What do you do with a tail like this?

What Do You Do With A Tail Like This?
(A 2004 Caldecott Honor Book)

by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page


Recommended ages: 4-7 years, read-alone
Suggested ages: 1-4 years, read together

Animals use their noses, ears, tails, eyes, mouths, and feet in very different ways. See if you can guess which animal each part belongs to and how it is used.

Thus starts this hands-on, clever, informative book of curious and rare facts about animals.

The book is beautifully illustrated using cut-paper art, presented as an interactive guessing game, with simple text that even wee little ones can follow along.

A set of animals are displayed in each double-page spread - well, mostly their body part relevant to the accompanying text is displayed first to encourage the little minds to guess. For instance, the first two-page spread shows zoomed in views of the noses of alligator, platypus, mole, elephant, hyena - with a simple question "What do you do with a nose like this?"

Part of the fun initially is to identify the various noses as belonging to the corresponding animals. The following page shows the animals in full form, with a brief sentence highlighting what each animal does with its nose.

If you are a platypus, you use your nose to dig in the mud shows an accompanying picture of a platypus sticking its nose in the mud.

Similarly, If you are an elephant, you can give yourself a bath with your nose shows an elephant splashing itself with a trunk full of water.

The answers describe how each animal uses that particular body part (be it nose, or ears, or tail, or eyes, or mouth, or feet) in a slightly differently way.

And so we embark on an interesting study of animals where we discover that some animals use their noses for digging, some use their ears for seeing, some use their feet to walk on water, some use their tails to sting, and some even squirt blood from their eyes.

For older readers, there is additional information on each animal at the back of the book.

Fascinating facts about amazing animals, presented with wonderful visuals through rich cut-paper illustrations in a child-friendly way seems to be the hallmark of author/illustrator Steve Jenkins books. He has published many successful nonfiction books about animals for children like Move, Biggest Strongest Fastest, Animals In Flight, Slap Squeak and Scatter: How Animals Communicate.

And, sure enough, What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? has become one of Ana's favorite books over the last week or so since we brought it home from the library. Her favorite happens to be "sticky feet gecko" apparently because it can walk on the ceiling - and walking on the ceiling happens to be Ana's new favorite thing to do, thanks to her dad holding her up, upside down, so she can pretend to walk on the ceiling - a trend that started with Dr.Seuss' ABC book:Camel on the ceiling C...c...C... :)

The Relatives Came

The Relatives Came By Cynthia Rylant and Stephen Gammell.
All Ages

In the past three years, my parents have visited us twice, staying with us for six months each time. My mother-in-law visited us twice, staying with us for six months during the first visit and for one month in the second visit. My aunt has visited us twice, staying with us for one month during each of her visits. All the visits were well-intended visits by grand parents and grand aunts to spend quality time with the children. During all these visits, the kids had a royal blast. They run to the my grand aunt whenever their evil mother is behind them with a glass of milk. They love bathing with my mother, go for long walks with my father and sit and recite songs with my mother-in-law. They love to curl with my parents or mother-in-law on lazy afternoons and sleep for an extra half-an-hour. They love it that they have a fresh, tasty, healthy snack waiting for them after their siesta. When you are in a situation in which you care for a child that you have not given birth to, you tend to be relaxed! This relaxed attitude is not spelt out in definite words but yet the children catch it and tune in to it.

But when it is time to say good bye, it is hard for both the relative and the child. The adult grieves that by the next visit the children would have grown up a little bit. They can’t bear to think of the things they will miss – the first step, the first word, the softness of their skin, the way they smell etc. They are unsure if the children will remember them and if they will bond again when they meet the next time.

Well…for the children….it is even more difficult. They experience the same uncertainties, insecurities, turmoil, but the worst part, they don’t have words to express their emotions. For the next month or so, the younger one is surprised that I am the only person who answers her cries. She tries crying a tad more and louder hoping against hope that may be grand mom/dad are sleeping and her cry will wake them. She is confused why she is not lifted and being fussed over for every single call for attention. The elder one, as soon as she is back from school, expects the door to open and a smiling face to pop out. Her face brightens the minute she sees idlis on her plate, she cries out in joy, ‘Idli!!! S patti where are you?’, thinking that my mom had come back and has started making her famous idlis. The anger comes cold, raw, powerful and real when the respective grand parents have reached India and we talk to them over the phone. My elder child refuses to talk to the ‘deserters’ and the younger one starts wailing when she hears their voice. All this despite of all the adults preparing the children and for the imminent good bye!

