El doctor Me Di Cin. (Doctor Me Di Cin)

By staff -- Críticas, 10/15/2006

PreS-K—Absolutely enchanting, this original folktale is enhanced by rich and engaging illustrations. Doctor Me Di Cin is left with the tall order of curing the intractable Prince who, despite his orders, refuses to leave the palace. Understanding the boy’s psychology, the good doctor devises a way to lure him out and, in the process, cure his ailments. Piumini smartly uses alliteration and repetition to avoid overwording the text, allowing the characters personalities to shine through—showing, not telling, the story. The watercolor illustrations burst off the white backgrounds in vibrant hues. Grobler is clearly paying homage to the setting of the tale, old China, without attempting to imitate or caricature its art forms. Most refreshingly, each illustration takes up a different portion and amount of the space depending upon what it depicts rather than conforming to a uniform box equal across each page. Any library will benefit from adding this well-translated story to its children’s collection.—Anat Shenker, Univ. of California, Berkeley