The contest between the sun and the wind

The contest between the sun and the wind

An Aesop's fable
retold by Heather Forest
illustrated by Susan Gaber
published by August House

Ages 4-8

Our local library has a special multicultural shelf. And every week, the librarian dutifully updates it for her personal picks of books from around the world. A trip to the library, for me, is never complete, without stopping by this shelf. And I end up picking almost every title there. This time, when I saw this Aesop's Fable, I was suitably excited.

My 5 year old was very taken with the cover picture. He loved how the sun looked....so big and bright and cheery. And he was very intrigued by the other sour face. Who is this?...he asked. Its the wind...I reply. In this respect alone, Susan Gaber has made an impact. We begin reading.

Many of us are already familiar with the story. How there was once a man in a warm coat, walking along a winding road. The Sun and the Wind, high in the sky, watch his progress, and between them....a conversation unfolds. The Wind brags about its might and declares that he is the strongest and much stronger than the Sun. The Sun, in turn, invites him to a contest to prove it, the contest being...who will be able to take the coat off of that man on the road.

The Wind launches into the attack right away and makes lofty declarations how he would take the man's coat off with ease. And he starts blowing. But the man clutches onto his coat tighter.

The Wind grows loud.
The Wind grows cold.
The shivering man buttoned his coat.

And this goes on and on for a little while. The whole world seems to be a blur of dust and leaves. But the harder the wind tries, the tighter the man holds on to this coat. Finally, discouraged, The Wind goes off. And now, its the Sun's turn.

The Sun peeked out from behind a cloud
warming the air and the frosty ground.

And as this happens, the most beautiful sight unfolds on the page. All is green and, birds are flying in the sky, rainbows appear out of nowhere, sunflowers bloom and magic is in the air. There is a complete change of mood, and we, as the reader, are carried along with it. The man unbuttons his coat and starts to sing. The Sun shines brighter and brighter and brighter and...

The man began to feel so hot
he took off his coat
and sat down in a shady spot.

By this time, the Wind has returned and he sees the man with his coat off. Amazed, he asks...

How did you FORCE him to take off his coat?

And the sun replies...

I did not force him at all. I lit the day!
Through gentleness, I won my way.

I adored this punchline. Through gentleness I won my way. I felt it was a great conclusion to guide my kindergartener to. And it might just prove useful when I next have to don my referee hat and mediate between the warring siblings under our roof!

TRIBAL ALPHABET - Interview with Claudia Pearson

Illustrations: Claudia Pearson

Text: Nan Richardson

Publisher: Umbrage Editions(May 1, 2008)


In artist Claudia Pearson’s debut creation for children, Tribal Alphabet, extraordinary illustrations come alive to celebrate the diversity of tribal communities and world's indigenous heritages.

As you can see for yourself in the lookybook feature above, Claudia’s artistic splendor is so beautifully reflected not only on the cover page drawing, (which itself beckons readers to discover what the book has to offer) but also in the lively and inspiring scenes she captures on every page of the book – from first till the very end filled with strikingly meaningful, and beautifully composed pictures.

A is for Australian Aborigine , B is for Basque, C is for Cherokee, D is for Dogon……J is for Jarwa(from Andaman Islands of India)are some of the names of the different tribes from different parts of the world that go alphabetically from page to page all the way till Z is for Zulu. Honestly, the stunning artwork coupled with the names of each tribe and the simple, informative text set in rhyme to describe tribal lifestyle and culture – enchanting learning galore!

And… for someone like me, who along with my 6 yr old, was hearing the names of some of these tribes for the very first time, you can only imagine how exciting and enlightening the entire read-aloud session must have been for the two of us.

The world map in the beginning (with minor misprints), and a glossary of tribal facts in the end are extra perks giving you a complete package that can truly spark your children’s interests in world geography, and also serve as a neat introduction to anthropology. The book can stir your little one’s imagination and create a curiosity for diversity in the world - expanding their horizon of learning about cultures from parts of the world beyond the reach of so many of us.

This delightful book is ideal for parents and educators from any country, and is a wonderful eye-opener to diversity in every nook and corner of the world. Yes, diversity, but the key take-away from the book is clearly that there are more things people and cultures have in common than they do have differences.

Of course, we at Saffron Tree, love this kind of book!

