The Girl who Lost her Smile
by Karim Alrawi, illustrated by Stefan Czernecki
Selected by the Children's Book Committee at Bank Street
College of Education as one of "The Best Children's Books of the Year (2001)"
CM, Volume XI Number 17, April 29, 2005
“When a young girl in Baghdad stops smiling, the sun stops shining, so her father, the townspeople, and a hoopoe bird try their best to find something that will amuse her, to no avail. . . . the simple illustrations, which use flat color and a bold, clean line, are lively and interesting.”-
The Horn Book Guide, 4/1/2001
“Karim Alrawi's Girl Who Lost Her Smile pairs Stefan Czernecki's drawings with the story of Jehan, a Baghdad girl who awakens to find her smile is lost. This Islamic folk story offers a rare tale to Western kids.” -
The Midwest Book Review, 12/1/2000
From Children's Book Council
"When Jehan smiled by day, the sun shone brightly over the wondrous
city of Baghdad. When she smiled at night, the stars glittered and
sparkled. Then one dull day, she could not find her smile, and gloom
fell over the city. Jugglers, artists and fire-eaters tried to help,
and failed. Finally, a young man, with only a simple tool in his
pouch, helps Jehan uncover the dazzling beauty that had been right
before her eyes. Infused with a gentle spirit, illustrated with
arresting artwork, this is a tale rich with meaning for readers
of any age." - July 2001 Children's Book Center, New York.
From School Library
Journal
"K-Gr 3-In this story,
Jehan has lost her smile, making the city of Baghdad
gray and drab. Even the jugglers and fire-eaters can't
cheer her up. The hoopoe bird
and Jehan's father try importing artists to paint
pictures to cheer her, but while the girl finds the
Chinese
dragons and the Italian
seraphim beautiful, she still won't smile. The hoopoe
rejects the religious subject matter of the Tibetan
artist as
"too scary" and the
Egyptian's as "too serious." Finally, a young Persian
gives her a sandalwood scraper and together they sand
a wall
until it glows. "-Jehan saw
that its beauty had always been there. It had just
been waiting for her to uncover it."
New York Times, February 11, 2001
"Because of their roots in oral tradition, folk tales make good read-aloud stories, as Karim Alrawi shows with ''The Girl Who Lost Her Smile.'' Based on the works of Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, ''The Girl Who Lost Her Smile'' tells the story of Jehan, who wakes up sad one morning and turns a city gray because only her smile can bring out the sun. So a hoopoe, a wise bird who consults with Jehan's father, sets off in search of someone who can produce a smile.
Eventually, the hoopoe finds a man who says he knows the secret. Upon meeting Jehan, he takes a scraper made of sandalwood from a pouch and rubs it against a wall. Jehan takes over, and she quickly brings a polish to the surface. Its glow makes her smile, and her smile brings back the sun. All is right in the city again. The premise is promising, and Alrawi's prose flows easily as he weaves an engaging story. The tale would be more fulfilling, though, if it elaborated on some basic questions: Why does the girl lose her smile? And why does scratching at a wall with sandalwood bring it back?
Folk tales aren't meant to fill in all the details, of course, but this one is just too sparse, even in a symbolic context. On the other hand, Stefan Czernecki's pictures sparkle. His simple, precise strokes set the tone of a fairy tale, and his colorful hoopoe is an inviting and memorable guide. Just as important, his colors perfectly capture changing moods: bright blues and yellows to depict smiles and sunshine, muted tans and grays to show worry and sadness, strong reds and greens to make dragons and fire-eaters bold, touches of glowing whites and yellows against deep blue to convey an underlying mysticism. In their elegant simplicity, the pictures carry the story." -- By Doug Ward.
January 21, 2001, Chicago Tribune
SECTION: CHILDREN'S CORNER.
By Mary Harris Russell.
"In the wondrous city of Baghdad, lived a young girl called Jehan." One day Jehan loses her bright
smile, and the people of Baghdad cannot see the sun. In this retelling of a story from the Persian mystical
tradition, Stefan Czernecki's illustrations, full of clean-edged and winsomely geometric people and landscapes,
make the tale come alive. It is a wise hoopoe bird who tells Jehan's father to turn to "the greatest artists in
the world to paint pictures for her." After a sampling of other countries' artists, a young Persian man shows Jehan
her smile was always there, just waiting for her to uncover it. A pleasure for readers to uncover a less-familiar
story, brilliantly brought to life."
--
Mary Harris Russell, who teaches English at Indiana
University Northwest, reviews children's books each
week for the Tribune.
"Inspired by the Sufi poet Rumi, this elegant, unusual story begins when Jehan wakes up one morning in Baghdad and cannot find her smile. ...In airbrushed colors, the illustrations are combinations of geometric forms: Jehan's head is a circle and her lips a perfect ruby heart. Persian windows, Jehan's turbaned father, and the gaudily crested hoopoe evoke the locale."
-- Booklist, 11/1/2000
A simple fairy tale about a young girl, Jehan, who loses her smile. Gloom falls over the city of Baghdad.
Jugglers, fire-eaters amd artists from Italy and China all come to try to help the girl find her smile.
Finally, a young man arrives from Persia with a small leather pouch that contains the tool to regain her
smile. The pictures are bright and charming. The tale originates with Jallal al-Din Rimi, the mystical
Turkish poet and storyteller who founded the order of the Whirling Dervish. -- Vancouver Sun
"These fine stories provide excellent, different
choices for young picturebook fans. Karim Alrawi's
The Girl Who Lost Her Smile pairs
Stefan Czernecki's drawings with the story of Jehan, a
Baghdad girl who awakens to find her smile is lost.
This Islamic folk story offers a rare tale to Western
kids." -- The Children's Bookwatch
Author Karim Alrawi writes a simple and inspiring story of uncovering the hidden beauty of life in "The Girl Who
Lost Her Smile" for children ages 4-8. Jehan wakes up one morning to find that her smile is lost. The Jugglers,
fire-eaters and the artists of the world do all they can to help her. But it is a young Persian with a small
leather pouch who finally helps Jehan to uncover her own smile. Stefan Czernecki's illustrations are bold and
vivid and capture the simple beauty of this folktale based on a short story in a collection of Islamic stories
and poetry. -- St. Louis Post Dispatch
"A charming multicultural story about a lost smile.
Jehan wakes up one morning without her smile. It takes
a tiny bird to find the right person who can help.
Children all over the world will relate to the story
with its simple message. The illustrations are bright
and bold, just like a smile." -- The Children's Book Review Service
One of Madam Esme's "most exciting
new children's books".
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