Good Night, Commander - Hardcover

Akbarpour, Ahmad

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0888999895 ISBN 13: 9780888999894

Publisher: Groundwood Books, 2010

Synopsis

The Commander has lost his mother and one of his legs in the Iran-Iraq war. Now he spends most of his time alone in his room where he recreates the conflict with an imaginary enemy and soldiers, trying to avenge his losses. His father urges him to take off his artificial leg when he is at home, to join his uncles and aunties who have arrived for dinner. But when he does, he finds out that they are all about to go off to meet his "new mother." Back in his room the imaginary war continues, and he confronts an enemy soldier who is also missing a limb. A battle seems inevitable until The Commander offers the enemy his artificial leg.

About this title

About the Author:

Ahmad Akbarpour is a novelist, short-story writer and author of children's books. He has won the Iranian National Book Award and was selected for the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) honor list in 2006. He is the author of the picture book Good Night, Commander, illustrated by Morteza Zahedi (Groundwood, 2010). He lives in Shiraz, Iran.

Morteza Zahedi has illustrated more than twenty books and has won many awards, including the Noma Concours Encouragement Prize in 2006 and the Honor Diploma award at the Bologna Book Fair. He lives in Tehran, Iran.

Helen Mixter is a translator who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Shadi Eskandani is a poet and translator who was born in Iran and who lives now in Toronto.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3–6—An unusual picture book, originally published in Iran. A boy who calls himself the Commander plays war in an attempt to come to terms with the death of his mother and the loss of his leg during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. The story, told by the child from the safe haven of his bedroom, describes his imaginary battles with an enemy who has also lost a leg and a mother. The Commander talks to his mother's photo and is upset that his father is planning to remarry soon. Pencil illustrations are on tan backgrounds with few additional colors. The perspective is unusual and disquieting; readers view everything from the point of view of a fly on the wall, and objects and people appear flattened against the floor. Faces are highlighted with a circle of deeper tan and the single light bulb wears a circle of white. Readers are perched above the action and can see toy guns, an ambulance, a tank, a helicopter dropping bombs, and toy soldiers scattered around the bedroom. This book might work in a school setting or with adults to prompt a discussion of the impact of war on innocent children.—Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0888999895
• ISBN 13: 9780888999894
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 24
• Illustrator: Zahedi Morteza