Cinnamon

Reviewed by: Sarah Cropley - Scarborough Public Library, Scarborough, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 6, 2017

Review

Cinnamon is an engaging and magnificent picture book that feels both classic and modern. Neil Gaiman weaves a story of a young princess in India who was born blind and does not speak. The Rajah and the Rani offer a great reward to anyone who can teach the girl to speak, but no one can until a giant man-eating tiger comes to the palace.

Gaiman's prose is lively and echoes the oral tradition in a way that will draw readers young and old into the story. Divya Srinivasan's use of bright color and complex patterns balanced with large areas of simplicity are the perfect accompaniment for the text and make this a book that will perform for a large story time and a one-on-one reading equally well. Some readers may be dissatisfied with the ending, which is left fairly open. Even so, Cinnamon well deserves a position in most libraries and classrooms.

Overall Book Score: very good