Having said why we love Tribal Alphabet, we cannot be more excited for ourselves. Reason being, Claudia Pearson sweetly accepted our invitation to do an interview in order to share with our readers a neat discussion of what it was like illustrating her very first book, Tribal Alphabet.

Please find below the full interview with Claudia Pearson.

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1)What did you find as the most challenging and fun parts in illustrating your book, Tribal Alphabet?

The first biggest challenge was making sure that we had fairly represented the diversity of the world. We could have easily done 10 different tribes for each letter and still had more left over. Once we had agreed on each letter we then needed to make sure that all our information about each group was accurate and up to date. The point of the book was to show traditional cultures and obviously a good number of these people have adapted to modern times so we had to make sure we didn't appear condescending in anyway.

Once the text was fact checked by our anthropologist I was free to start researching the images and that's when the fun began.
I have traveled a great deal and have always been inspired by traditional clothing, textiles, artwork etc.. so it was a dream come true to delve in to the life's of these wonderfully rich people and paint them in a way that showed their beauty.


2) When the reader looks at the pictures of the different activities that the people are involved in different tribal settings, it's almost like you are inside the book watching them do all the stuff. You have done an amazing job making your pictures look very realistic, and the expressions pop out so beautifully. How difficult was it for you to create these drawings?

I have to say that thanks to the internet it is much easier these days to find so many documentations of worldwide cultures.
Narrowing the images down and extracting the fundamentals of each tribe was the tricky part but we'd decided on the activities that would appeal to children so that directed me.Portraying the people accurately was extremely important to me and I'm glad that you think I've done a good job.


3) Could you give our readers an idea about the techniques involved in illustrating your book?

I go through several stages in the process. The first is compiling files of images I find on each tribe. This then enables me to get ideas for composition and the elements I want to include.

I then do a small dummy version of the book so I can see which spread works together and how I will vary the flow of the book.
I begin by pulling images into photoshop and laying them out roughly to get inspiration.
I then start sketching in pencil taking into consideration what has come before and will come after. Once I am happy with a page I start painting in acrylic. I find it mixes nicely and produces the flat, opaque color that I love.
The colors of the landscapes, skin tones, textiles shape the tones in each painting.


4)You are obviously teaching families that is important to appreciate the unique cultures/communities of our world. This is in addition to a great opportunity to introduce a neat topic about anthropoligical research /introduction to world geography, for slightly older children in elementary/middle grades. And as you already know at Saffron Tree, we want to encourage parents to read eclectic and diverse children's literature starting at an early age. How important, as a parent and illustrator, do you feel reading stories and books focusing on different cultures help children develop a well-rounded understanding of the world?

I feel as if without reading this kind of literature children will never understand such basic things as the community that surrounds them.
We have chosen to raise our 2 boys in Brooklyn which are culturally very diverse and have always selected books for them based on developing their understanding of the world around them. If they can make the connection with other cultures outside of America then they can understand people who have moved from these countries to make the US their home. I am British and my husband is American and already our children understand that they come from 2 different countries.
I hope that it will teach them tolerance and a love for difference in the way that my parents did.

Thank you so much, Claudia for taking the time to answer all our questions. We wish you all the very best in your career creating more and more special books like Tribal Alphabet for children all over the world.

AMADI'S SNOWMAN

Publisher: Tilbury House, Publishers, Maine, USA
Author: Katia Novet Saint-Lot
Illustrator: Dimitrea Tokunbo

What is a snowman doing on the front cover of a book bearing what I think looks like an African boy in a village setting? Little did I know that it was curiosity of this nature that was the basis for the transformation in young Amadi's life, the central character in the book Amadi's Snowman.

Amadi is a native of the Igbo tribe of Nigeria in Africa. The story is set in a hamlet in Nigeria, boasting marketplaces and friendly faces amidst which Amadi is raised by his hardworking mother.

What we come to understand after the introductory pages is Amadi's impregnable resistance to learn to read. He strongly believes that the ability to read is unneeded for an Igbo boy whose stereotyped ambition is to grow up to be a business man. Wandering at the marketplace, Amadi chances upon his friend Chima furtively buried in a book. It is now that Amadi's eyes fall upon an image of a boy bundled up in clothes next to a strange animal with a nose that looked like a carrot. Everywhere around, the ground and trees sparkled, blinding white. To some of us the image of a boy and a snowman could seem effortlessly digestible but to an Igbo man in Africa whose land is drenched in sun all through the year, this can sure seem hard to gulp. His ignorance is dispelled by Chima, who now seems to be the all-knowing idol to Amadi. But Chima soon takes off abandoning the book and poor Amadi who stands there with a whole lot of questions queued up in his head. This incident sows the seeds for Amadi's genuine enthusiasm to read, to learn, and to discover.

