Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo?

Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo?
written by Stella Blackstone
illustrations by Clare Beaton.

I borrowed this book from the library for 2 reasons - viz., Stella Blackstone's My Granny Went to Market was a big hit at home, and, it is published by Barefoot Books.

A little puppy wants to know what a baby kangaroo is called. When he asks him, the baby kangaroo says I am not going to tell you, you'll have to ask... and sends him off to wolf cubs to find out, who send him off to cygnets and so on... where the little puppy meets various other baby animals asking,

cygnets, cygnets, can you give me a clue?
can you tell me the name of the baby kangaroo?

and then, eventually, he circles back to the mommy kangaroo who reveals... joey!

Good things first...

• Clare Beaton's appliqué style art work in this book. Each page has a lot of elements, including the puppy, whose muzzle, or behind, is all you see sometimes... Ana likes to point out the puppy in each page


• Introduces baby animals - cygnets, moose calves, tadpoles, penguin chicks, zebra foals- I didn't know about cygnets and joey until I was in middle school, when it started nagging me that baby animals have special names - what about baby humans? they are stuck with "boy" or "girl" or "baby" until it is too awkward to call them that... (unless you are my mom, of course)


• The element of repetition, which is they key to success in many children's board books: "_baby-animal_, "_baby-animal_, can you give me a clue? can you tell me the name of the baby kangaroo?" Insert any _baby-animal_ name you like and this rhyme works great...


• Like the classic Brown Bear book, sets up a certain level of prediction skills - after a few reads, kids can tell what baby animal is in the next page


• The last few pages explain about baby animals which is great for 7-8 year olds to read alone and comprehend

My only reluctant protest is that the rhymes could have been better with a little more work - the beginning and ending were a mouthful, and not very kid-friendly.

I think I was looking for the magic that My Granny Went To Market brought, but, this book didn't have it.

It is a wonderful book on its own, nevertheless. And the sheer elation with which Ana squeals "joveee!" at the end makes this book a hit in our house. (And yes, that's when I realized diphthongs and triphthong are not easy for 2 year olds).

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
How magazines can be a great reading and learning resource for children
Praba Ram & Meera Sriram

We have always been riveted to books as a nourishing source of learning and fun for children. An equally amazing alternative to books are magazines - a periodic dose of information and amusement. Pleasantly entertaining, they are typically filled with pictures, articles, stories, games and activities. The most exciting aspect of a magazine for a child can be its arrival, when the long wait climaxes at an unexpected moment. Children often look forward to a character that appears regularly, the next chapter in a suspended story, a familiar comic strip or for simple brainteasers. All wrapped up in one neat package. Whether at home, on the move or simply for the painful wait at the doctor's office, a copy can come in handy.

We will now discuss the options to get our hands on this wonderful resource.

Here in the U.S, a mainstream option, and by that we mean non-multicultural in nature, comes from Carus Publishing.

• The wonderful thing about them is that they cater even to the 6 months-3yrs age group. BABYBUG is what the magazine is called. This can be helpful when the issue in the mail comes to the timely rescue of a bored toddler and the familiar topography of the books can trigger an instant million dollar smile (and not to worry, it comes in cardboard pages)!

• LADYBUG is the equivalent for the 3-6 age group. "Written by some of the world's best children's authors and illustrated by award-winning artists, LADYBUG is sure to spark young imaginations and develop a love of reading that will last a lifetime." says the description.

• CLICK is the science and exploration specific for the similar age group. It seems to be an award-magnet! Great to answer the WHYs, WHATs and HOWs that are thrown at you by the curious little one.

The options seem to increase with increasing age groups when children start looking for specific interests.

Below is the link to their home page - http://www.cricketmag.com/home.asp


The magazines are presented here -
http://www.cricketmag.com/shop_magzines.asp

Sample pages are also shown and this can aid you in decision making. You can pick the 1 year or 2 year subscription option. However, just like most subscriptions, it might take 4-6 weeks for the first issue to appear. The website also offers a wide product range of books, gifts and other media items for different age groups.

