Nuran Turan

Serdar, his best friend Ahmet, and Ahmet's sister Berrak all join their scouting troupe on a magical camping trip to Cappadocia (a region in central Anatolia) in this Turkish children's book, which manages to pack quite a bit of historical and geographical information - not to mention numerous time-slip adventures - into its twenty-four pages. Spirited away by a mysterious girl their first night, while camping near the village of Kültepe, the children are transported by flying horse to various events in the Cappadochia Valley of the past, from a Grape Gathering Festival to a busy market. They find themselves inexplicably slipping away again the next day, while on a tour of the nearby Derinkuyu Underground City. Serdar, becoming separated from the group, is caught up in a panicked rush of people through one of the long cave passages, witnessing the tumultuous evacuation of some ancient era, and discovering a long-lost connection between Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı Caves. Ahmet, also becoming separated from the group, happens upon an ancient church, and witnesses people of the past at prayer; while Berrak encounters the Greek goddess Kore (Persephone), who is anxious to set the record straight about her husband Hades. The second night in camp the three children once again find themselves involved in a magical adventure, this time involving the winged residents of Ürgüp's fairy chimneys, before experiencing another incredible day at the Göreme Open Air Museum, with its many extraordinary rock churches...

Cappadochia is an area of the world that I have long wished to visit, owing to its many extraordinary historical, geographical and artistic monuments. Who wouldn't want to see the multi-level underground cities that have, at various times in history, housed thousands of people? Or the "fairy chimneys" (geologically speaking, the hoodoos) with their oddly enchanting shapes, that have been incorporated into local houses and settlements? Or the gorgeous wall paintings in the many churches of the region? When I discovered that Nuran Turan, who appears to be a prolific children's author in her native Turkey, had penned a children's story about the region, incorporating its beautiful monuments and rich history into a magical narrative, and that this story had been translated into English, I was quite excited, and lost no time in tracking down a copy! Unfortunately, what I discovered was that, although the story concept is sound, the execution left a little bit to be desired. I found the narrative rather choppy, and thought that it jumped too quickly from one adventure to the next, robbing each incident of its potential to really involve young readers. I came away feeling that Turan should either have made this book much longer - a children's novel, perhaps - or she should have confined her story to one adventure, rather than trying to tackle so many, when the length of her book prevented her from exploring any of them adequately.

Still, although I found the narrative here weak, and thought the author used her young characters' dialogue too frequently as a means of "info dumping" - no, children don't generally speak to one another as if they are quoting the encyclopedia - I was still charmed by the subject matter and the story idea. There's a fabulous fantasy series waiting to be written, with this material! Assuming it hasn't already been written, and is waiting for translation, that is...… (más)