Gita Wolf's (The Enduring Ark) catchy trickster tale in cumulative rhyme, with roots in Rajasthan, India, stars a lazy but clever (and hungry) jackal. The illustrations by Sunita, from the Meena tribe in Rajasthan, are rendered in an ancient art form called Mandna, taught and passed down from mother to daughter. Rendered in black and white on brown paper, the images resemble woodcuts, but Sunita actually applied the acrylics with her fingertips.
As the jackal swallows each creature, it appears in his ever-expanding stomach, and the cumulative refrain similarly grows ("Twelve fish/ in my tum/ sorry crane/ just too dumb"). Finally, the jackal's thirst, rather than his hunger, gets the better of him, bursting his stomach and freeing its contents. The arresting black-and-white images and gorgeous design of this handmade book make it an unusual and prized gift. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness