Once Upon a Banana

Picture courtesy: Amazon

Author/Illustrator: Jennifer Armstrong, David Small

Read Together: 2+

Genre: Humor

Once Upon a Banana is totally bananas!

It starts with a naughty little monkey, who runs away from his juggler caretaker, steals a banana and carelessly throws the peel on the sidewalk, right next to a sign that says "Don't litter".

From there on, chaos ensues. Someone parks his bike in a no parking zone, steps on the peel, crashes into a ladder, throwing a painter on to a shopping cart, which zooms into a busy traffic intersection....I could continue, but I would be spoiling the fun for you, so I won't!

But I will say this. Each page promises wild, hilarious theatrics and acrobatics that you would not expect to see on a busy city street. And the way each scene unfolds makes it seem as if something like that could, probably happen; it does not seem like a fantasy at all. (Except maybe for one scene of a baby flying through the air, which I found unrealistic and which also alarmed my two year old - for he was concerned for the safety of the baby!)

This is probably a good time to mention one important thing. Once Upon a Banana is a wordless book. All the story telling task is left to the illustrator - David Small - a Caldecott honor medal recipient, who paints pictures of the chaos and drama though cartoonish, light, water color illustrations. Not one text to clarify what is happening, not one line of spoken dialogue. Everything that needs to be said is in the facial expressions of the characters and the animated movement of objects being hurled around. There are appropriate road signs on each page, that serve to act like marks of irony and add to the humor rather than convey any special message.

In each of my half dozen or so readings so far, I notice a tiny detail that I didn't catch before, and it makes me wonder how much time the author, Jennifer Armstrong, invested in coming up with the precise detail of events. In her biography, Armstrong says she had wanted to write books that "capture a reader's imagination and make them forget everything else while they read." This book does exactly that -it transports you temporarily to a square block of that fictional city, making you turn each page, as you wonder what is going to happen next.

The comedy of errors builds up to a fitting climax and you can happily close the book, with a feel good smile on your face.

If you happen to get your hands on Once Upon a Banana, please post a comment on what you thought about it. I would love to hear your interpretation.

Bad Kitty

Author/Illustrator: Nick Bruel
Read Together: Age 3 to 5
Read alone: Early Elementary grades
Genre: Alphabets

A laugh-out-loud alphabetical offering that is a sure crowd pleaser!

If there's any book featuring alphabets that a kindergarten to a grade 2 kid, (as in older kids who have outgrown learning the alphabets) would enjoy, I can safely bet this is definitely THE one! Featuring a cat with super-silly expressions to present the alphabetical list, Bad Kitty is a no-brainer choice that can elicit tons of laughs among children and grown-ups alike! Thanks to my kindergartener's goofy and silly manners and expressions finding their way to the dinner table and bedtime, it was only natural that I would pick this one for her.

Bad Kitty is a clever and hilarious offering of things and events in an alphabetical order, not once but four times, featuring the good/bad and bad/good moments of an action-packed day of a very high-energy kitty. I am sure you are wondering what the good/bad and bad/good moments are!

Please allow me to present them here...

1) Kitty starts her day learning that her family has run out of her favorite food. The only available options are healthy and nutritous foods that go from Asparagus to Zuchini.

2)Upon knowing she is left only with those "healthy" options, she decides to become a bad kitty. Who would have ever thought that next would appear an A - Z list of all her bad behaviors - Ate my homework, Bit grandma to name a few of the 26 odd ways in which Kitty misbehaves!
3) What happens next? Kitty's owners bring food from the store that ranges from An Assortment of Anchovies to Baked Zebra Ziti.


4) Kitty repents for her bad behavior and repairs all the damage she had masterminded in the house with a final list of good alphabetical deeds such as Apologized to grandma, erased the walls, and such goes the list of sweet things she does for the family.

That wraps up the four different alphabetical order of experiences in a day's life of a "full-of-attitude" kitty.

Really, this book is replete with goofiness galore. The illustrations are charming and captures fully the "full-of-attitude" expressions of Kitty and the colorful foods. Purple definitely stands out on the cover as you can see for yourself above (thanks to LOOKYBOOK). The Kitty and her expressions are sure to steal your children's hearts. Be prepared to appreciate the numerous ridiculous ways in which alphabets get manifested, if in fact choose to read the book with your children.

