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Meena
The children on Fly Street are convinced that Darling Meena is a witch. She eats toads, after all, and drinks blood. And worst of all, one day it appears she has imprisoned a girl inside her house. But are things what they seem? The girl insists that Meena is only her grandma. Will Klaas, Christa, and Thomas overcome their fears and find a new friend?
26 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 28, 2021
Christa, Klaas and Thomas were convinced that their elderly neighbor, Meena, was a witch - one who ate toads and drank blood. Their vivid imaginations led them to say all sorts of terrible things about her, and to interpret everything they saw as evidence of her wrongdoing. From the little girl who came to visit her - surely a prisoner! - to the cherry pie she offered - made of blood? - everything about her seemed sinister. Even when the little girl insisted that Meena was no witch, but her own grandmother, the children of Fly Street didn't quite believe it. It took all of Meena's calm friendliness to overcome Thomas' fear, and then he led the others into a friendship with this unexpected neighbor...
Originally published in Belgium as Mina lieverd, (literally: "Mina Sweetheart"), Meena is a book that I initially sought out due to my interest in witchy picture-books - a perennial pet project of mine. It wasn't clear to me, from the book description, whether the eponymous figure was actually a witch (perhaps just a nicer one than the children believed), or simply an old woman mistaken for a witch by frightened and silly young children. Either way, I thought it would be interesting, especially as translated children's literature is another pet project of mine. As it happens, it is an example of the latter story type, and addresses themes of intergenerational mistrust and (eventually) friendship. Another picture-book example of this story type would be Carol Carrick's Old Mother Witch , while a classic children's novel to explore the theme would be Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond . Given my general interest in the the depiction of witches in children's literature, I have created two separate tags to track these different but related story-types: "witchy-witches" for tales of actual witches, and "the crone" for those featuring old women who are mistaken for witches. Although Meena belongs more fully to the latter category, I have also retained the "witchy-witches" tag, given some of the early illustrations in the book, which depict the children's imaginary visions of Meena in witchy garb.
Leaving all of that aside, as interesting as I found this book, from a story-type perspective, and as much as I appreciated the eventual message of friendship between the young and old that it promulgated, I had some mixed feelings about the way in which the story itself was told. I suppose that it is realistic that children can sometimes be very mean-spirited, but I found Christa, Klaas and Thomas terribly unsympathetic, and therefore had difficulty entering fully into the pleasure that the happy ending was no doubt meant to evoke. While their fear of Meena might have been natural, the trio's persistent nastiness to her felt very unpleasant. I have vivid memories of the elderly woman who lived in my own neighborhood, growing up, and how we local children believed she was a witch, living in her massive house on the hill, with its dark brown wooden shingles. Truth be told, we were all a little frightened of her, and yes, we sometimes told stories about her, amongst ourselves. That said, our parents would have had something to say, had we gathered outside her house, writing things on the sidewalk about her, and chanting nasty refrains outside her window. This seems to cross more into the terrain of bullying and elder abuse, than simple fear of the elderly, which is (alas) sometimes present in the very young. Despite my distaste at the behavior of the children - and after all, young people can behave in these ways, so Sine van Mol's narrative is in no way unbelievable - I did find this story engaging overall. The artwork from Carianne Wijffels, which looks to have been done in a variety of media, including collage, is quite interesting. I liked the vivid use of color, and how this was contrasted with the elements created in a more restrained blue outline. All in all, an interesting and engaging picture-book, one that I would recommend to readers seeking children's stories about relations between the young and the elderly.
Originally published in Belgium as Mina lieverd, (literally: "Mina Sweetheart"), Meena is a book that I initially sought out due to my interest in witchy picture-books - a perennial pet project of mine. It wasn't clear to me, from the book description, whether the eponymous figure was actually a witch (perhaps just a nicer one than the children believed), or simply an old woman mistaken for a witch by frightened and silly young children. Either way, I thought it would be interesting, especially as translated children's literature is another pet project of mine. As it happens, it is an example of the latter story type, and addresses themes of intergenerational mistrust and (eventually) friendship. Another picture-book example of this story type would be Carol Carrick's Old Mother Witch , while a classic children's novel to explore the theme would be Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond . Given my general interest in the the depiction of witches in children's literature, I have created two separate tags to track these different but related story-types: "witchy-witches" for tales of actual witches, and "the crone" for those featuring old women who are mistaken for witches. Although Meena belongs more fully to the latter category, I have also retained the "witchy-witches" tag, given some of the early illustrations in the book, which depict the children's imaginary visions of Meena in witchy garb.
