Emma and the Blue Genie

September 8, 2014
Funke (the Inkheart trilogy) spins her fictional magic in this witty novel, written in 2002 and newly translated by Latsch, starring an eight-year-old girl with four pesky brothers. At night, Emma and her dog Tristan escape to the chilly beach, where “the moon poured a silver highway onto the water,” at the end of which she envisions a warm land with camels and palm trees. One evening, she finds a bottle containing Karim, a despondent blue genie who has been left “as small as a desert hedgehog and as weak as a nosebug” ever since an evil yellow genie stole his enchanted nose ring. Emma and Tristan accompany Karim back to his home turf—the land of her dreams—on his flying carpet. In a swift-moving sequence of events, the villainous genie kidnaps and cages Emma and Tristan before they and Karim collude to defeat him. Funke’s visual descriptions and playful dialogue lift this above standard good-versus-evil fantasy fare, while Meyer’s full-color spot illustrations underpin the text’s humor. Ages 7–10. Author’s agent: Jenny Savill, Andrew Nurnberg Associates.

August 1, 2014
Emma and her dog, Tristan, steal down to the moonlit sea for some quiet time and find a mysterious bottle bobbing on the waves; inside, of course, is a genie. Karim can't grant wishes; he's the one who needs help. Evil genie Sahim stole his nose ring, source of his power, and imprisoned him in the bottle. Emma, Tristan and Karim head via flying carpet for Barakash, where Sahim now rules, to recover the nose ring and free the city's caliph and citizens. Meyer's whimsical art is packed with quirky details and expressive humor (the supercilious dromedary's a delight), neatly enhancing Funke's droll humor. First published in Germany in 2002, this entertaining tale has plenty of charm, but it will have an uncomfortable aftertaste for some. This Disney-fied Arabian Nights territory draws from the well of Western popular culture, where normal is fair and cute, exotic is dark and comically alien, and color's a reliable indicator for good and evil. The flying carpet and palace are beautiful; the caliph's grandmother is "a big woman with a beard and blue patterns on her face." With tight word counts, restrictive vocabulary and language parameters, chapter books rely on their audience to fill in details from shared cultural assumptions. In an increasingly diverse society, notions of what is normal and what is exotic to readers call for frequent reassessment. Training wheels for Funke's future fans. (Fantasy. 7-9)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 2-4-Eight-year-old Emma and her pup Tristan wander out to the beach one night to sit and dream of faraway lands. What this girl and her "noodle-tailed dog" don't expect is for her wishes to be answered by a glowing bottle bobbing along in the waves. When she opens the bottle, she frees a blue genie named Karim who was imprisoned by a wicked yellow genie and thrown into the sea. Though Karim was deprived of most of his powers, he is determined to journey back to his master, the caliph of Barakash. Emma and Tristan yearn to have an adventure of their own, and so they join their blue friend in a magical journey to a land straight out of a desert fairy tale. While the tropes of this story will doubtless be familiar, the author's love of spirited heroines and skilled hand at prose make this a pleasure to read and share. Full-color illustrations, many full page, bring the characters to life and make this a great pick for younger readers just getting into longer chapter books. A fun fantasy romp.-Stephanie Whelan, New York Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Grades 2-4 After Emma and her dog, Tristan, retrieve a bottle from the sea, Emma pulls out the stopper and releases Karim, a small blue genie. Weeping, he explains that he cannot grant wishes because he was diminished in size and in magic when his nose ring was stolen by Sahim, a despicable yellow genie. Stepping onto Karim's flying carpet, Emma and Tristan join the quest to retrieve his ring, only to be captured by Sahim. To rescue his new friends, Karim must confront his nemesis. Moments of mild humor lighten the mood in this fast-paced adventure story for younger readers. The portrayal of Emma as a down-to-earth child makes her a likable heroine in both the lively text and the expressive mixed-media illustrations, which brighten every double-page spread. First published in Germany 12 years ago, this English translation offers a colorful, gentle fantasy with wide appeal. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Funke's fan base has a broad age range, and kids who have seen their older siblings read the New York Times best-selling Inkheart series will flock to this.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)