Review by Booklist Review
Found in the forest by a woodcutter and raised as a sister to his six sons, Celeste, 60 feet taller than everyone else, is furious when her father refuses to let her leave the farm, not because she's different, but because she's a girl. Lured away by a traveling peddler who promises to have her home before nightfall, Celeste makes her visit to town, and it ends in disaster. Running for her life, the giantess first encounters a noble knight, then a witch, a troupe of actors, and a prince, each either teaching her about freedom or causing it to be taken from her. Told in the style of a fable, the story tackles religion, abortion, education, social norms, and other ways women are often not in control of their own lives. It also emphasizes the giving and receiving of love, the importance of education, and the work it takes to achieve dreams. The folk art style of Tanarit's panels has the vibrancy of a beloved picture book, but the sophisticated story will have appeal for adult readers as well. Each setting is more imaginative than the next, and well-designed page turns help heighten the beauty revealed. Well worth a re-read, this feminist tale is as thoughtful and uplifiting as Celeste is tall.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Deveney and Tamarit's English-language debut, a luminously drawn feminist fairy tale, uses its heroine's journey to explore immersive fantasy settings and probe fundamental questions about society. In a vibrant medieval world, a woodcutter finds a giant baby in the woods and adopts her. Celeste grows into a lively, curious 60-foot-tall redhead who yearns to leave the family farm and see the outside world. When the opportunity for adventure presents itself, she takes off, beginning an extended bildungsroman in which her literally larger-than-life existence challenges one societal norm after another. The giantess is displayed for money by a scheming peddler, romanced by a kindly white knight and a troubled acrobat, imprisoned in a dungeon with other nonconforming women ("Because we're different, sweetheart!"), educated by a witch, married to a king, and so on. Nuria's artwork, drenched in merry colors, has a folk-art directness reminiscent of great children's book illustrators like Tomie dePaola. She draws simple, charming characters in endlessly imaginative settings: a mermaid island, a town in a tree, a stark mountain convent, a sunny seaside village. Along the way, Celeste discovers learning, art, sex, love, and compassion, and gradually forms her own ideas about how people might live. Insightfully scripted and drawn with pages to pore over, this labor of love has an instant-classic feel and deserves to be treasured. (Sept.)
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