But life goes on…. teaching invaluable lessons of, ‘Each in their place’, ‘What happened, happened for the good and what is happening is also for the good’, ‘Out of sight is not out of mind’, …..oh, I could go on and on…

This is the crux of the Caldecott honor book, The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. I wish I could quote every line in the book or scan every single picture and upload it…every word and every picture struck a chord in me. I am exercising immense self control and quoting a few lines as and when appropriate!

In this book, it is the time of summer vacation and the relatives come to visit from Virginia. They close down their house in Virginia, load their suitcases in their station wagon and leave in the wee hours of the morning. They drive all day long and all night long, thinking about both their closed down house in Virginia and the relatives they are going to meet at the end of the drive. When the relatives finally arrive there is much rejoicing, there are hugs and hugs and hugs.

‘The relatives just passed us all around their car, pulling us against their wrinkled Virginia clothes, crying sometimes.

….

You’d have to go through at least four different hugs to get from the kitchen to the front room. Those relatives!’.

Then comes the sleeping time. The illustration shows a huge bunch of people scattered all over, some on beds, some on the floor, some squeezed with hands and legs over the person next to them…..for some reason, the image it brought to my mind was my grand mother’s old village house-summer vacation time-whole family clustered in the hall-sleeping on make shift beds. And the author rightly puts it in to the words,

‘It was different, going to sleep with all that new breathing in the house.’

When the vacation is over, the relatives load their station wagon and drive back to Virginia. After waving bye to the relatives, the family crawls back in to their beds, which now feels too big and too quite and goes back to sleep.

Whenever I read the book, I take poetic license and read to suit our context. One of the characters is picked to be grand mom or grand dad. I tell them that they can only visit us, but eventually they have to go back to ‘THEIR HOME’, so on and so forth. Message is being well received and the book has now been successfully renamed as ‘Thatha Patti book’. :)

Giraffes Can't Dance

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Suggested read alone ages 4-7
Suggested read together ages 0-4

For a long time now I have been wanting to introduce self-esteem books to my older child. She is just three years old and I wasn’t sure how much she is aware of ‘self’ in order to grasp self-esteem.

Then couple of interesting things happened. One day she looked at me intently and declared, ‘Amma, I am brown. Appa is brown. My baby sister is brown. You are white. No Amma you are pink’. It took a while for me to realize that she was talking about skin color. Being one of the few desi kids in a white class room, she had some how picked up skin color and was applying her new found wisdom at home. The second incident was when we were laughing at something she did and we thought was ‘cute’. Oh boy…. she did not take it very well. She burst out, ‘No. Don’t laugh at me. Its not funny.’ I was convinced she knew about self.

Just as I was on the look out for a good book on self-esteem, this book fell in to my hands. One of the lead teachers at my school picked this book to read it for the four-year-olds in my classroom. After reading it to my class, I saw how much the children enjoyed the book and was sure it would be a hit at home turf. Even if the concept eludes my daughters, I knew that they would be sold because it involves African safari animals.

The story is set in Africa and it is the time of the African jungle dance. The lions are doing a tango, the chimps are busy in a cha-cha, the rhinos are doing a rock and roll and the baboons are doing a scottish reel. Now, our hero, Gerald is a tall lanky giraffe. As long it is standing still and munching shoots off the trees, he is okay. He can’t even run a decent distance without falling face down. When it comes to dancing, he knows that he has two left feet but he has no assumptions. All he wants is to have fun. But the minute Gerald turns up in the jungle dance, the other animals laugh at him, they call him names. Gerald simply freezes, all he can think of is his clumsiness. With head hanging low, he walks away from the dance floor. Poor Gerald feels so sad…and alone.

Ta-da enters a cricket. Now, the cricket is like the travelling bard, you see in Indian movies – he just happens be in the right place at the right time, all the time, offering chicken soup for the soul! The cricket teaches Gerald that when you are different you don’t stop dancing, but you just dance for a different music. Gerald closes his eyes, listens to the music in the air, the swaying of grass, the chirping of the insects, leaves rustling in the wind, the music in the breeze. His body sways inadvertently, his tail starts swishing, his hooves are shuffling, he is leaping and making somersaults….oh he is dancing the best dance of his life! By now all the jungle animals have gathered around Gerald and they all oooh and aawwh at the amazing dance and ask him how he learnt to dance so well. Gerald smiles and replies, ‘We all can dance when we find the music we love’.

