…tells a story that feels as if it's been told forever…The Girl With a Brave Heart is strikingly enhanced by Vali Mintzi's exquisite naïf illustrations, which seem a happy meeting of Gauguin and mid-career Matisse. Even during its darker moments, the figures shimmer in a sunny, spicy landscape of tangerine, cinnamon and teal. Taken altogether, the book is a heartwarming vindication of good-heartedness, something that doesn't always get celebrated in a girlhood culture of snark.
The New York Times - Pamela Paul
Tehran native Jahanforuz, a singer living in Israel, relays a traditional tale about a kind, wise Persian girl named Shiraz. One day, after finishing chores for her demanding stepmother, Shiraz sits knitting on the balcony when the wind carries away a ball of wool that belonged to her late mother. It lands in the courtyard of an elderly neighbor, who agrees to return it if Shiraz smashes all the dirty dishes in the woman’s sink, cuts down all the flowers in her garden, and cuts off her unkempt hair. Jahanforuz doesn’t reveal Shiraz’s thought process as she sets kitchen, garden, and hair in order rather than destroying them, letting readers ponder her motives. As a reward, she is transformed into a nearly unrecognizable beauty. When Shiraz’s shallow stepsister visits the neighbor in hopes of becoming similarly comely, the girl follows the woman’s instructions to the letter, only to meet with disappointing results. Punctuated by bold shades of blue and terra cotta, Mintzi’s fluid gouache paintings mesh the realistic and abstract to capture the narrative’s folktale quality. A gentle tale about the importance of inner beauty and of listening with one’s heart. Ages 4–10. (Mar.)
"... a heartwarming vindication of good-heartedness, something that doesn’t always get celebrated in a girlhood culture of snark" – The New York Times
K-Gr 2—After her father dies, Shiraz is treated as a servant by her stepmother and stepsister. One day, a ball of yarn blows off the balcony and into a neighbor's yard so she goes to retrieve it. An old woman demands that she perform three chores before she can have her yarn back. The first job is to smash everything in the filthy kitchen. The second task is to cut down the overgrown plants in the garden and leave nothing growing. And, finally, Shiraz is told to cut off the woman's long gray hair. Instead, she cleans the kitchen, prunes the garden, and washes and braids the woman's hair. Her yarn is returned and she is told to dip herself three times in a clear pool and three times in a dark pool before leaving. When Shiraz returns home, neither her stepmother nor stepsister recognize her as she has "turned into such a beauty." The stepmother decides her daughter should go through the same routine. When spoiled and impatient Monir arrives at the old woman's home, Monir does exactly what she is told: she smashes, demolishes, and cuts. She stays longer in the pools, rationalizing she'll be more beautiful than Shiraz. Instead, she is mistaken for a "beggar" and, at first, rejected by her mother. Using the bright colors of Middle Eastern markets, the artist's richly hued illustrations vary in size from page to page, but the girls' appearances do not change significantly before and after their visits and therefore diminish their power.—Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
A girl who is beautiful within becomes beautiful without, but her mean stepsister cannot follow her path. An Iranian-born author uses a "Toads and Diamonds" base for her original tale. Shiraz, Cinderella-like when her father dies after marrying a woman with a daughter, goes to find a red ball of yarn (left by her own mother) when it blows into a strange neighbor's garden. She meets an old woman, who, curiously, asks Shiraz to further destroy the neglected house and garden, and then to cut her tangled hair short, but the compassionate girl disobeys and makes everything perfect. The old lady gives her the wool and directs her to bathe in two pools. When Shiraz returns, her stepfamily is amazed by her beauty. The stepmother insists that Monir visit the woman, but the stepsister cannot muster Shiraz's goodness. She follows the instructions literally and destroys everything. After greedily immersing herself in the pools more times than directed, she comes home bedraggled and ugly. Mother and daughter demand to understand this very different result, and Shiraz reveals her secret. The gouache paintings with their bold color blocks and scribbly lines provide a picture of a timeless Tehran and a girl who is a whirlwind of energy. Despite a little too much emphasis on its moral, a satisfying story of just rewards for just actions. (Picture book. 6-9)
