kirkusreviews.com
The theme of persistence (for better
or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar
folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly
wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds
itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate
goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch
transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat,
pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a
tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his
spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third
episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering
portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly
understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives,
dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big,
brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most
of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre,
and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit
morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”
music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)
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