Amadi's quest does not end here. He begins to realize the existence of a lot more beyond his small world, like the snow and snowman. But they are all going to be out of reach if he did not know to read. The climax is when Amadi finds the same book in his house, gifted to him by Mrs. Chikodili, his tutor whom he is seen avoiding all through. You can tell Mrs.Chikodili I'll learn how to read are Amadi's final words in the book.

The depiction of the life of a rural African boy can itself be intriguing to urban children. The rustic scenes painted in warm earth tones come as a bonus, thanks to Dimitrea Tokunbo. The book is also overly apt for Saffron Tree for more than one reason - not only is it truly multicultural as in being a story about a tribal boy in Africa and created by a well-traveled author who now lives in India, but it is also one that spoons children the motivation to learn to read.

The initial resistance to read that Amadi exudes is probably a feeling that all young children might be able to relate to and the fact that the story can eventually inspire them to read is the most wonderful and powerful thing about this book! Nothing says this like when my 4 year old worriedly and hurriedly ensured "Ma, I know to read, right? I will know to read much better on my own, right?" as I slowly closed the book.Thumbs up to Katia Novet for this neat package! Literacy is a heavy subject and to translate it to young children is a daunting task. But looks like Katia Novet has effortlessly and wonderfully accomplished this endeavour.

Today is International Day of Non-violence...

MARCHING TO FREEDOM
Author: Subhadra Sen Gupta
Illustrator: Tapas Guha
Publisher: Pratham Books, India

Age Group: 11-14 years

For today's children Gandhi is just a face on our currency note or a picture in a dull history book. But what he stood for is something that I feel all children should value —tolerance and non-violence. - Subhadra Sen Gupta

Ample reason to write a book on Mahatma Gandhi for children. And today seems adequate enough to review this book from Pratham Books.

The setting is the Sabarmati Ashram in the western state of Gujarat in India, which Gandhi and his followers called home during the Freedom Struggle in India. Dhani is a 9 year old boy being raised in the ashram by his Gandhian parents. Dhani also seems to be responsible for taking care of Binni, the goat, who is his incessant companion and whose milk seems to be a part of Gandhi's morning diet.

Dhani is portrayed as a cheery little boy skipping around the ashram premises, inquisitive, eager to know, and quizzical. Dhani senses a plan brewing in the ashram and the tale kicks off with his attempts to find out more about it. Persistent as he is, Dhani learns from his mother of a march near the sea and learns a lot more from Bindha, also a resident working in the garden. Bindha neatly lays out the details and discloses Gandhi's idea of walking across Gujarat with his men, to a coastal place called Dandi to make salt.

It is but natural for Dhani to innocently clarify "Why will they make salt? You can buy it in every shop! Walking for a month! Why don't they take a bus or train to Dandi instead?" Questions that children might echo.This is when Binda explains the salt tax and the restraint to make sea salt imposed by the British, and the purpose of the march as a form of non-violent protest.

Impressed by Gandhi's ideas and motivated by the unfairness of the issue, Dhani is eager to participate, eager enough to follow Gandhi during his morning walk the next day to get his permission to join him. The simple yet well-chosen explanation that Gandhi adopts in order to convince Dhani to happily stay home completes the fiction.

The two pages of simple facts on the Dandi March of 1930 that flagged off the Non Cooperation Movement in India probably makes the book appropriate for the 11-14 years age group as the book claims. The book itself was written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the event.

I talk a lot to children in schools and I found that though they like historical fiction, they dislike history!, shares the author who bears a reputation for creating historical fiction. Her resume includes a list of well-known publishers, and same is the case with the illustrator Tapas Guha. The sugar coated presentation of a piece of Indian history that teaches non-violence undoubtedly deserves our appreciation. This book also seems to be a part of a series called "Once upon an India".


I seem to be stumbling upon books on Mahatma Gandhi lately, and I think this post will be a befitting place to add pointers to them for it may help parents around the world to introduce to children the ideas of non-violence and tolerance. And needless to say, a great leader such as Mahatma Gandhi.

