episode Mac and Mac are tricked by Meatball into begging for trouble and they get a bag full… of bees! Fortunately, however, it turns out that bees were just what their mother needed to get her hives going and the pair are lucky indeed. There are author’s notes in the back talking about the tale types and sources for the stories, as well as specific tales inspiring each chapter. The authors draw from fool tales all around the world, from the Jack stories of England to Nasreddin Hodja of Turkey and Juan Bobo of Puerto Rico.
The artwork will be instantly recognizable to Arnold fans, as it features his signature bulging eyes and wide smiles, but he adds a traditional feel to these folktale-inspired stories with a scribbled background that mimics a crackle finish. Although Mac and Mac wear contemporary clothes, boldly-colored t-shirts and shorts, the cracked background gives the stories a feeling of age and one could almost imagine them as traditional paintings from a book of old tales. Simple, bright colors and lines fill the rest of the panels, with a small group of goofy characters, from Meatball, in baseball cap and turquoise shirt, to their mother in a green dress and purple skirt.
Although the joke is usually on Mac and Mac, there’s no flavor of nastiness in these silly stories. The two have the occasional argument, but especially in this book they take everything in stride, reiterating how lucky they are as each adventure turns out right. Even Meatball’s tricks turn out well in the end, although readers will realize that he is certainly not intending to be nice! Intermediate readers will find these hit the spot, with a minimal of characters and not too much detail in the art, allowing them to focus on the mechanics of reading the more complex sentences and following the visual story through the panels. Kids will enjoy the wordplay and being “in the know” as they see the mistakes Mac and Mac make, but by the end of each story they’ll also recognize that the characters who feel superior to the Noodleheads never triumph, despite their supposed smarts.
These stories are not only a fun way to keep kids reading through the intermediate level, as they shift from early readers to chapters, but also would be great resources for a classroom focusing on folktale studies or social-emotional intelligence, discussing what it means to be “intelligent” and the intricacies of the English language.
Noodleheads Lucky Day By Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, Mitch Weiss Art by Tedd Arnold ISBN: 9780823440023 Holiday House, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: Series ISBNS and Order
Title Details and Representation NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9)
Fairy tales have enabled children to confront some of the darkest parts of humanity through stories with a clear moral or lesson to learn. Retellings of fairy tales often gloss over the violence and gore present in the original versions of the tales, and we forget that some of these tales sprang from dark parts of history. Bluebeard, recaptured by Metaphrog, balances the darkness of the story with the light of a new moral.
The basic premise of Bluebeard begins with a rich, mysterious man who marries a poor, beautiful young woman. Early in the marriage, he tells her he has business to attend to. He leaves her with keys to every room in his castle, but points out one key she must never use, lest she bring about his wrath. Of course the wife uses the key. She opens the door and finds bodies of previous wives, and her husband returns that night. He is about to add her to the body count when she is saved by her brothers, who kill him.
The commonly agreed origin for Bluebeard is in Charles Perrault’s Tales of Mother Goose from 1697 (source: Encyclopaedia Britannica). Other cultures have similar versions of the story, and many point to tales of historical serial killers as inspiration for the tale. The stated moral in Perrault’s tale is that sating curiosity comes at a high cost and is not worth the price (perhaps in comparison to Eve and the apple). Others have since said that using the key brings about knowledge, allowing the wife to leave her naivete behind. Metaphrog’s version perhaps takes this moral further by saying if you make a decision that endangers you, while friends and family bring hope to save you, you must also be prepared to fight for yourself.
Metaphrog’s Bluebeard, a self-proclaimed feminist retelling of the tale, provides a backstory for the young woman, Eve. We see her growing up, living with her family in poverty, and developing a close friendship with Tom, a local goat herder. When Bluebeard asks her father for a daughter to marry, Eve understands her marriage will provide for her family. As in the original tale, she too falls prey to curiosity and opens the forbidden room. She is about to be killed by Bluebeard, but in this retelling, she has more agency in saving herself.
While the building of a backstory gives this version a more dynamic depiction of the wife, the way it is incorporated into the story is a bit clumsy. Characters are given more depth through details, but these details don’t seem to serve much purpose other than to lengthen the tale. For example, Eve nurses a a bird back to health that later delivers a message from Tom, but it seemed unnecessary and took several pages. Another several pages depict a terrible season for the village, emphasizing their poverty and providing a reason for Eve to feel justified in marrying a man to help her family. However, it could’ve been presented in far fewer panels, and perhaps without the panel of screaming goats that called to mind the work of Lane Smith, artist for The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
Screaming goat panel aside (which stands out in pretty stark contrast to the other artwork), the stylized art makes this retelling of Bluebeard vibrant. Pink and blue washes depict village life versus Bluebeard’s castle, saturating the pages with rich color. Many panels use silhouettes to pace the story, focusing on a quiet moment between Eve and Tom or showing the distance of the castle from the village in silhouettes climbing Bluebeard’s mountain. Bluebeard is set apart from the villagers by his opulent clothing—a giant cloak, fur collar, hat, and cane—and Eve stands out with her shining pink hair with pearlescent highlights. Despite being a gory story, gore is not depicted. The closet of dead women is a panel of shirts and feet washed in red.
