The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Ondaatje, Griffin

The Camel in the Sun

48 pp. | Groundwood | October, 2013 | Trade ISBN 978-1-55498-381-0 $17.95

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber. A camel suffers under hard-driving master Halim. The Prophet Muhammad comforts the beast, and the camel weeps. Its tears "sifted into Halim's dream," and Halim too weeps and awakes filled with compassion. This tale "inspired by a hadith" (an "account of the Prophet's words or actions passed from generation to generation") resonates with universal meaning. The story is beautifully supported by desert-hued full-bleed monoprints.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014