A man called Bapu also from Pratham Books
Picture Gandhi - Tulika Publishers

AND My Gandhi Scrapbook - Tulika Publishers, both available here

Put me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire

Written & Illustrated by Robert Lopshire

"AN I CAN READ IT ALL BY MYSELF" Beginner Book

Age group: Baby, Preschool to Early Grade readers

This book is right on spot…Seuss style simply never goes out of fashion

Written with only 100 words, it’s a story about a leopard who wants to work/live in a zoo, but the zoo does not want him. He goes about convincing a little boy and a girl that with all the things he and his spots can do, zoo is where he belongs. Eventually, the children end up convincing the leopard that he will be a perfect fit in a circus considering all the special things he can do. In the end, he is one happy leopard.

So, what’s so great about this book with a story so simple or you may even think, not quite stimulating? Well, here I go with my reasons as to how the book works at different levels in its appeal, and therefore has remained one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books the last couple of years.

• There are not many books out there that you can pick that will interest children of different age groups. In our family, with a toddler and a first-grader, Dr.Seuss’ books have always worked great for read-alouds and read-alone time. My older one loves reading Dr. Seuss to herself, and her little sister.

• For my toddler, this is a wonderful book because it offers me an opportunity to teach her colors. (the spots change colors on every page – one of the neat things that the leopard can do with his spots!)

• The rhymes, unlike other Dr.Seuss books, do not have any made-up, non-sensical words. Therefore, easy to understand and appreciate by the very young children who are just starting to talk.

• With spots flying in the air, climbing trees, cats, it’s hard to miss the magical and the imaginative elements that the book so nicely offers to youngsters.

• As with any Dr. Seuss, drawings flow with the words and capture the expressions on the characters vividly.

• Overall, Put me in the Zoo is a different kind of a book that is sure to make your little ones fall in love with the character, text, pictures, and story.

• I cannot overemphasize the fact that overall, it’s a light-hearted, heart-warming, fun and hilarious book about what all the leopard can do with his spots. Honestly, that’s all you need to focus on. But, if you are someone who is sensitive to the issue of animals living in zoos and circus, and if you yourself hate going or taking your children to the zoo or the circus, then this book is not for you. However, if you look at the positive side, one cannot overlook the fact that the book actually offers a subtle lesson, which is, do not stop trying because you faced rejections in one place (which is the zoo in the leopard’s case). Another opportunity may not be far away. ( as in the circus, which offers a perfect fit for the leopard with his “right on the spot” skillset!) It all depends on how you want to internalize the subtle undercurrents of the book.

Mouse Sees the World!

One does not realise the utility of certain books for a long time. Mouse Sees the World! - an Scholastic Early Science series book is one such book.

When we first bought it an year and half back, we read it with Sooraj and did not feel great about it. It got closed, forgotten and lay waiting for a long time to be picked up again.

But, lately Sooraj has started to slowly enjoy reading. He prefers to pick up a book by himself and hates it if I interrupt him. The important point is that he has to pick up the book himself and whenever he wants to. If I give him suggestions, he shows a long and grumpy face. So, one fine day - he accidently lay his hand on this book and was reading it aloud when I went and sat with him. Surprisingly for this book, he was reading pretty well by himself and started asking me to help him out for a few words that he had trouble reading. I was glad that I was able to help him. After reading this tiny book, both of us felt very happy. I guess the important point here for me as a father was that I should not push(which I am guilty of many times); rather wait for him to approach me.

Leaving the psychology and travails of a father apart, let me get back to this interesting book. A little mouse(with no name) decides that it had enough of its house and wants to explore the wide, wide world. So, it decides to find a pal who can accompany him in his great exploration of the world. He approaches the butterfly and says - 'Come with me to see the world'. The butterfly replies back - 'Not now, I am looking for some food'. So, the mouse moves further from his house and finds a snail and requests the snail to accompany him. The snail is also busy looking for food and refuses gently. So, the story goes - the mouse finds one animal after another and keeps requesting them to accompany her - but, every one is busy looking for food.

In every double page, there is a nice illustration of the mouse and other animal as they exchange their dialogues. The other pages has a simple information on what the other animal will eat and how it would eat. For example, when the mouse talks to lizard; they have a small snippet of how a lizard would eat its food (with their long sticky tongues) and what they eat(insects).