I was amazed at the depth of the information packed in such simple phrases. Even without explaining my three year old tells, ‘Oh, oh, all the animals are making fun of Gerald, that’s not so nice.’ Every time I finish the book, I reiterate, ‘Do you just stop doing what you love, just because people make fun of you? NAAAH. When you do something with love and focus the same people who made fun of you will say good job’, driving the point home.

My kids have picked this book to read for our evening reading every day for the past one month. We have read this book to bits, literally! I am in the process of taping the torn pages before I am supposed to return it to the library! That tells a ton about how much the kids love this book….and also a little bit about how they need to learn to handle books gently The minute I get a reasonably priced copy of this book, it will be added to our home library.

The illustrations by Guy Parker-Rees is stunning. What are you all waiting for? Pick out this book from library/store and check it out for yourself.

Saffron Tree meets publisher - Sonali Herrera of MeeraMasi talks on multiculturalism, children's books and parenting.

Sonali Herrera (with sister Sheetal Singhal) founded a publishing house, MeeraMasi, in the San Francisco Bay Area, two years ago. Today, MeeraMasi realizes Sonali’s dreams – it publishes books for children in English alongside translation, transliteration and audio aids in Indian languages that positively promote the traditions, culture and heritage of India. In a nutshell, MeeraMasi proves to be a wonderful resource to help children and parents living in a land not native to them, to connect in some way, to their roots, culture and heritage.

Once an immigrant child herself, now a parent raising kids in a multicultural family, and an entrepreneur with cross-cultural aspirations, Sonali brings to Saffron Tree valuable perspectives from her rich cultural experiences. Although the dialogue below revolves around Indian languages and immigrants of Indian origin, simply based on Sonali’s background, the essence of the conversation can be extrapolated to any other culture or language across the globe.

Meera Sriram met with Sonali during a Bay Area Diwali Mela in November 2007 for an informal chat on MeeraMasi, its challenges, multiculturalism and resources for children being raised in a foreign land.

We hope that readers of Saffron Tree, parents and children, will benefit from the sentiments on parenting and multiculturalism for children discussed in this conversation, in addition to gaining awareness about worthy resources available in plenty for children. This, we believe, will promote quality reading, value-added growth and a better living among families, which is the purpose of this interview.

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Meera: What was the motivation to create MeeraMasi?

Sonali: The motivation to create MeeraMasi was pretty simple. I had kids and I was looking for something to help me pass my culture; pass my language (Hindi) to my kids. The problem is, I don’t read or write Hindi. I went to India, I tried finding books. First of all, in India, the books that they have are in English, like nursery rhymes. They are all English books! And the others (Hindi rhymes) are just passed on from generation to generation.

My husband is Guatemalan, I am Indian. He speaks Spanish, I speak Hindi..somewhat..(chuckles) and we both speak English. So, we are a multicultural family. And I saw him speak Spanish so perfectly and I thought oh..gosh, what am I going to do? How am I going to do this? I have to do it. .It is important to do it. But I realize that after you have the kids and at that point there is not a lot of time to go back to Hindi class! I want my kids to hear the sounds properly, especially 0-6 years is such an important time in life to absorb languages.

So, it just got me thinking. What you need to do is create something. I went to my sister and I said lets just go with nursery rhymes because at that time my daughter was one year old and I was pretty desperate for some nursery rhymes to read to her. So, we started with western nursery rhymes and we translated them. We adapted them into Hindi. So choti moti makkadi was itsy bitsy spider and bunty babli is jack and jill and soye ho kya is are you sleeping? And then we realized we needed to add an audio component as well. That’s how MeeraMasi came about. We came about with one set of nursery rhymes that I wanted for my children but then what ended up happening was it went into this whole publishing venture and now we are in our sixth title and its great.

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Meera: What are your thoughts on present day multicultural resources that are actually available and accessible to kids growing up here? What do you think is lacking and what do you think are the better things that they have access to?

Sonali: Well, today I think kids ( of especially Indian immigrants) are much more fortunate than kids who, may be, came here 30 years ago which is the case with me. Back then we did not have a lot of Hindi classes, nothing formalized. But what we have today is nice. There is an abundance of services in relation to culture and language - we have dance classes and other language classes. We have religious classes, Sikh camps, Hindu camps, Gandhi camps...we have a camp for everything! So at the service end of things, I think we are doing great. But products, not so abundant (chuckles). What’s in a home to support some of these classes and this exposure that children are getting? There is not much for children to identify with. They have this Hanuman CD now, it is great but it is super violent! My 4 year old is not enjoying the Hanuman CD, she is freaked out! Yes, it is part of our mythology and that is the actuality of it. However again, it brings me back to the lack of fun products that’s out there. There is nothing fun. So, whether it is toys or CD-ROMs or books, there are some publishers out there who are trying to do what we are doing and I think that is awesome. I hope we can all plan together and make a much better market for this because I think it is a needed market and I think the sooner we realize the better. Because otherwise you will end up like me…30 years later (laughs out loud) struggling…

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Meera: When you are trying to present something as complex as multiculturalism or global diversity to kids, it needs to be appropriate. So, what do you think will be an appropriate presentation of such a heavy subject to kids, especially really young.

Sonali: I think that’s a good question. The best way to do this is fun…something fun. A child is much more willing to accept it than if you were to say lets sit down and learn the history of India today. Once children are excited about something, it is natural to become more curious about that thing. So, when they become more curious and as they grow, they will be more open to learning more about those...it is a slow growth. Age appropriateness and in small bits.

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Meera: It is funny you mentioned the Hanuman CD. One thing that I have always wondered is this – I grew up in India and I had all these religious and cultural influences around me and I never questioned mythology. But with kids here, when you are making a conscious effort to present mythology to them they are definitely going to have difficulty handling it. Is it fiction or non-fiction? So how do you think kids growing up here will handle mythology? How are we going to present it or should we even present it?

Sonali: Oh, I think you should definitely present them. Yes! For sure. You have to present them. If that is something important to you as a parent, then you should be presenting it...if that is not important to you then that’s your own prerogative. As you said, in India, it is very environmental. You absorb it because it is intermingled in everything that is happening there and here it is an extreme conscious effort. But I do think that you have to soften the kids up to first being Indian and identifying with that and understanding that they are OK with that. And I think you can do all of those things by maybe age 6 and then present more complex mythology to them after that, between ages 6 and 12.

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Meera: This is another thing you mentioned, that MeeraMasi is focused on creating products for the 0-6 age group, preschoolers and early elementary kids. Do you plan for MeeraMasi to have products that handle more complex cross cultural issues for older children?

Sonali: We have been in this business for almost two years now and it is important for us to stay focused on the 0-6 years market for another couple of years. We feel it is important to create a solid portfolio before we can move on to other age categories. For now, publications like Kahani are great resources for older kids. They deal with a lot of complex issues and at this time I am going to let them deal with that (smiling)! So, for the next year or so we are going to focus and do great with what we are doing now and then we will naturally progress to reach an older audience.

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Meera: You mentioned that you currently have 6 titles and that you plan to do some more. What do you think are the challenges of running a publishing house that publishes mostly in a language that is not local?

Sonali: The main challenge is to get the mass market media. When you say bilingual, to stop automatically assuming it is Spanish and English. First, we actually have to go out there and let people know that Indian language products exist because they don’t know these options are around. Then we have to show them that there is a market for them. Somebody in Ohio might not know about MeeraMasi and what we do. Awareness is a big thing and without it we are not going to survive. So, we are constantly talking about it. We also need the support from Indian people. That’s key. A lot of times, Indians have this mentality of “I’ll just go back to India and get those books”, but why wait to go to India and search for those books. About 30-40 years ago, they (immigrants) wanted to assimilate and make it all more American and they did not teach their native languages to children. But now that’s not the case. It’s the case to turn things around - to accept and honor your heritage. I think that it is important because it shapes who you are.

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Meera: I would like to mention something here – I have heard many times that people want to go back to India and pick up the books but when it comes to children growing up here I think they cannot fully relate to the books that are brought from India. I think it has to be written and created by people like you and others who have the experience of being raised here, built in within them. Moving on Sonali, what kind of books did you grow up reading, especially as an immigrant child?