Metaphrog wrote this story as a children’s book, aimed at ages 7 and up. The age range is appropriate, especially for parents reading the book to their children. Some parents may feel uncomfortable with the morbid closet of dead wives, but parents who share non-Disney fairy tale stories with their kids are unlikely to mind. The story is labeled as a “feminist retelling,” but I wouldn’t add it to a display of books of such a theme, because it’s not overtly so. I would add this tale to a digital collection, but I don’t know if it merits a spot on shelves where real estate is a high commodity. This version of Bluebeard didn’t really resonate strongly with me, but I am completely on board for more graphic novels and comics retelling fairy tales that give more agency and depth to characters while retaining some of the darkness of the original stories.
Bluebeard By Metaphrog ISBN: 9781626720794 Papercutz, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: 7+
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Related to…: Retelling
with the same style for various anthologies. In his 13th book in the series, he goes full tilt into the short story format with a series of creepy, gross, terrifying, and weird stories, most, but not all, centered around the United States.
In 1978, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il had South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee kidnapped because he loved her films. Spat’s graphic novel recounts this true story, interspersing it with a reimagining of a folktale that Korea’s first kaiju film, Pulgasari, was based on. This serves two purposes – it becomes an allegory for political strife in both Koreas, but its also a failed South Korean film that Kim wanted remade. To do so, he later captured Choi’s director ex-husband, Shin Sang-ok, as well.
tell his stories of people’s actual accounts with the supernatural and fantastical on a set lit with black candles or a coffin sitting in the background. Instead, he wears a signature baseball cap and flannel shirt while sitting before a microphone. He doesn’t need Gothic ambience to pull his fans in; the stories themselves are enough. He, along with contributor Robert Venditti, seems to take that approach with his book MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark, & Mysterious: The Graphic Stories, illustrated by Andrea Mutti.
Clar Angkasa skilfully breathes new life into three traditional folktales from her native Indonesia, offering a fresh look from the perspective of her female characters. In these retellings, her female protagonists are the ones with power and agency as they defend and defeat attacks against them physically and psychologically.
after fighting off a bully in school for having taunted his Vietnamese heritage. From award-winning author and graphic novelist Minh Lê (Drawn Together, Green Lantern: Legacy) and New York Times bestselling illustrator Chan Chau (Baby-Sitter’s Club) comes Enlighten Me, a coming-of-age story steeped in Buddhist traditions, history, and folklore.
This review refers to the hardbound trade which comprises the first five issues of Animal Castle. It’s marked volume 1 and it is a handsome volume, indeed! I read the first five issues as the individual comics, through my subscription at my favorite comics pusher, so I was curious to see what the compiled edition looked like. This glossy library bound edition shows the richly painted art from the first comic cover and includes a preamble by the author, all the variant covers, and lots of bonus material displaying the original pencils and thumbnails. The cover art wraps around to the back side. It should hold up to many circulations.
The Woman in the Woods and other North American Stories marks the fifth volume in the series of cautionary fables and fairy tales. The eight tales in this volume are from Indigenous nations, told and illustrated by Indigenous artists, and highlighting tales from Odawa, Chickasaw, Métis/Cree, Métis, Ojibwe, Tania, Navajo, and S’Kallam societies. The editors asked each of the authors to ask for permission from the Elders and/or nations to retell and rework the stories for inclusion in this anthology as they recognized and respected the protocol inherent in the gathering of the stories from the people. Unfortunately, there are no source notes included in the collection, making it of less value to educators, librarians, and storytellers than I had hoped. True, the intended audience is middle school readers, not scholars, but the authenticity of each of the tales should be paramount for them as well. I do appreciate the fact that each of the tribal affiliations has been identified for the tales.
Tedd Arnold, best-known for his long-running and extremely popular easy reader series Fly Guy, branched out into a higher-level, comic easy reader series a few years ago, featuring Noodleheads Mac and Mac.
Fairy tales have enabled children to confront some of the darkest parts of humanity through stories with a clear moral or lesson to learn. Retellings of fairy tales often gloss over the violence and gore present in the original versions of the tales, and we forget that some of these tales sprang from dark parts of history. Bluebeard, recaptured by Metaphrog, balances the darkness of the story with the light of a new moral.