Leaving all of that aside, as interesting as I found this book, from a story-type perspective, and as much as I appreciated the eventual message of friendship between the young and old that it promulgated, I had some mixed feelings about the way in which the story itself was told. I suppose that it is realistic that children can sometimes be very mean-spirited, but I found Christa, Klaas and Thomas terribly unsympathetic, and therefore had difficulty entering fully into the pleasure that the happy ending was no doubt meant to evoke. While their fear of Meena might have been natural, the trio's persistent nastiness to her felt very unpleasant. I have vivid memories of the elderly woman who lived in my own neighborhood, growing up, and how we local children believed she was a witch, living in her massive house on the hill, with its dark brown wooden shingles. Truth be told, we were all a little frightened of her, and yes, we sometimes told stories about her, amongst ourselves. That said, our parents would have had something to say, had we gathered outside her house, writing things on the sidewalk about her, and chanting nasty refrains outside her window. This seems to cross more into the terrain of bullying and elder abuse, than simple fear of the elderly, which is (alas) sometimes present in the very young. Despite my distaste at the behavior of the children - and after all, young people can behave in these ways, so Sine van Mol's narrative is in no way unbelievable - I did find this story engaging overall. The artwork from Carianne Wijffels, which looks to have been done in a variety of media, including collage, is quite interesting. I liked the vivid use of color, and how this was contrasted with the elements created in a more restrained blue outline. All in all, an interesting and engaging picture-book, one that I would recommend to readers seeking children's stories about relations between the young and the elderly.
September 26, 2011
For no particular reason, the neighborhood children who live on Fly Street are sure that Meena is a witch. They heckle her, leave threatening grafitti on the streets, and even send her a letter, all from a safe distance. But as they find out eventually, Meena is a not a witch; she's someone's grandmother, and she bakes yummy cherry pies. Not only do the children make a couple of new friends, they also realize that first impressions are not always correct, and it isn't wise to draw conclusions based on too little information. The book's message is delivered with wit and humor. The illustrations are childlike on some pages, resembling perfectly the drawings children might create. I particularly liked the illustrations that showed Meena on the last page, arms gathering in the children, one eye blinking.
February 5, 2015
This was a quaint and out-of- the-ordinary short story. The main character; Meena is wrongly labeled by the children in her neighborhood; Fly street. They gossip, sing songs, and make warning signs about Meena and accuse her of being a witch from the very first sentence in the book. The illustrations are a wonderful collaboration between sketched images (that look authentically drawn by a young child) and other vibrant and more detailed images. Then, they meet a young girl named Anna that has a different opinion about Meena. You'll never guess what happens next! This would be a good book to use in an elementary school classroom to address topics such as bullying, stereotypes, and relationships.
September 11, 2011
"The children of Fly Street were afraid of Meena. 'Meena is a witch,' Christa declared. 'She eats toads,' Klaas shouted. 'She drinks blood,' Thomas added."
Christa, Klaas, and Thomas are afraid of Meena, and when they find a girl, Anna, that has clearly been bewitched by Meena, they try to warn her, only for her to angrily reply that Meena is not a witch--she's Anna's grandmother! Could the three children be wrong about Meena?
Meena is a children's picture book by Sine van Mol, illustrated by Carianne Wijffels. Originally published in Dutch in 2010, as Mina lieverd, and English version is scheduled to be published on September 15, 2011 by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
The first thing I noticed about this book--surely the first thing anyone would notice--is the unique art style. Or, more correctly, the unique art styles. The book contains two very different kinds of art. The children imagine Meena to be a witch, so we see Meena-as-a-witch drawn in crayon in a simple style by the children. The real events of the story, on the other hand, are drawn in a much more detailed style--especially noticeable are the very detailed patterns of the clothing. Each kind of illustration is very nice and appropriate, and the contrast between the two styles provides a wonderful effect.
The story is pretty simple: the children believe Meena to be a witch, but when they meet her granddaughter and taste her cherry pie, they learn that she is just a kind old woman. It is too simple to be engaging as a story for older readers--I fear that the children at the top end of the 5-9 age range the book suggests may find it slightly dull--but the art is interesting enough, I think, for even adults to find the book worthwhile.
I'd recommend Meena for young children, especially those just beginning to read. Anyone can enjoy the beautiful illustrations, though, so you might consider it for both older readers and children not quite up to reading by themselves, yet.
Disclosure: this review is based on an advance copy received free for review.
This review also appears on my blog.
Christa, Klaas, and Thomas are afraid of Meena, and when they find a girl, Anna, that has clearly been bewitched by Meena, they try to warn her, only for her to angrily reply that Meena is not a witch--she's Anna's grandmother! Could the three children be wrong about Meena?
