How the Camel Got His Hump

When the world was new, Man needed help from all the animals, but when he received complete refusal from the camel, the rest of the animals turned to Djinn of all the Deserts to seek a proper punishment for his lazy behavior. 10,000 first printing.

Grade 2-4-Kipling's classic story of the fitting punishment dealt to the uncooperative camel is interpreted by Zwerger in a rather austere manner. Each spread has text and a few small symbols or designs on the left side and an illustration framed with white space and a few more designs on the right. While the pictures display the artist's graphic skill, they seem somewhat removed and lacking in child appeal. The lazy, humpless camel is marvelously conceited and disdainful and the dog is nicely eager, but the other animals and the Djinn are given little personality, are often quite distant, and do not really engage the eye. The Djinn, who is described as "rolling in a cloud of dust," is pictured as rolling in what looks like a large bandage or sheet. The two pages in which Kipling describes his own illustrations (of the Djinn making magic and guiding it with his fan), normally not part of the story but included after it, appear here before the camel sees his hump. This breaks up the narrative flow. Librarians in need of a single-volume version of this story will find this an acceptable purchase but those holding versions such as the one illustrated by Quentin Blake (Peter Bedrick, 1985; o.p.) can pass on it.
Louise L. Sherman, formerly at Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lisbeth Zwerger breathes new life into a tale from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, How the Camel Got His Hump. With scenes framed in a white border, Zwerger's earth-toned paintings convey the dryness of the desert in which the story takes place; patterned scarves, maps and floral friezes rest beneath, while elements from the narrative appear as spot art.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.