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A review by thiefofcamorr
Not So Stories by Joseph Elliott-Coleman, Adiwijaya Iskandar
4.0
One of my favourite books growing up was Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. I especially liked How the Elephant got His Trunk, How the Camel Got His Hump, and How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin. Mum tried to raise me on a range of stories set all around the world (Little Black Sambo, etc) all of which I can pretty well guess would be problematic now without a re-read.
Thus, I'm glad this anthology exists; a chance to share the lyrical style of writing along with explanations of how things came to be. I live in remote Australia, so have also been surrounded by dreamtime stories, How the Birds Got their Colours, How the Kangaroos got Their Tails, and so on (told by Mary Albert, of the Bardi people but put together by a children's author; I can only hope they did them justice...)
Stories like these from around the world certainly give a better answer to kids and all their questions, and as a child I found they could be read again and again (or listened to dozens of times) because there was always some other understanding to be found in them; something else to giggle at, a new way at keeping your mind open for cultures other than your own.
The foreword by Nikesh Shukla starts with an important quote, attributed to Junot Diaz;
“You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.”
This is why we need to support authors and their books from all parts of the world, and why we shouldn't settle for only one main 'default' setting... which, aside from allowing everyone to be able to see themselves in media (which is absolutely crucial to steps towards a better world), it also makes for a far more interesting one. People are so quick to jump on books where a plot is similar to another one they've read; why aren't we as quick to demand more than the usual main character we so constantly see?
The contents are as follows:
Foreword by Nikesh Shukla
How the Spider Got Her Legs, Cassandra Khaw
Queen, Joseph E. Cole
Best Beloved, Wayne Santos
The Man Who Played With the Crab, Adiwijaya Iskandar
Saṃsāra, Georgina Kamsika
Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger, Zedeck Siew
How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic, Jeannette Ng
How the Ants Got Their Queen, Stewart Hotston
How the Snake Lost its Spine, Tauriq Moosa
The Cat Who Walked by Herself, Achala Upendran
Strays Like Us, Zina Hutton
How the Simurgh Won Her Tail, Ali Nouraei
There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang, Raymond Gates
How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off, Paul Krueger
The anthology starts strong; How the Spider Got her Legs is one of my favourites in the collection. The spider's voice (and Khaw's for that matter) are so elegant for both Spider and Tiger, and with grim satisfaction for Man.
Also a standout is Saṃsāra, by Georgina Kamsika, not so much a story reminiscent of 'best beloveds' but equally enthralling; an Indian family who now live in England; the daughter being pulled away from her culture but coming back to it at the passing of her grandmother, which sparks an interest in her culture she wishes she knew more of.
Raymond Gates has a story in this anthology; hoorah for Aboriginal inclusion; with quite an Australianesque tale There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang.
All in all this is a decent anthology, though there were some stories within that didn't manage to hold my attention. The artwork, also, didn't appeal to me personally... which is a shame. I do love when artwork is included in an anthology however the style here seemed to detract; the visuals I had in my head spoke louder. It's entirely possible the artwork in my review version were placeholders for work that's more detailed, perhaps?
Thus, I'm glad this anthology exists; a chance to share the lyrical style of writing along with explanations of how things came to be. I live in remote Australia, so have also been surrounded by dreamtime stories, How the Birds Got their Colours, How the Kangaroos got Their Tails, and so on (told by Mary Albert, of the Bardi people but put together by a children's author; I can only hope they did them justice...)
Stories like these from around the world certainly give a better answer to kids and all their questions, and as a child I found they could be read again and again (or listened to dozens of times) because there was always some other understanding to be found in them; something else to giggle at, a new way at keeping your mind open for cultures other than your own.
The foreword by Nikesh Shukla starts with an important quote, attributed to Junot Diaz;
“You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.”
This is why we need to support authors and their books from all parts of the world, and why we shouldn't settle for only one main 'default' setting... which, aside from allowing everyone to be able to see themselves in media (which is absolutely crucial to steps towards a better world), it also makes for a far more interesting one. People are so quick to jump on books where a plot is similar to another one they've read; why aren't we as quick to demand more than the usual main character we so constantly see?
The contents are as follows:
Foreword by Nikesh Shukla
How the Spider Got Her Legs, Cassandra Khaw
Queen, Joseph E. Cole
Best Beloved, Wayne Santos
The Man Who Played With the Crab, Adiwijaya Iskandar
Saṃsāra, Georgina Kamsika
Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger, Zedeck Siew
How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic, Jeannette Ng
How the Ants Got Their Queen, Stewart Hotston
How the Snake Lost its Spine, Tauriq Moosa
The Cat Who Walked by Herself, Achala Upendran
Strays Like Us, Zina Hutton
How the Simurgh Won Her Tail, Ali Nouraei
There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang, Raymond Gates
How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off, Paul Krueger
The anthology starts strong; How the Spider Got her Legs is one of my favourites in the collection. The spider's voice (and Khaw's for that matter) are so elegant for both Spider and Tiger, and with grim satisfaction for Man.
Also a standout is Saṃsāra, by Georgina Kamsika, not so much a story reminiscent of 'best beloveds' but equally enthralling; an Indian family who now live in England; the daughter being pulled away from her culture but coming back to it at the passing of her grandmother, which sparks an interest in her culture she wishes she knew more of.
Raymond Gates has a story in this anthology; hoorah for Aboriginal inclusion; with quite an Australianesque tale There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang.
All in all this is a decent anthology, though there were some stories within that didn't manage to hold my attention. The artwork, also, didn't appeal to me personally... which is a shame. I do love when artwork is included in an anthology however the style here seemed to detract; the visuals I had in my head spoke louder. It's entirely possible the artwork in my review version were placeholders for work that's more detailed, perhaps?