Asma Salehi

Buzaak Chinie, a goat with porcelain-white hair, sets out for the blacksmiths in this traditional Afghan folktale, giving her three kids - Angak, Bangak, and Kuola Sangak - strict instructions about not opening the door to strangers. But when Big Wolf comes knocking, the three kids, although obedient to their mother's command at first, eventually find themselves tricked into opening the door after all, and end up in their enemy's dark tummy! It falls to Buzaak Chinie, who seeks them out at all her neighbors' homes, to rescue them, by challenging Big Wolf to deadly combat...

Based upon stories the author heard as a young girl in Afghanistan, Buzaak Chinie / The Porcelain Goat has many folk motifs that fans of the genre will recognize, from the children left home alone, with instructions not to open the door, to the rescue from within the wolf's stomach itself. I was reminded of tales such as Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs and Little Red Riding Hood, during the course of my reading, and picking out these parallels, while also noting the unique aspects of the story (the mortal combat, between wolf and goat!), increased my enjoyment. The illustrations, which are also done by Asma Salehi, have a stylized, folk-art feeling to them, and are presented on every other page (facing the text) in lovely decorative borders. All in all, a solid beginning for this artist/author, one I would recommend to folklore enthusiasts - particularly those with an interest in the Afghan tradition.… (más)