The woman in the woods and other North American stories

This fifth installment in the Cautionary Fables and Fairytales series revolves around North American Indigenous stories, all written by Native authors and artists. As with any collection, some stories are more successful than others. Standouts include a fable about the origin of bioluminescence in Puget Sound, drawn in a style that compellingly incorporates traditional Pacific Northwest form-line art; and a tense ghost story, filled with expressive faces and soft yet precise inking, that centers on an eerie close encounter with a shape changer. The stories all steer clear of the usual folktales, focusing instead on lesser-known mythical figures, and they span a wide range of time periods and geographic areas. On the whole, the stories nicely showcase the rich variety of Indigenous perspectives, cultures, and communities throughout the continent. Especially where graphic-novel adaptations of folktales and fables are popular, this will be a strong addition to comics collections and an ideal pairing with Esperón and Mijangos' Batchelder Honor book, The Sea-Ringed World (2021).

Gr 5--7--In eight graphic stories or story fragments 11 writers and artists identifying as various combinations of cis, trans, or nonbinary with tribal affiliations ranging from Taíno and Cree to Métis, Chickasaw, Odawa, and Navajo highlight folkloric figures and universal values. In the titular tale, set in south Florida by Mercedes Acosta (Taíno), young Luisa and a mysterious forest neighbor with elaborate skin markings share food and music. In other stories, one child befriends a wolflike "Rougarou" who turns out to be scary but not hostile, another promises a shape-changing lynx spirit not to harm the waters it guards ("No, that's the job of the pale faces."), and a third, wearing a "Trans Pride" T-shirt, climbs into a storyteller's lap to hear how the Creator, feminine and masculine ("Not in parts, but both at the same time.") came to decide that life, "beautiful and messy and complicated," should exist. Cree illustrator Alina Pete incorporates Northwest Coastal images and motifs into Jeffrey Veregge's (Port Gamble S'Klallam) pourquoi tale of how bioluminescence came to the sea due to the Moon's love for Octopus Woman, but in general the monochrome art is done in individual rather than traditional styles, with clothing and other details a mix of modern casual and culturally specific. The entries vary widely in narrative and visual finish, and there are no source notes for those that aren't original. Still, each contributor gets an introductory paragraph at the end. VERDICT Of interest more for the contributors than the content but a unique showcase for some new and up-and-coming Native American talents.--John Edward Peters

Native American and First Nations writers and artists introduce a comics anthology of diverse Indigenous lore passed down through generations. Representing eight tribes, each offering is this collection is a reimagining of a traditional Indigenous tale. Readers are led on a wild journey through various mythologies, including the Métis narrative of a young boy trapped in the body of a rougarou (werewolf); a Chickasaw pourquoi story featuring an anthropomorphic rabbit trickster; the legend of the Octopus Woman from the S'Kallam tribe; and an Ojibwe story about a girl who encounters a half-lynx, half-dragon underwater being called Mishipeshu while searching for clean water for her people. Some stories are humorous, such as the Navajo-sourced "Into the Darkness," while others dip into the mystery genre, like "The Woman in the Woods" from the Taino oral tradition. Because of the digestible graphic format, this would be a good introductory text for readers unfamiliar with Native American folklore and culture; meanwhile, Indigenous readers may find the stories from tribes other than their own pleasingly familiar. The black-and-white artwork by multiple artists is enhanced by panels of varying shapes and layouts. The stories are set in both contemporary and historical periods, and some feature two-spirit characters. After reading these diverse stories, young readers might be inspired to create a folklore retelling of their own. Characters are diverse in race, skin tone, age, and gender. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Enjoyable for reading aloud or sharing around a campfire. (Graphic fiction. 8-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.