The boy who ran with the gazelles By Mayer, Marianna

Title: The boy who ran with the gazelles

Author: Mayer, Marianna

Illustration: Leonid Gore

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Comments

CIP Info A young boy from a desert village follows his tame gazelle into the wilderness where they joined a heard of Gazelles.

Now this was the shocker of the pile. Usually I pick books that appeal to me. This book I have picked up and put back three or four times at the library. Well this last trip I was a bit short on books to read, so I figured I will pick it up anyway. The illustrations were what really drew me to this title. They were soft and slightly distant. You could almost feel the sand beneath your feet. The boy joins the gazelles then is captured by humans and turned into a show freak. He finally runs away and makes his way back to his heard. At the end of the book a man sees the boy with the heard. He had heard stories of the boy who ran with the gazelles, but he doesn’t tell anyone. This book has such a great message that “normal” is something often imposed on us. Normal is just what is common to us, not to others. I am considering it as an addition to my collection.