Now moving on to magazines in the multi-cultural space. We found that in this category, there are two overarching types - 1) cross-cultural children’s magazines that reflect one’s own culture – say Indian American, Chinese American etc. and 2) multi-cultural magazines that provide an overall exposure to stories from different cultures around the world. Offering both can help give our children a well-rounded exposure to multiculturalism, and help appreciate stories and experiences of children from all around the world.

In particular, we would like to focus on the following three cross and multi-cultural magazines that captured our interest.

• KAHANI is indeed a welcoming addition to the world of cross-cultural children’s literature. The magazine features stories, ideas, and the unique experiences of children of South-Asian descent. The magazine has won the Parent Choice Approved Award for 2007, given by the Parents Choice Foundation, a respected organization on children’s media. The magazine is published four times in a year – one every season and with a new theme every time - varying from holidays to sports, which are just a few examples of the diverse set of themes covered in every issue. Their mission is to “empower, educate, and entertain children of South-Asian descent.” The magazine offers an eclectic blend of short stories, math and science columns, book reviews, interactive activities such as puzzles, comic series, biography series, and other non-fiction articles. It is a one-shop-stop for Indian American parents to help their kids to express and explore their cultural identities. (http://kahani.com – Age group: elementary to middle school)

• SKIPPING STONES, yet another award winning nonprofit magazine for youth is a noteworthy resource in multi-cultural education. The magazine, provides opportunities to children around the world from “different countries and cultures” to express and share their ideas and experiences. Their mission is to “encourage communication, cooperation, creativity and celebration of cultural and environmental richness.” Skipping Stones is published bimonthly during the school year. Each issue features stories, articles and photos from all over the world – as described on their website, an issue of Skipping Stone features “Native American folktales, photos from kids in India and the Ukraine, letters and drawings from South Africa and Lithuania, cartoons from China, and more might await you.” Skipping Stone invites children and adults of all ages to contribute in any language. In the case of non-English articles, English translations are provided along with the article, and the magazine thereby, provides opportunities to appreciate other languages. (Click here - http://www.skippingstones.org/ - for more information on Skipping Stones)

• FACES, (9-14 age group), again, from Carus Publishing. Taking off of what they claim - "FACES readers learn how other kids live around the world and about the important inventions and ideas that a particular culture has given to the world. Recipes, hands-on projects, and book and video recommendations help kids further explore each issue's topic. Also, the Winner of the 2007 Parents' Choice Silver Honor, it gives children the opportunity and awareness to experience multi-culturalism and diversity.

Children's magazines - sit back and watch them explore, learn and smile!

It's only a story

It's only a story
by Cathy Spagnoli
Illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy

Ages : 3-6

Its been a long time since I posted a review. Probably because its been a loooong time since I actually sat down and read a book with my son, without it being a rush job before bedtime. And today, I slowed down enough to think about one of his favorite books off late...Its only a story.

Remember when you were a kid and you played the alphabet memory game? Okaaayy...there are many alphabet memory games, perhaps, but the one I am referring to goes like this...once you pick your theme for it. In this case, its countries...

Player 1 : Argentina

Player 2 : Argentina Bolivia

Player 3 : Argentina Bolivia Cambodia...

...and so on...until you get to Z. It used to be a daunting task to remember all the countries, and the first one to slip up was out of the game.

What has this game got to do with the book?...you wonder. Everything. For that is the flowing theme in the book. No no...its not a book about alphabets...rather...its a curly tale and a chain story. And a simple one really. Of an ant, who is curious and wants to make some hot spicy curry for his friend...the peacock. So he climbs up to the hot pot to stir the curry, and topples over and dies. Oh dear! Morbid is it? That's what I thought so too, at first. Any references to death in a children's book makes me antsy but if you persist, you will find that delights abound in this book. For it flows with the repercussions of all that happens in the wake of the ant's falling into the hot pot. The peacock comes along and cries for his friend, the river flowing nearby listens to the tale and turns white!! The mango tree at the bank of the river, has its leaves fall down, the elephant that comes to the tree..has its tail drop off, the crow's wings stop flapping and so on....all because they wanted to listen to the story of the ant from his friend, the peacock! Sounds confusing?

It is definitely a challenge in memory for your little one, and if your memory is anything like mine, you'll have to keep up too. This is the first book of Cathy Spagnoli that I have ever read and its such a keeper! To quote some words from the back cover...

"It is a chain story of repitition and cumulative images. It is told with the simple fantasy of an old tradition in a new world."

The illustrations by Uma Krishnaswamy are in a league of their own. It is supposedly adapted from the art of the Warli storytellers who used to draw and tell their stories on the mud walls of their homes. In fact, the insides of the front and back covers of the book depict this art form, and you can see for yourself how she has masterfully adapted this style in illustration.

Courtesy : talleststory.com

My 4 year old delighted in reading this book with me. It is very interactive and lures you immediately to be a part of its experience. He got such a kick out of doing the chain story, and remembering what comes first and what follows next. After the first 2 or 3 times of reading it, he completely took over this book and read it to me!

To summarise the high points of Its only a story...

• It has the prodigious element of simple repitition, which gives the child a sense of mastery with it, and boosts their involvement multifold.

• It is an unusual and fun tale, beginning with the main character, an ant and his unlikely friend, the peacock. And despite a sober start, it ends on the highest possible note, leaving a truly feel-good experience.



• The unique illustrations tell the story on their own, making the words a mere formality. And they serve the added purpose of jumpstarting your memory should ever the chain be broken. Not to forget the feeling of giving your child a slice of history in the form of these folk paintings.

• It has been published by Tulika, whose books I watch out for, and have come to appreciate exceedingly.

This book is not available in the libraries here, to the best of my knowledge, and its probably a great idea to suggest to them for procuring for their collection. Either that, or you could just order it online. Whichever way you choose, I hope its not a very long wait before you can finally open the pages to...Its only a story!!

Fresh air

KARADI TALES. A huge hit in our household!

We picked up our first Karadi Tales Audiotapes during one of our trips to India when my daughter was less than an year old. Since then the sounds of songs, music and stories have been a cornucopia of fun and learning for us. So, if you and your child are looking for an amusing dose of everything India - culture, tales, common sights and words, in my opinion, Karadi tales is a great pick!

We started off with a couple of audiotapes that had very creative songs based off of tunes and things very Indian. These days my 3 yr old loves to listen (with a copy of a book with colorful illustrations in front of her) to 'The foolish crow' and 'The Three Fish", simple stories narrated in an animated tone by popular small and silver screen personalities from India. From these, she has picked up names of a few Indian states, plenty of Indian names, names of places of worship and languages, trees and rivers, the Indian flag, sari, chai, sambhar, bhindi and so on.

Karadi Tales was conceived by an Indian couple who, on their return to India, was disappointed by the dearth of good learning resources (fun yet educational materials and tools) for young children. The series of books, songs and stories are available in a multitude of languages. The music is classic yet kid friendly.

The reason I like the concept is two-fold -

1. As most of us might agree, books and stories that we can easily get our hands on, in India, are primarily mythological in nature and are based off of epics and historic fables. Although, I was raised in the midst of these classics (and I have turned out OK:) , I believe that some of them are totally inappropriate for young children - in terms of being difficult to relate to, being very didactic and often moralizing (good vs evil). As much as I would love for the hand-me-down fables to be a part of a traditional learning experience I believe that there should also be other fun and more realistic flavors.

2. An alternative to the traditional option would be resources borrowed from the western world. Again, something a kid on the Indian soil cannot comfortably relate to. All rhymes and songs using names, places and things unheard of, unseen and hard to even imagine. It can pass off as fairy-tales or as a window to western culture.

I believe Karadi Tales is a commendable attempt at addressing the above issues and filling the void. Wholesome, realistic and a lot of fun!

A song about an Indian train journey, another about mangoes, and even one that goes "rain rain come our way" (satirical yet brutally honest in saying we actually need the rain in most of India as opposed to singing " rain rain go away" that was probably intended to be sung when it was damp in London)!

On a more personal note, although my motive was not to thrust 'Indian-ness' upon my daughter, she has always exhibited an awful lot of interest and enthusiasm in anything with an ethnic flair and hence Karadi Tales turned out to be a great source of joy and amusement for her. However, I sometimes wonder how she would have responded to the songs and stories if she was growing up in an Indian scene herself.

Where can I buy KT?
In India: Most bookstore chains have it. An example would be Landmark in Chennai, India.
In the U.S: Amazon and Target carry them.

Website: http://www.karaditales.com/

More: An article here, http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/04/25/stories/2005042511050200.htm , talks about Karadi Tales being used in schools as a resource for teaching a second language to children.

Not a Box....Now THAT'S thinking out of the box!

Not a box by Antoinette Portis captures the childhood magic for children everywhere who love playing "in" cardboard boxes. If your toddler/preschool kid already is into creative play with cardboard boxes (or even laundry baskets), you'd probably want to consider this book because he/she might very well be able to relate to the hero of this story - a little rabbit/bunny whose playful fantasies center around imagining a cardboard box to be anything and everything it wants it to be - from a race car to a robot and a rocket, a mountain, and what not. If your kid is not interested in boxes, still a perfect reason to introduce this book because it will open up a new world of creative play for your little ones. For grown-ups amongst us who've outgrown the love for boxes, the book can be a great reason to relive your childhood memories with your children!

I found Not a Box to be unique and refreshing in its simplicity. Bunny adores his cardboard box! On each page, bunny is asked what he is doing with the box. For example, when asked by the narrator - "Why are you standing on that box?". Bunny instantly replies it is "not a box". The illustration explains what the bunny is doing with the box. Bunny is desperate in that he wants to get the narrator to see that it's NOT A BOX!

Here's what I really liked about this book:

1) The cover is rough brown paper, and mimics the look of a cardboard box. I loved this simple and down-to-earth style cover design, and the book looked as if it has been wrapped in basic, grocery-bag-brown paper. Very unique! Don't miss the net wt 11.5 oz on the cover, which lends a more boxy feel to the book!
2) The drawings are simple line drawings featuring the bunny and all the things it imagines with a box
3) Language minimal and repetitive
4)Vast age range for readership - read-aloud for toddlers/preschoolers and for kids in early elementary grades, an easy read
5) Little boys and girls will enjoy alike

My older one sometime around her fourth birthday had developed an intense affection toward boxes. She would often be found sitting inside a huge cardboard box - basically it was a computer box in which our desktop had come wrapped in. She would draw, color, and scribble her thoughts away sitting in the box. Sometimes even color the sides of the box. Needless to mention, it was sheer fun for me to watch her antics, and to be amazed by the creative potential a simple box can offer to little ones. She would sometimes even put all her stuffed animals inside, and pretend to drive. Therefore, it was only natural that we would pick up this book from the library.

The only downside that I noticed with the illustrations is that it might be hard for a very young child (2/3yr olds) to perceive the drawings as a box. You may want to bring a "real" box to visually explain the book to toddler/preschoolers. It must be easier for older kids (5 and 6 yr olds) to understand the three dimensional drawings - as in how the image of a square transforms into a box.

This book is simple and fun, and an unassuming, down-to-earth kind. It will provide you and your kid with tons of ideas to explore during playtime. I think the book conveys effectively to children that "their imagination" matters to adults. And that it is up to us parents to recognize and celebrate the imagination of our children. This message is evident from the fact that the author has dedicated the book "to children everywhere sitting in cardboard boxes". And this she shows to us that she cares! That's a key take-away for me from NOT A BOX!

How Are You Peeling?

Author/Illustrator:Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
Publisher: Scholastic
Age group: All Ages

Some books are hits because of their verse, some because of their illustrations, but some others are loved because of their outrageously unique concept.

Picture source: Scholastic

How Are You Peeling? is of the third kind. It takes you into a world where the produce section of a grocery store comes alive with moods. The book does little talking and more expressing. Photographs of bell peppers, apples, kiwis, oranges - all of which are sporting some emotion - predominate over the text which just labels the emotion. Happiness, pride, anger, fear, surprise - they are all in there. The blurb claims that the creators of the book hand picked "expressive" vegetables, did a bit of carving with sharp paring knives, and replaced their eye-slots with black-eyed peas to produce the desired effect.

There is one picture of a surprised apple. Its 'mouth' is rounded up in shock, its 'eyes' are perked up in an arch. This picture is Kodi's favorite - every time we pick up the book, the first thing he wants to see is "Aappil O."

How Are You Peeling? is fantastic way to talk to little ones about their feelings. It came to my rescue once, right in the middle of Kodi's tantrum. I pulled him to my lap, opened the book and turned to the page which showed a really angry bell pepper. I told Kodi, This is what you look like. One look at picture and the tantrum melted to giggles.

Last Word: A book for all ages to talk about emotions and amaze at how much vegetables can communicate with their facial features!

Rating: 5 bindis for concept and presentation

Others in this series:

Food for Thought - that teaches numbers, shapes, colors.

Play With Your Food - that tells you step-by-step, how to create animals and objects from fruits and veggies.

P.S.: Inspired by How Are You Peeling?, my son and I tried our hand at testing out the mood of a citrus at home. The result? One goofy, orangy bright smile....

Added: Goofy Orange also looks a tad drunk, don't you think? ;)

Mirette on the High Wire

Do you have fear of heights? I do. I am scared of peeping out from rooftops or balconies. More than the fear of heights; it is the fear of what would happen if I fall down that scares me a lot. I start imagining weird stuff. Even if I had to walk on the walls; I would think twice in my younger ages. So, it was with great wonder that I picked up the book - 'Mirette on the High Wire' by Emily Arnold McCully.


This is a nice picture book about a girl named Mirette. Her mother, widow Gateau, runs a boardinghouse in Paris - where all the actors, jugglers, acrobats and various other artists come from near and far to spend time with one another and eat the widows' wonderful food. Mirette helps her mother by doing various chores for her. One day, she notices one of the residents of the boarding house crossing the courtyard on air! She is highly enchanted by the stranger's skill of walking on high wire and decides to learn walking on the wire.


She pleads the stranger to teach her walking on the wire. The stranger turns out to be Bellini, the world famous exponent of high-wire walking. Bellini is so famous and good at walking on high wire that he had once crossed Niagara Falls on high wire and while crossing spent a few minutes to cook some boiled eggs on the wire; eat them; and then continue walking on the wire to the other side. A daredevil. Sadly now, he is retired and does not perform any more public stunts.


After much pleading, Mirette starts to learn high wire walking from the master himself. While learning and through other means, she finds out the reason why Bellini had stopped performing and retired. Bellini had suddenly developed fear of heights and is afraid! Even the greatest of stunts men and women are afraid and once it comes to their mind; it is very difficult to overcome it. Overcoming fear is probably more difficult than the task itself.


The rest of the story involves the details on how Mirette helps Bellini to overcome his fear.



Emily Arnold McCully has written and illustrated this wonderful picture book. The story is set in 19th Century and costumes, the dresses, the picturesque background buildings represent an old European city in vivid and bright colours. The various characters in the boarding house are depicted in interesting colours, hats and dresses - in order to illustrate the variety and differences among various artists. As one reviewer in Amazon pointed out; if you are looking for a picture book where the female character shows a lot spunk and is not depicted as being shy and cloy, do pick this book up.