Tops And Bottoms

Tops And Bottoms
Adapted And Illustrated By Janet Stevens
All Ages

During our recent library trip, my younger child went berserk pulling out all the books she could lay her hands on and thrusting it in to my face to read it for her. One of the books she pulled out was ‘Tops And Bottoms’ by Janet Stevens. The Caldecott Honor sticker on the cover really caught my attention and I borrowed this book from the library.

The rich, lazy bear has plenty of land and money, but he spends all his time sleeping on his front porch. The bear’s neighbor, hare has a huge family to tend to and an empty pocket. So the hare decides to over come its adversity through wit and deception. He strikes a partnership with the bear. The terms of the partnership being:

-the hare gets to work on the bear’s land
-the hare would do all the work
-and at the end of the season the bear would get half of the produce.

The lazy bear immediately agrees and chooses that he wants the top half and goes back to his precious slumber. He sleeps the whole time only to wake up after the harvesting and discovers that the clever hare had planted tubers – carrots, radish, beet root and such. The hare rounds up the goodies and the bear is left with nothing.

The second time the bear chooses the bottom half and goes back to sleep. This time the clever hare plants broccoli, lettuce and celery. Again the hare ends up with the vegetables and the bear gets zilch.

The stubborn bear simply refuses to learn his lesson. He declares that he wants the tops AND bottoms this time around, lets the hare do the work and sleeps through the season. He wakes up to find that the clever hare has planted corn. So all the bear gets is the corn husk! Finally the bear realizes the only way to get the spoils is by getting his hands dirty and decides to take care of his land. The hare, having a huge stock of vegetable, opens his own vegetable stand and takes care of his family.

It is a simple folk tale, packed with messages like ‘You snooze you loose’, ‘One can overcome adversity through wit’, ‘Anything that seems too good to be true is obviously too good to be true’. Plus I thought that it would be a cool way to introduce a bit of botany. My three year old now faithfully repeats things like ‘carrots grow under the ground’, ‘celery grows over the ground’, ‘the bear gets kuppai(meaning: stuff that is not worth anything) because he didn’t work’. But I think it is mostly rote, because, how much ever I explain that carrots grow under the ground, she is finding very hard to visualize it.

For some reason both my three year old and my almost two year old love this book. The only reason I can come up with - the illustrations. The older one bursts in to a full-blown laughter whenever she sees the lazy bear sprawled over the patio chair. The younger one gets a kick out of identifying ‘cawee’(carrot) and ‘baathalee’(broccoli).

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is the orientation of the book. The spine has to be held horizontal and as you finish a page it has to be flipped up. There is a full page illustration of a garden. The spine is the ground and it shows tubers at the lower half of the book, growing under the ground, and vegetable like celery and lettuce at the top half of the book, growing above the ground.

This is definitely a book that I will reintroduce to my three-year-old in a few months time.

MY CAT COPIES ME

MY CAT COPIES ME
Author and Illustrator: Yoon-duck Kwon
Age group: 4-8 years

This is one of those books in which the illustrations carry more weight than the text itself. The package might seem simple, superficially, but shrouded underneath are deeper messages that are crucial for growing children. Another significant attraction would be the fact that it can be a wonderful treat for cat lovers and cat loving or pet loving children! Let me move on and embark on the task of peeling off the layers of the charming tale, from my own perspective and based on some research that I did.

The book opens up with an introductory note about the cat and the relationship the girl bears with the animal. In the girl's opinion, her cat is mostly independent except, when ignored, when she actually tries to imitate her!. The skin-deep impression is that of a girl declaring how her shy cat ends up copying her a lot. Snapshots of the cat and the girl entertaining themselves in merriment are what follow. We see the girl and her pet hiding behind newspapers, furniture and clothes, chasing flies and watching bugs.

But going beyond and reading between the lines leads us into some dry humor, the subtle fact that the cat is actually doing what cats very typically do! This leaves us with the feeling that a lonely girl is actually seeking consolation in the company of her cat.

Midway, the tables turn - "But from now on... ... I will copy my cat!"

"Like my cat, I'll look outside.
I'll watch the darkness, and I won't be afraid."

In the ensuing pages are illustrations of the girl and her feline friend climbing high (as seen on the cover page, which all makes sense now) stretching their bodies in unison, fearlessly stepping "out" and making new friends. The positivity in the chosen actions are undeniable and sets the stage for the transition in the girl's persona.

And now is when the message begins to crystallize - an introverted girl has actually turned to her cat friend to face her fears and face the world. The closing image is that of the girl playing with her new friends, other neighborhood children, along with her cat! Not beating around the bush, a timid child will probably be able to relate to the girl and more importantly learn to lean on something and break free.