As for the negatives, you can't help but pause on certain random words, and wonder if they are bit of a stretch...well, if you look at the big picture, which is the possibilities of expanding your little one's vocabulary, it really does not matter. And thankfully parents don't have to worry too much about PC factor - (as in the political correctness) But not to ignore the feelings of those feeding their little ones with the foods the author describes as "yucky". And lastly, if you are a vegetarian family like ours, it may be hard to digest a few words here and there, but you definitely get used to words such as Quail Quiche after one or two reads.

Bottomline, go ahead, have fun and open your children's minds (and yours too since we didnt have such lovely apbhabet servings when we were little! :-)) to a broader set of vocabulary than most books in the genre. If you are in a mood to get quirky and goofy with your children, pleas don't wait...go get this uniquely cooked up list of alphabets is definitely for your family. And of course, it's great that you can peek into the book on the above Lookybook too.

Extra notes: Author Nick Bruel has plenty of award-winning books to his credit. In fact, a new book Melvin Bubble has been receiving lot of media attention as well (it was featured on Martha Stewart show) Poor Puppy is yet another clever sequel to Bad Kitty - please don't get me started with this book now...I can't stop raving about Poor Puppy's energetic adventure with Bad Kitty. More on that in my next review!

Oregon's Journey

Oregon's Journey
Author: Rascal
Pictures by : Louis Joos

Age Group : 5+, YA, Adults

I always keep reading about Road Trips, but never been on one. What is so important about a Road Trip? Probably nothing helps one to get a idea of any country without a road trip. There are multiple books and movies on road trips, but, I have never come across a road trip book or movie that moved me as Oregon's Journey.

Duke is a dwarf and works as a circus clown. He is always dressed like a clown with his red cherry on his nose. He is likes to watch a bear called Oregon and both of them end up being great friends. One day, the bear Oregon asks him if Duke can take him to a big forest. Duke does not no how to answer, but back in his trailer, he decides that he needs to help out his friend Oregon. So, both of them set out from Pittsburg, where the circus is currently running to Oregon state where Duke thinks are the beautiful forest of spruce trees.

So, one fine night after the final performance, the clown and the bear walk out with out any luggage to find the beautiful forest of spruce trees. They walk out of Pittsburg and leave its ash-coloured sky to find greener pastures. They hitch rides from one state to another; and get to meet various folks of different colour, temperament and lives. A black man, traveling salesman, a Navajo elder and many other give them lift as they pass one state after another. They spent the night wherever they find shelter and finally catch the train to Oregon. The rest of pages show the peace and solitude that the friends find after reaching Oregon and the great big forest.

The illustrations are extremely wonderful. I have no words to describe them. I especially like the last page illustration as the clown walks away from the forest into a snow filled white morning.

The words catch your heart and tug hard. There is a great dialogue between a black man and the clown, when the black man gives the bear and clown a lift --

"Why do you wear white makeup and a red nose when you're no longer in the circus?" the man asked me.

"Because they've become a part of me," I answered.

"It isn't easy being a dwarf".

"Nor is it easy to be a black man," he said.

We understood each other.

A touching and wonderful book that I would recommend to every one. One of my friends, Prashanth, bought this book for Sooraj. Ranjani, Sooraj and I have loved this book. Probably, Ranjani and I love this book more than Sooraj.

Owen

Owen by Kevin Henkes Pic source : Amazon





Owen is a simple and a heart warming story of a little mouse, who is deeply attached to his yellow blanket. The yellow blanket named Fuzzy by Owen, goes with him everywhere.






When the neighbour next door comments to the parents that he seems to be a little old to be carrying it around, they get anxious. They try all the tricks which the neighbour tells them about, to make Owen give up his blanket -



Blanket fairy who takes away the blanket in the night and leaves a gift behind,


Dipping the blanket in vinegar, so that it smells awful and finally,




Saying an emphatic NO to Owen.





Owen outwits them and nothing can stop him from carrying his beloved little thing everywhere.




Finally without the neighbour's interference, the mother thinks about what will work for her little one. She comes up with such an excellent idea that Owen does give up his blanket, but still gets to keep his favourite comforter. So what does the mother do, so that both Owen and his mom are happy in the end ?.




Read the book and find it for yourself :-).




Sooraj and me loved this book because we could relate to it so well ! Sooraj had a similar "yellow blankie" when he was around 1.5 years old. He needed that to go to sleep. So wherever we travelled that would be the first thing to go into the luggage ! I don't remember for how long he used that, because at one point of time the attachment to that yellow blankie stopped. It did not seem very important to him. May be that was an indication he was growing up :-).




This book is a 1994 Caldecott Honour book. The other books of Kevin Henkes reviewed here in Saffrontree are Kitten's First Full Moon and Jessica, by Praba.