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A review by smitty2567
Sita's Ramayana by Samhita Arni
4.0
Hero
Motif: Clever Animals/Talking Animals
Target Audience: Grade 7 or older
Summary:
Main Characters: Sita (Rama's wife); Rama (exiled prince of Ayodhya in India); Ravana (king of Lanka, an island off the coast of Ayodhya); Lakshmana (Rama's brother); Trijatha (Ravana's niece); Hanuman (Intelligence monkey ally of Rama)
Setting: Ancient India
Narrative: This graphic novel tells the Indian legend of Ramayana from Sita's perspective, instead of the hero Rama. When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana and imprisoned in his palace, her husband Rama and his brother fight to win her back. While legends remember heroes and triumphs, this retelling explores the true price of war on those left behind when the heroes go home.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
The graphic style of the illustrations are visually striking and interesting. Even though the plot feels complicated with many twists and turns, the text clearly introduces all the new characters and their motivations, even to someone not familiar with the original legend.
Some of the artwork is hard to interpret without the accompanying text.
Personal critique:
This would be a good recommendation for students who like mythology or fantasy stories or students interested in learning about other cultures or religions.
Illustrations:
Color Illustrations
Notable awards:
None
Lesson Planning:
This book is a good sample text to talk about how changing perspective can change a story. Also, this would be a good book for learning about legends and myths or as a supplemental text when learning about ancient India or world religions.
Motif: Clever Animals/Talking Animals
Target Audience: Grade 7 or older
Summary:
Main Characters: Sita (Rama's wife); Rama (exiled prince of Ayodhya in India); Ravana (king of Lanka, an island off the coast of Ayodhya); Lakshmana (Rama's brother); Trijatha (Ravana's niece); Hanuman (Intelligence monkey ally of Rama)
Setting: Ancient India
Narrative: This graphic novel tells the Indian legend of Ramayana from Sita's perspective, instead of the hero Rama. When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana and imprisoned in his palace, her husband Rama and his brother fight to win her back. While legends remember heroes and triumphs, this retelling explores the true price of war on those left behind when the heroes go home.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
The graphic style of the illustrations are visually striking and interesting. Even though the plot feels complicated with many twists and turns, the text clearly introduces all the new characters and their motivations, even to someone not familiar with the original legend.
Some of the artwork is hard to interpret without the accompanying text.
Personal critique:
This would be a good recommendation for students who like mythology or fantasy stories or students interested in learning about other cultures or religions.
Illustrations:
Color Illustrations
Notable awards:
None
Lesson Planning:
This book is a good sample text to talk about how changing perspective can change a story. Also, this would be a good book for learning about legends and myths or as a supplemental text when learning about ancient India or world religions.