The grey outlining to vibrant images adds interest. Another subtlety is the intentional dark background on the few pages when the girl actually sheds her fears and opens up. The backdrop is a Korean household and neighborhood, imparting the Asian feel to the book. A background check on the author revealed the artistic credentials she bears in brushwork painting, Asian landscape painting and Buddhist paintings. A rather mild drawback in my opinion would be the lack of stronger, firmer or more substantial text to convey the very significant and wonderful message the book carries. While the simplicity of the surface reading is to be appreciated the lack of depth in the text to corroborate the illustrations and hence the message can be a tad unsatisfying. However, the demystifying process seems very satisfying!

For the Lunar New Year - New Clothes for New Year's Day

NEW CLOTHES FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY
By Hyun - Joo Bae
Age: 4-8 years

This book is a celebration of the Korean culture and heritage, more specifically of the Korean Lunar New Year. I could say that or I could just say - it is a book about a little girl playing dress-up, Korean dress-up. Take it as you wish, but its a cheery book that every little girl will savor!

In her plain white underclothes stands the little girl looking out the window on a cold winter morning. But its the first cold winter morning of a New Year! And what brings the most joy to her little world is her new crimson silk skirt and her chance to bask in it. The narrator demonstrates how carefully and delicately she adorns herself. She puts on her skirt, her embroidered socks, her rainbow jacket, her delicate headgear and a long list of fine accessories. But the subtle yet strong nuances are what make it so wonderful - the pause to admire at every stage, the crusade to tie the perfect bow, the minor adjustments to make it look just right. More embellishments - new, textured, intricate, dazzling. Down to the finest detail, a charm for luck! Just as fresh snow makes a landing, the girl is all ready, so utterly perfect to set out to wish good luck to her near and dear.

With a straightforward and very simple way to introduce Korean traditions to children, the book is laden with the inherent serenity that the far east emanates. Elegant, warm and colorful sketches seem to do justice to the girl's ulterior desire. The last two pages of the book are dedicated for factual content - a write up on traditional Korean (Lunar) New Year celebrations and the significance of new clothes for New Year's. Alongside is a diagram of the ensemble, head to toe.

A sleepless night on the eve of a chance to wear a new attire is not uncommon in a child's world. This book neatly lays it out, drenched in an Asian flavor, while exhuming warmth and cheer. Don't chide me for your little boy's nonchalance for the book but it sure is a guaranteed delight for any girl, anywhere on the map!

Maisy Big, Maisy Small

Maisy Big, Maisy Small
by Lucy Cousins

Recommended Ages: 1-3 years

Maisy Big, Maisy Small is a 2007 publication concept book of opposites written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins.

Lucy Cousins introduced us to Maisy, the adorable little mouse, in 1990. Since then she has written a whopping number of Maisy books which have been translated into several languages with Maisy becoming Mimi in French, Mausi in German and Pina in Italian.

So far, I've been on the fence about Maisy books: I love the level of simplicity projected by Maisy, but, never really got into it with full gusto. However, to my surprise, I instantly liked Maisy Big, Maisy Small, I must admit.

Concept books are quite a useful tool for us parents to help our children explore their world and start defining it with an added level of granularity. By expanding their vocabulary with contrasting terms, this book of opposites helps them learn to describe their world with a little more clarity.

For example, Maisy Squiggly/Maisy Straight shows squiggly lines and straight lines as contrasts. From then on, a line is not just a line anymore - it is a wiggly/squiggly line or a straight line, thus adding an extra layer of definition.

Maisy's two-dimensional world is stripped to the bare essentials, with nothing extraneous to distract the visuals. Vibrant primary colors ("crayon-colors", as I found out they are called) fill the black outlines, making them almost cartoonish, thereby immediately appealing to a child's eye.

The visually stimulating art makes this a lively picture book: Maisy morphs herself to illustrate the opposites - she becomes tall and shoots out of the page and we see only her long legs, whereas in the adjoining page, she shrinks down so she is squat and short, illustrating the tall/short opposites.

Big/small, happy/sad, hot/cold, tall/short, thick/thin, push/pull, slow/fast, messy/clean were quite straightforward opposites. However, some of the pairs, while not strictly antonyms, were quite delightful to encounter as contrasts: fluffy/spiky, swim/fly, spots/stripes.

The text is very simple and the accompanying visuals reinforce the concepts introduced in the pages. Plus, Tallulah makes an appearance in one of the pages, among other friends, where Maisy Alone/Maisy Together is depicted.

Bottomline: A simple, delightful and educational (series) read for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.