Ossiri and the Bala Mengro

Available (6)

Location	Collection	Call #
C.C. Mellor Memorial Library	Picture Books	E O'Ne
Location	C.C. Mellor Memorial Library
Collection	Picture Books
Call Number	E O'Ne
CLP - Main Library	First Floor Children's Department - Picture Books	qj FICTION O'Neill
Location	CLP - Main Library
Collection	First Floor Children's Department - Picture Books
Call Number	qj FICTION O'Neill
CLP - Main Library	First Floor Children's Department - Closed Stack Area	qj FICTION O'Neill
Location	CLP - Main Library
Collection	First Floor Children's Department - Closed Stack Area
Call Number	qj FICTION O'Neill
CLP - Sheraden	Children's Picture Books	qj FICTION O'Neill
Location	CLP - Sheraden
Collection	Children's Picture Books
Call Number	qj FICTION O'Neill
CLP - Squirrel Hill	Children's Picture Books	qj FICTION O'Neill
Location	CLP - Squirrel Hill
Collection	Children's Picture Books
Call Number	qj FICTION O'Neill
CLP - West End	Children's Picture Books	qj FICTION O'Neill
Location	CLP - West End
Collection	Children's Picture Books
Call Number	qj FICTION O'Neill

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Summary

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "Ossiri, a Traveler girl, loves music and longs for an instrument, but her family is too poor. And anyway, that's not what Tattin Folki nomadic recyclers who salvage, mend, alter, barter, and sell do. So Ossiri makes her own instrument, a Tattin Django, from recycled bits and a willow branch. Unfortunately, her playing is cacophonous, and it wakes a gigantic ogre a Bala Mengro, or Hairy Person. Ossiri is terrified, but it turns out that her noise is literally music to the ogre's ears. The colorful mixed-media illustrations match the descriptive, well-paced third-person narration. The folk-art pictures are pleasant, but the focal points of the spreads often feel misplaced, causing relevant details to be lost in the compositions. Although the author provides a cultural context of Romani and Traveler culture, it's still unclear exactly which elements of the tale are being drawn from where, and how much is being invented from whole cloth. All that said, the storytelling cadence begs to be read aloud.--Seto Forrester, Amy Copyright 2017 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Romani storyteller O'Neill collaborates with Quarmby (Fussy Freya) on a tale set in an itinerant Traveler community that lives in caravans. Ossiri yearns to be a musician and fashions an instrument from bits of trash her family gathers. But her inexpert playing disturbs them: "Ossiri, please stop!" cries her brother. "My ears are hurting." When the family travels to Lancashire, Ossiri climbs the hills to practice, and a farmer's daughter warns her that the local ogre, the Bala Mengro ("hairy person"), will cause trouble if her playing awakens him. It does-which actually brings Ossiri good fortune. The narrator emphasizes the way Travelers save and reuse: "Ossiri helped her father and grandfather to load their cart with goods other people had thrown out." Gentle talk between family members creates a sense of closeness and security, while Romani words sprinkled throughout give a further sense of the community and its argot (a glossary is included). Tolson's (A Pocket Full of Treasures) scribbly illustrations go right along with the spirit of improvisation and simplicity. Ages 4-9. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."

Additional Information

Subjects	Folk literature, Romani. Musical instruments -- Juvenile fiction. Ghouls and ogres -- Juvenile fiction. Romanies -- Juvenile fiction. Musical instruments -- Fiction. Ghouls and ogres -- Fiction. Romanies -- Fiction. Folk tales.
Publisher	Swindon, UK :Child's Play International Ltd,2016
Contributors	Quarmby, Katharine, author. Tolson, Hannah, illustrator.
Language	English
Description	1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 28 cm
ISBN	1846439256 9781846439254
Other	Classic View