Title: Hiznobyuti
Author: Claude Ponti
Genre: France / Family / Abuse / Fantasy / Adventure
Year Published: 1993 (Translated from French in 2018)
Year Read: 2018
Publisher: Archipelago Books
Source: eARC (Edelweiss)
Content Rating: Ages 7+ (Themes of Emotional Child Abuse and Some Scary Imagery)
Trigger Warning: Child Abuse
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
I
would like to thank Edelweiss and Archipelago Books for providing me a copy
of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I spotted this unusual
children’s book at Edelweiss, I was interested in checking this book out since
it was translated from French and I enjoy reading books that are translated
from other countries (that is if I can find that many books)! Originally called “Okilele,” “Hiznobyuti” by Claude
Ponti and translated by Alyson
Waters is a truly unique and delightful treat for children both young and
old!
When Hiznobyuti was born, he was
not the prettiest child in the world, since he had a long snout that clashes
with his family’s short snouts. Because
of this, Hiznobyuti was ostracized by his family and he had to live underneath
the kitchen sink to stay out of his family’s affairs. One day however, Hiznobyuti ended up getting
a message from the stars that he is needed elsewhere and Hiznobyuti decided to
run away from home and go on a wild adventure with his companion Martin Clock
to find out the mysteries of the world while reaching his true destination.
Wow! I was quite impressed with this bizarre yet
creative little children’s book I just discovered! Claude
Ponti did a fantastic job at both writing and illustrating this book as the
story is highly creative and sad at the same time. I like the way that Claude Ponti managed to balance both whimsical magic and sadness
throughout this story as I was captivated by the magical world that the
characters inhabited, especially the fact that Hiznobyuti is able to do magical
things like talk to the trees and travel to the stars. I was also saddened by the scenes where
Hiznobyuti was emotionally abused by his family, especially the scene where
Hiznobyuti’s father ends up locking Hiznobyuti underneath the sink by building
a brick wall to trap him, which was quite upsetting. I really enjoyed Claude Ponti’s artwork as while it has a somewhat dark and gritty
feel to it, it is mostly done in a creative and cute way and I really loved the
appearance of Hiznobyuti himself as he has the appearance of a small aardvark
and he really stands out in the artwork.
Parents should know that there
are some scary and sad moments in this book, which includes Hiznobyuti meeting
up with some terrifying monsters on his journey. Also, the scenes where Hiznobyuti is
emotionally abused by his family may be too upsetting for both kids and adults,
who had experiences of seeing children go through such abuse. Also, the narrative of this book tends to get
a bit confusing at times as the story tends to jump all over the place with
Hiznobyuti’s adventures.
Overall, “Hiznobyuti” is a truly fantastic children’s book that every child
should definitely check out! I would recommend
this book to children ages seven and up since the narrative tends to be a bit
confusing at times and the scenes of Hiznobyuti’s parents emotionally abusing
him can be a bit hard for some children to handle.
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