Sonali: I read all kinds of books. Amar Chitra Katha, heavy bound and plastic! We read a lot of them. But we also read mainstream books. Definitely classic authors. But somehow I was not a Dr.Seuss kid because my parents did not know that stuff! But then I started reading older books like Shel Silverstein and other good stuff like that. I now continue to read those books to my kids. Good literature doesn’t go bad.

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Meera: What can your readers look forward to from MeeraMasi?

Sonali: I am very excited to say that we just got the next installment of Jay and Juhi. So, they are going on another adventure and it is going to be out in Summer (2008) and we are hoping that it will continue. The goal with Jay and Juhi is to keep them going on adventures throughout the country (India) and beyond. Why stop in India, let’s go everywhere. And then possibly another beginner book, since we have expanded into Punjabi and Gujarati in the beginner book series. We are also venturing into the DVD world with two different character series slated to also come out in Summer. So, as much as we want only to be a book publisher, we have, in the past 18 months realized very quickly that people want a supplement DVD that is age appropriate.

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Meera: Down to our last question…do you visit Saffron Tree? Do you have any suggestions for our improvement?

Sonali: I have been to Saffron Tree a couple of times. I think the first time I stopped by was while I was doing a search and I am not sure how I ended up there, but I did, and I think the site is fine in terms of organization but I do think that awareness of Saffron Tree is not enough. I think people like me who are more interested in giving their children quality reading will be more appreciative of that site. But I didn’t know about it and I just stumbled upon it. And I think that’s the problem with a lot of good things.

Ziba Came on a Boat

Author: Liz Lofthouse

Illustrator: Robert Ingpen

US Publisher: Kane/Miller

Age group: Elementary aged children to adults

Setting and story:

Ziba Came on a Boat is a stunning picture book with a story, illustrations and backdrop like no other - people escaping war and violence in search of a new land. And with it, they hope for freedom.

The setting in the story is a boat somewhere in the middle of an "endless" ocean. Ziba, a little girl, rides it with her mother and a group of other people. You can't help but notice the gray and blue colors on the pages, and the sorrow-filled expressions on the faces of the people riding the boat leading you to immediately realize they are not part of a fun-filled and entertaining journey, and you start to wonder if they are refugees of war. Where are they going and what is their story, particularly, the little girl's?

he story begins like this:
Ziba came on a boat. A soggy old fishing boat

That creaked and moaned as it rose and fell,
Rose and fell, across an endless sea…

As you turn the pages, the setting changes from the boat to a village in a hilly area. Ziba's memories flash back, and she recalls her life in the village with other family members and friends before escaping the war-torn land.
Thoughts of home washed over Ziba like the surge of the sea washing over the deck.

Ziba's initial thoughts revolve around happy times - when she played with her village friends, when mother cooked meals for the family, when father told her many tales... You are just starting to feel good with Ziba, when all of a sudden, her thoughts drift to the sad events - when she could no longer go to school and had to stay behind the mud walls. And then, finally when her village was torn apart with violence, the family had to escape the battle-torn land.

Gunfire echoed through the village. Angry voices surrounded her. Clutching her mother’s hand, Ziba ran on and on through the night, far away from the madness until there was only darkness and quiet.
With these horrid recollections, Ziba quickly collects herself in the boat, and cuddles close to her mother. Her mother whispers in her ears, Azadi - meaning freedom. She starts to feel better as she thinks about the future awaiting her, and the smiling faces of new friends she will be meeting in the new land when the journey comes to an end.

Story-telling and illustrations:

What an incredible attempt at story-telling, and that too based on real events! The text does not mention the native land that the refugees come from, but the book jacket describes the author's work and her volunteer role with Afghan refugees in Australia. The theme can very well apply to refugees from any country fleeing for a safer home. Indeed a brave attempt to offer such a heavy-handed story! And even more striking is her attempt to move the scenes from past to present and vice-versa - highly commendable, and certainly unique. Reading the book certainly gave me a feeling of watching a movie - incredibly dramatic, and nothing I have ever seen portrayed so well in a picture book.

The illustrator, Robert Ingpen is an award-winning artist. The illustrations depicting an Afghan home are quite a treat for the eye - the snow-capped mountains in the background of the village that is filled with mud homes. Not to mention, the expressions of people when they are in the village working, their expressions during war and finally, when they are in the boat - feelings of hope and fear so beautifully captured.

Final word:
The book certainly is a heavy one to read to young kids, but a great way to introduce and educate them on the negative realities of the world in a picture book format, particularly to elementary aged and middle school children. My kindergartener certainly enjoyed Ziba's happy memories - her father reading stories, her mother weaving the loom etc. etc.. The book gave us an opportunity to discuss so many things about children being raised in villages where even the most basic of needs are not met such as lack of running water etc. Ziba had to carry water for her family from a nearby well. She also got to learn that Tandoor is actually a clay oven, and some extra research pointed to the fact that the recipe for Indian bread Naan originally comes from Afghanistan. I can safely say that the international theme of the book is sure to appeal to parents like me, and particularly for readers on Saffron Tree.

I should admit I was not ready to offer my five year old topics of war and violence so early on. I skimmed a few words here and there - words such as gunfires. I am sure this book will be part of our "reading together experience" even long after she outgrows reading picture books (who really outgrows picture books? Not me for sure)

This book will certainly come handy as my daughters get emotionally mature to learn about the unending evils of the world. Certainly,these days, there is an interest and questions from my kindergartener about more deeper topics that revolve around death in particular. As hard as they are for me to give answers to those questions, I don't think I can shelter my daughters on the realities of the world or life in general, for a very long time.

The story of Ziba came on a Boat will stay with us for a long time. It is a keepsake, and I am sure it will often come out of our bookshelf and we will be reading the book endlessly, in the years to come.

Mom, The School Flooded

Author: Ken Rivard
Art: Joe Weissmann
Ages: 4-7 years

This is yet another whimsical creation from Annick Press (also the publisher of Stephanie's ponytail reviewed earlier). The central idea in this anecdote is something most parents and school goers would instantly connect to - a tall tale from a playful little school boy, when put in a tight corner by his mother. The title of the book and the colorful front and back covers bearing a flood scene with wreckage indicating a school setting kindles the reader's curiosity.

Gus is our hero, rather our soaking wet hero! Back from school and now under investigation by his speculative mother, finds the need to whip up a convincing explanation for his drenched attire. An adept narrator (or so he thinks!), sets the stage for an aquatic drama at school - "We were doing science and all this WATER came in from the hall........". He doesn't stop with that. And here is where the reader straps herself (or himself) to take a ride with Gus and his fanciful story, just like his all-knowing mom did! Unhampered and with utmost confidence he proceeds to lay out the incident sprinkling it with intricate details to account for realism. The vice-principal on the phone floating with his fish bowl, the gym and schoolyard looking like an ocean, the arrival of the fire truck and to top it all "Didn't you see us on TV, mom?" he quips! He also comes up with an interesting climax with the caretaker's plunger-wonder fixing it all and the flood vanishing in a flash! All his mom does is sigh and say - "Oh Gus! You do tell such stories!" The book is left charmingly open-ended with Mike, Gus' older brother walking in with torn pants and a pet alligator tucked behind!

Believable? No. This is where the beautiful innocence of the child blinds the sane mind. In fact, it could ironically arouse pleasant wonder and admiration for the naughty one. I am sure there was always that time when a highly improbable excuse still melted your heart. The idea is also for kids to enjoy when someone else is presenting a story without boundaries. It never ceases to amaze them either. And there is a good chance they will realize how goofy their own stories can sometimes sound! The illustrations are comic, and in pastel watercolors - colorful and cheery. Consistency with details deserves special mention - the paraphernalia from the science class diligently floating to other areas of the institution.

A fun package for you, for the little trickster or the goody one in your house!

One Grain of Rice

One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folk Tale
by Demi (Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt)

Recommended Age: 8-12 years

This book is clearly not for my 2½ year old. I was looking for conceptual/educational story book for my soon-to-be-8-year-old niece and came across this book by Demi.

Based on an Indian folk tale, this book introduces the mathematical concept of exponential growth. The story is about a clever little girl Rani, who makes a deal with the Raja (King) and eventually humbles him.

Synopsis: A Raja believes he is wise and fair, but, each year, keeps the harvest rice for himself. He refuses to share the rice when a famine hits the village. One fine day, Rani inadvertently manages to help the Raja. The Raja decides to reward Rani for it and says she can ask for anything within reason. So, Rani, the clever little mathematician she is, says: I would like one grain of rice, doubled every day for thirty days: one grain of rice on the first day, two grains of rice on the second day, four grains of rice on the third day and so on for 30 days.