Meena is a children's picture book by Sine van Mol, illustrated by Carianne Wijffels. Originally published in Dutch in 2010, as Mina lieverd, and English version is scheduled to be published on September 15, 2011 by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
The first thing I noticed about this book--surely the first thing anyone would notice--is the unique art style. Or, more correctly, the unique art styles. The book contains two very different kinds of art. The children imagine Meena to be a witch, so we see Meena-as-a-witch drawn in crayon in a simple style by the children. The real events of the story, on the other hand, are drawn in a much more detailed style--especially noticeable are the very detailed patterns of the clothing. Each kind of illustration is very nice and appropriate, and the contrast between the two styles provides a wonderful effect.
The story is pretty simple: the children believe Meena to be a witch, but when they meet her granddaughter and taste her cherry pie, they learn that she is just a kind old woman. It is too simple to be engaging as a story for older readers--I fear that the children at the top end of the 5-9 age range the book suggests may find it slightly dull--but the art is interesting enough, I think, for even adults to find the book worthwhile.
I'd recommend Meena for young children, especially those just beginning to read. Anyone can enjoy the beautiful illustrations, though, so you might consider it for both older readers and children not quite up to reading by themselves, yet.
Disclosure: this review is based on an advance copy received free for review.
This review also appears on my blog.
November 23, 2011
All the children on Fly Street were scared of Meena. They called her names and talked about what they might do to hurt her and wrote WITCH on the street with an arrow pointing to her house. Despite this, a little girl, Anna, continued to go visit Meena a lot. Anna told the children that Meena was her grandmother, but the children did not believe her. Finally, one boy wrote a letter threatening Meena, a letter urging Meena to move, and decided to throw it over the wall. Meena caught the letter and began to talk to the boy, Thomas. Meena brought out a freshly baked pie and gave Thomas a piece. Thomas did not die and soon the children began going to Meena’s house every day for pie.
A children’s book with grownup ideas. What makes people begin to hate others? How can a small mean idea grow? What can stop cruelty and lies?
“’She’s not a witch! She’s my grandma.’
Anna looked at them angrily.
‘But she eats little children. Does she have a wart…?’
‘MY. GRANDMA. IS. NOT. A WITCH!’ Anna roared, and she ran inside.
‘Completely under a spell,’ Klaas sighed.”
A children’s book with grownup ideas. What makes people begin to hate others? How can a small mean idea grow? What can stop cruelty and lies?
“’She’s not a witch! She’s my grandma.’
Anna looked at them angrily.
‘But she eats little children. Does she have a wart…?’
‘MY. GRANDMA. IS. NOT. A WITCH!’ Anna roared, and she ran inside.
‘Completely under a spell,’ Klaas sighed.”
March 9, 2012
All the children in the neighborhood are afraid of Meena, who they believe is a witch. They tease her and run from her, until one day when a new little girl visits. She doesn't believe the other children when they warn her that Meena is a witch. She's her grandmother. Pictures and text are dramatic -- when offered pie one says it's "toad-blood pie." Eventually Anna convinces most of them to try "the most delicious pie in the world." The one who doesn't has horrible nightmares . . . though when she sees her friends are okay the next day, she comes around.
unusual illustrations -- very dramatic, which matches/exaggerates tone of text--drama and fear are palpable in the pictures
From Belgium, no translator listed
unusual illustrations -- very dramatic, which matches/exaggerates tone of text--drama and fear are palpable in the pictures
From Belgium, no translator listed
September 19, 2011
This book was fine, but I have some reservations about just leaving this around for the kids to read. One of the illustrations (a cauldron with limbs hanging out) would have frightened me as a child. I also feel unsure that the children in the story learned their lesson. Vandalism isn't just wrong because the woman isn't really a witch. Throwing things over the fence seemed a little intense to me. Isn't that a hate crime?
April 21, 2012
I did not enjoy this book very much. The children were terribly mean to Meena (an old woman) for no reason. They repeatedly said terrible things to her and write her horrible notes and letters. Then, at the very end she just gives them pie and then they like her? I know they are just kids, but they should have at least apologized to her.
January 11, 2013
This book is brutal, even though the children eventually discover that Meena is not a witch the majority of the book is spent discussing how to get Meena to go away. The children use name calling, prejudice, and other bad habits like making assumptions about people. I don’t feel as though the resolution in the end was sufficient enough to send a positive message to students.
June 30, 2011
In this Belgian import, children bully an old woman they believe is a witch until they taste her cherry pie and get to know her. Good story about how fears and misunderstandings are rooted in prejudice.
December 27, 2011
Don't make assumptions. That witch might be someone's grandmother!
November 4, 2013
Wonderful book from Belgium. I love a book that explores how people are not always what we think they are.
September 17, 2014
I get the idea behind this story but I feel like it's too brutal, too rude. The lesson could be taught without all the hate mail.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews