Tanka Tanka Skunk

Repeat with me slowly (imagine a drum beating along with every word)


Tanka, Skunka,

Tanka, Skunka,

Tanka, Tanka, Skunk!



Slowly build the tempo and increase the beat. Repeat it every other page and say it faster than the earlier one. As you go further down, the words get mangled and all we end up saying is 'Ta', 'Sk' at super fast speed. It is real fun. Sooraj loved it.



This book by Steve Webb has a lot of energy. It is about two friends - Tanka, the elephant and Skunka, the Skunk. An odd combination. Both the friends start beating their drums and introduce a host of animals to the readers. As they go along introducing another friendly animal, the cadence of their drum beats decrease and increase - as they repeat their names as shouted out early in this blog entry (Tanka, Skunka, ... ).


There is absolutely no story in the book and that is the beauty of it. The animals are drawn in the most cartoonish manner and visually enchanting. Words are written in form that the young readers can easily spell them. The animals come in all sizes and shapes .


If you are interested in having a great fun time with your kids and not take up anything serious - this is a great pick. No morals, no pains, no teaching and no nothings! - just plain and simple fun.

The Lorax

The Lorax,
by Dr.Seuss.

The author, Theodor Seuss Geisel, needs no introduction. A master of his craft, his unique style has entertained and educated many of us since childhood. Some books are silly and fun, some are just ridiculous rhymes, but every once in a while, when he does get serious, Dr.Seuss blows us away with his inimitable work, leaving a lasting and indelible impression on our souls with his powerful message.

The Lorax did that to me.

Published in 1971, when people's awareness of our planet's potential plight was just awakening, this book rings ominously and lamentably true in today's world of apathy and lack of accountability regarding the ecology of our Earth, our home.

What was the Lorax, why was it there?
Why was it lifted and taken somewhere...
wonders a little boy at the start of the book, when he is directed to the far end of town where the grickle-grass grows to ask the old Once-ler, as he knows.

A careless and simple Once-ler, many years ago, comes upon the gorgeous land with Truffula Trees, Humming-Fish, Swomee-Swans and Brown bar-ba-loots, all co-exiting and thriving gleefully.

Captivated by the softness of the Truffula Tree tufts, he chops down just one tree at first, to make a beautiful Thneed (It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat. A Thneed is a fine something that everyone needs).

That's when the Once-ler is first confronted by The Lorax.

I am the Lorax, I speak for the Trees, I speak for the trees as the trees have no tongues, he says.

When the Lorax admonishes the Once-ler for chopping the tree to make the fool thneed that nobody needs, right then, a chap comes along and buys the said thneed.

Encouraged by this single sale, the Once-ler soon establishes a factory, inventing the super-axe-hacker to chop down four truffula trees in one smacker, and calling his brothers and uncles and aunts to come help mass produce the thneed.

Soon, the water is polluted by his factory, the air thick with toxins. The Swomee Swans and the Humming Fish are forced to leave to find a better habitat that will let them survive. The brown bar-ba-loots who ate the truffula fruits have nothing to eat and nowhere to rest...

The Lorax confronts the Once-ler, pleading on behalf of the brown Bar-ba-loots who have crummies in their tummies as they don't get to eat much. But, the Once-ler shoos the Lorax away saying business is business and business must grow, regardless of crummies in tummies you know...

Well, rather than tell it myself, as the master so perfectly blends the magic of rhyming verses and brilliant illustrations to prod the senses, I'll leave the details of the story and skip to the end.

The now remorseful Once-ler unfolds the tale of the destruction he wreaked. Just when the reader's heart is about to break, the book ends with the beacon of hope when the Once-ler drops a Truffula seed and says,

"Unless".



"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot..."

This would be a perfect book for early introduction to environmental education and am sure my 7-year old niece would certainly appreciate the theme and the presentation, even if she cannot relate to the ever-popular corporate approach of profits at the cost of our ecosystem.

Ana (my 2¼ year old) loves this book, although I am sure she doesn't quite get the pithy subject of caring for your environment and doing the right thing that the book deals with.

To me, the brilliance of the book lies in the ending where Dr.Seuss leaves us with the message that our chances of survival now lie in the hands of a caring child - and that child could be you, my dear Ana!

And, that child could be each and every one of the little (and not-so-little) ones we read this book to...

Hairdos and don'ts

Stephanie's Ponytail, Story by Robert Munsch, Art by Michael Matchenko.

Robert Munsch is a Canadian storyteller and Stephanie's Ponytail is one of his wonderful stories. The book can be read by children in the 5-8 age group while younger ones will love to listen to the amusing story bordering on silliness. However, it is amazing how such a hilarious tale can stem out of an issue of immense sensitivity and concern among young and older children. The crux of the book is peer pressure and individualism. Or simply put, not trying to copy others but to try and be thyself in a crowd.

Stephanie is a school going kid who wants to be different. Realizing that none of her classmates have a pony tail she chooses to go to class with one at the back of her head. Although the other kids initially ridicule her, they finally end up imitating her, tying up their own hair just like hers. Irritated, Stephanie appears with a pony tail on the side the next day. It does not take long for the entire gang to now come up with pony tails on their sides.The cycle repeats in the ensuing days with an annoyed Stephanie doing differently positioned ponytails every day and her peers succumbing to the trend. The story takes a twist when Stephanie, one morning, announces her intent to shave her head! Accustomed to blindly copying Stephanie, the class tries to turn it up a notch. The next morning the kids appear like tonsured monks awaiting the arrival of a bald Stephanie. But smart Stephanie turns up with a nice jolly little pony tail at the back of her head! The hilarious climax is topped off with an angry mob running behind a beaming Stephanie!!!

I confess I have not done justice to the narration. However, I will try my best to peel off the layers of the story to unravel what it offers for children and parents.

First off, it has the potential to cater to a broad age spectrum. Secondly, humor and wit are probably the best vehicles to drive home a message. The portrayal of the persona of Stephanie deserves special mention - daring, fearless, individualistic, creative, assertive and trendsetting. This is revealed through the numerous occasions when she remains unstirred by peer criticism and childish mockery. This can be a valuable attribute to cultivate in kids. An equally important lesson is more moralistic - the decline of the copy cat empire! Neatly wrapping up the package are the illustrations, guaranteed to make children and parents guffaw!

A word of caution about the language in a few places, when the kids can seem to come off too hard on Stephanie and a rebellious Stephanie yelling back. It can become a non-issue by masking it with creative substitutes for the pristine listener. This of course is very subjective, just a heads up for you to flip through the pages before you pick it up.

This book was a rewarding find for me to read to my preschooler who is more of a follower than a leader amongst her peers. The girly subject of pony tails sure hit the spot with the female pre-wiring, in her case:)

The perfect book for the ready-to-ape school-goer.

Monkey's Drum

In Tamil, there is an old traditional children's song(probably folk!) that I remember from my young age, that goes like this -



"Vaalu Pocchu, Kathi Vanthathu

Dum, Dum, Dum"



It means something like "Tail is gone, but got a knife instead". There is probably an equivalent song in every other South Indian language. I did not remember any thing else apart from this line in the song till now.



Thanks to Tara Books publishers, the book called 'Monkey's Drum' (there is no direct link - scroll down this link to find the book details) deals exactly with this old traditional song. Monkey's Drum deals with the story of a naughty monkey. The story is by Anita Moorthy and illustrations by Soumitra Sarkar.



In a faraway forest, lived a naughty monkey that got a thorn in his tail. He goes to the nearest barber and requests him to remove the thorn. The barber ends up cutting the monkey's tail to remove the thorn. The monkey gets very upset and demands that the barber give him his knife for cutting off a portion of his tail. The poor barber is upset; but, has no choice but to give the monkey the knife. The monkey is very happy and starts into a song --



"The tail has gone

The knife has come

Dum dum de dum"




While singing along, he notices a girl trying hard to break some wood from a tree. The monkey offers his knife to the girl. After the girl uses the knife; the knife becomes blunt. The monkey is upset again and demands the firewood for the knife. The poor girl gives up all her firewood for the knife. The monkey is merrier and continues the song and now the song includes a line of the exchange of firewood for a knife. The story continues as the monkey continues to exchange one item after another and the length of the song increases as we continue further down the pages.



It is a great way to introduce our kids to some of the traditional stories we have probably learnt from our parents and grand parents. Although the song is in English in this book, one would immediately be able to translate it to the original Tamil or whatever is your local language. The song is very rhythmic. Sooraj and I had a great time shouting and yelling out the songs in Tamil.



All the illustrations are in black and white and very simple and expressive. Most kids would be able to comprehend the expressions in the illustrations without any problem.



It would have been great if the same book was available in local languages too. Tara Books are independent publishers based in Chennai and come out with some interesting titles for children and adults. Many of their books are handcrafted and exquisite. One of the books that I recently fell in love with is The London Jungle Book by Bhaijju Shyam, an artist from the Gond tribe. Every time I go to a bookshop, I browse through this book; but end up not buying it because of its cost (costs around Rs. 750). Their children's books are relatively cheaper. I got the Monkey's Drum for Rs. 50/-.



If you are in Bangalore, Strands Bookshop has a good and separate section for Tara Books. In Landmark, the books are mixed in children's section and it is very difficult to locate anything there.