Of course, not being familiar with exponential growth, the Raja thinks this is an acceptable, affordable, trifling sort of reward and agrees. By the end of the 30 days, the power of 2 works its magic and the whole village has enough grains of rice, thoughtfully and generously shared by Rani. The Raja realizes his folly and decides to mend his ways.

Demi's illustrations, inspired by Indian miniature style, are exquisite. The increasing volume of rice each day is depicted beautifully by the variety of animals that deliver the grains of rice each day. First, it is just a few birds with grains of rice in their beaks. Then come the big cats - a leopard, a tiger, and a lion each carrying a small pouch in their mouths. After a fortnight, a goat is pulling a cart that carries a bag of rice and so on... until the enormous procession of elephants in the end to bring the one billion grains of rice after 30 days!

This book combines the mathematical concept with lovely art, not to mention the moral at the end that even a little girl can teach the Raja to be wise.

There are many mathematical exercises based on this book - like how many grains of rice make a cup (or kilogram or pounds) of rice; how many people (approximately, on an average) will one billion grains of rice feed? and so on. The last page of the book has a table which shows the actual numerical progression from one grain of rice to one billion.

At first I was skeptical as I thought it might be too advanced for an 8-year old. But, even if the brilliance of the mathematics doesn't register right away, it is a great starting point for the concept, especially with accompanying practical and fun exercises that can be found on the web, as devised by classroom teachers.

While I have to wait probably a good 4 or 5 years to see how Ana takes to this book, I can readily see my niece being intrigued by this book...

Another concept in mathematics that children might grapple with is that of Factorial and I've heard some good things about Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar that I would like to check out next...

The Arrival

The Arrival - by Shuan Tan

12+ years, young adults and above

Have you heard of the term chars? - They are small islands on rivers which get inhabited by people in Bangladesh. The word is probably of Bangla origin. A few months back, The Hindu newspaper ran a small article about Swapan Nayak's photographs of migrants from Bangladesh living in 2000 such chars in Brahmaputra river since 1950s. Their number total to nearly 16 lakhs according to the article.


What makes these people leave their home and come and stay in such inhospitable and unhygienic environment. What uncertainty drove them from their country? - Political climate, war, unknown type of violence and other unimaginable causes. Probably the only reason people migrate is hope!. Hope that they would escape the violence and hardships in their own country. Hope that they would be able to live better in new environment. Every step is a big risk. They take them nonetheless with only hope in their mind.


Shaun Tan deals with this topic in his wordless picture book - The Arrival. A man bids adieu to his family from some eastern country (China, Malayasia, Taiwan - could be any eastern country) in search of better life in a prosperous country. He travels in a ship for a long time and arrives at a country where he cannot understand the language, the people, their customs and their life. He tries to make a decent living and meets many other migrants similar to him from various backgrounds and countries. All them try and struggle to live and make their ends meet. He gets help from the other migrants and finally his wife and kid also join him into this foreign country. The last page is full hope as his kid shows directions to another new migrant.


Shaun Tan mixes realism and surrealism to bring a dramatic picture book. Every picture needs to be pored into and looked into detail to understand the sentiments and meaning behind them. Sometimes, we might not understand the meaning of certain pictures; but, would eventually understand it as we go further down the pages. Go to Shaun Tan's website and click on The Arrival book to see some of pictures from his book. He mixes sepia tones with wrinkled pages look make a startling book on migrants and their hardships. His earlier books were for 11+ year olds, but this more specifically for adults.



It is very difficult to describe the book in words - If you get a chance to get hold of this book, do not miss it. The Arrival is one of the finalists in the Graphics Novel section in Cybils 2007. If you do not already know, Cybils is a public nominated, bloggers driven awards in children's literature. It is a great place to find out interesting books in various children's categories. Do not miss to browse through various categories and their nominations and finalists.



I am great fan of two illustrators - David Weisner and Shaun Tan. Both of them convey their stories with only pictures without any words. Both of them are at two extremes of the emotional spectrum. David Weisner makes us wonder, imagine and fantasize. Shaun touches our heart and gets us emotionally involved. David converts us into exuburent children; Shaun makes us into serious and responsible adults. Both of them are masters of this genre - wordless picture books.

No, David!

No, David! by David Shannon



How often do you as a parent say 'No!' to your kids. I am a big time culprit of saying 'No' to Sooraj and Shraddha. Well, no or the words equivalent to no is probably the most common word I end up using as a frustrated father. But, I wonder if I was just as infuriating, irksome and naughty as a kid? Nah! I was probably a very goody-goody kid. Probably
something that my parents and friends might not agree! :)


This book is a series of 2 page pictures depicting a rather naughty and hyper-active kid going about wrecking havoc in the home. While the kid is going about his innocent deeds, the rather frustrated mother keeps yelling at him - 'No, David!'.


The book starts off by saying -


David's mom always said...
No, David!



With the words 'No, David! being drawn on the wall by the protagonist, David.


After that it is a series of naughtiness and silliness as the kid embarks on one funny prank after another. He lets the water overflow from the bath room tub, runs naked on the streets, keeps banging his plate, makes fun toys with his food items - as the rather irritated mom keeps shouting at every page - 'Come back David', 'No David No!', 'David! Be Quiet' etc...



The illustrations of David working seriously on his pranks are depicted in child like fashion. The illustration are shown as if they were drawn by a 5 year old naughty kid - with bright red, green and yellow dominating. An extremely 2 page funny picture depicts David seriously putting his finger into his nose!, while is mom is yelling 'Stop this very instant!'. Sooraj found this very funny and he kept laughing continuously. Another one where David runs wild in the outdoors without any clothes on brought another bout of heavy laughter from Sooraj.



This is one of the books that Sooraj very easily relates to. Sooraj was so happy to see that there are other kids who have the same kind of naughty urges that he or Shraddha would have. Definitely one of his favourites.



By the way, did I mention that the author is David Shannon. Yes. It is based on the author himself. As per author the book is based on his own child hood book called 'No, David' that was illustrated with drawing that David wasn't supposed to do.



A great fun book. Go ahead, read it with your kids and howl with laughter and remember your own silly and funny antics that your parents frowned upon. It has loving ending too.

Bear Wants More

Bear Wants More
written by Karma Wilson,
illustrated by Jane Chapman
suggested age: 3-6 years

I was looking for Bear Snores On a few months back and came upon Bear Wants More and instantly liked it.

Bear Wants More is a charming book about a bear who is coming out of hibernation in spring, and how his woodland friends help sate his enormous hunger.

When springtime comes,
in his warm winter den
a bear wakes up
very hungry and thin.

First, Bear munches on the grass outside his cave but he is still hungry. And just then A mouse scampers by with his acorn pail and says follow me along to the strawberry vale.

So up Mouse hops
onto Bear's big back.
They tromp through the woods
for a fresh fruit snack.

Bear eats and he eats, but he still wants more. And so, each of his friends try to lead him to various food sources - the clover patch, stream to catch fish - and Bear heartily partakes, but he still wants more.

The catchy refrain "Bear Wants More" is repeated often and was a delight to shout out together with Ana.

Unbeknownst to him, his other friends (Gopher, Mole, Raven, and Wren), sensing his ravenous appetite when he comes out of hibernation, arrange for a surprise party at Bear's cave replete with honey cakes while he is being led to various food sources by Mouse, Hare and Badger first.

The aroma of freshly baked honey cakes draws Bear to his cave where, to his dismay, he finds he has already gotten too big to fit in his front door! This was Ana's favorite part for some reason - to discover that Bear was too big to fit in his own cave that he walked out of not too long ago. How much could he have eaten in such a short time?!

His friends yell "SURPRISE!"
when he gets to his den.
But Bear is SO big...

...that he can't fit in!

So what do they do? The resourceful friends move the party outside and the bear eats his fill and is finally full, full full, but.. his friends want more!

The full page artwork by Jane Chapman in vibrant greens indicating the crisp and refreshing beauty of spring, with eye-catching detail and endearing woodland animals, was a visual treat in itself. And combined with the bouncy rhymes and gentle story about friendship, hibernation and various food sources, made this a quick favorite with us.

Bear Wants More is a charming read-aloud book with simple and catchy rhymes packed with descriptive words and adorable characters. The gorgeous illustrations complement the text beautifully while unfolding the lives of the woodland creatures in an imaginative and uncomplicated way.