The last animal that the mouse meets is a cat. One could immediately sense that this is dangerous ground because the poor mouse is going to ask the cat to accompany him to see the world. It does and the cat alone answers - 'Not now, I have found some food'. The mouse immediately realises its mistake and runs back at great speed to its secure house. No more seeing the world for the mouse. But, I wonder how long one could a keep curious mouse at home!

It is a nice book with simple illustrations and easy to read words. The mouse looks very cuddly and cute. I was surprised by the colour of the mouse though - pink. But, that is probably what made the mouse look very inquisitive and cuddly. With simple illustrations, the mood of the mouse is depicted very nicely. The cat looks dangerous with its closed eyes, evil smile and nice little goatie. There was one small point though that Sooraj pointed out, which I did not notice. In one of the pages, the mouse meets a black spider (the words say black spider), but the illustration depicted it as a blue spider(much like how Amar Chitra Katha depicts Krishna, Arjuna and other dark coloured mythological characters in blue). He found that page very funny and kept asking why did they colour it blue.

The book cost Rs. 75/- and it is an Scholastic publication Indian edition. I have not seen a link to it online. It is written by Kuntie Ramdat Balkaran and illustrated by Sunandini Basu. Sunandini has a nice blog also. Do check it out.

Cookies: Bite-sized Life Lessons

Cookies: Bite-size Life Lessons

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal,
illustrated by Jane Dyer.

The book attempts to teach/explain certain qualities/emotions that children start feeling at their tender age but don't know what it is and how to handle it and even what exactly it is they are feeling, like Envy, Pride, Greed. And, it also attempts to teach certain desirable qualities like Respect, Contentment, Loyalty, Compassion, Modesty, Open-mindedness, Fairness, Politeness etc. And, the book does all of this with short crisp sentences and illustrations that are all cookie-based!

A few I liked:
Fair means, you get a bite, I get a bite; you get a big bite, I get a big bite.
Unfair means, you get a bite and I get the rest of the cookie.

Open-minded means, I haven't seen cookies like these before, but, uh, sure I'll try one.

Polite means, can you please pass the cookies? Thank you!

Trustworthy means, if you ask me to hold your cookie until you come back, when you come back, I will still be holding your cookie.

The illustrations show a little girl about Ana's age, with similar curly brown hair, which completely captured Ana's attention. The book places the little girl and her friends be it humans or animals, in various situations that bring out the direct meaning of the words, in context. This idea of using situational experience, using cookies, to teach words and emotions seems quite clever yet straightforward.

More importantly, I got a good way of expanding her vocabulary so that nowadays, when she demands, "give me some apple juice, Amma", all I have to say is, "How do you ask politely, Ana?" and she immediately rephrases, "Amma, I'd like some apple juice, please."

Similarly, when she refuses to take a bite of some meal I have made for her, I remind her, "Open-minded means...??" and she says, "OK, I'll try a bite".

Now, I am not claiming she fully understands the nuances and shades of meaning and associated depth of emotion for each of these words, but, it is a start. It helps me expand on it further and explore her feelings when needed. She instantly loved it and is always very interested and attentive when I read it to her.

The simple and clever sentences make it easy to teach her new vocabulary and help describe complicated emotions in ways that even a three-year-old can begin to understand.

The text is in cursive, so, am not sure how easy it would be for beginner readers to read alone.

MATH APPEAL

Author : Greg Tang

Ilustrated by Harry Briggs


Eureka ! This was the feeling of euphoria I had when I finished reading the book with my six year old son!


Here is a simple Math book for children, presented in beautiful verses and very attractive pictures. Noticing my son's penchant for numbers, I wanted to kindle his interest further and was on the lookout for some interesting and fun filled Maths books appropriate for his age. Chancing on some Maths books in our library, I randomly ordered this book without
having any idea about the contents. It has turned out to be the beginning of a great discovery - pointing me to more books by the same author for different age groups, making me crazily block all the books in our library by this author, web searching to read the reviews of all these books ! It is a long time since I fell madly in love with any of Sooraj's books :-).


Coming to Math Appeal, the book is meant for 7 to 10 age group as mentioned by Greg Tang. On each of the pages, there is a riddle on the right side and the colourful pictorial riddle on the left. The children have to find the count of whatever is the key topic in the riddle. It could be the spots on the lady bug, apples on a tree or the star fish in the sea. What Greg Tang tries to show the kids in this book, are the various methods of getting the count, rather than a simple counting by finger. It could be by pairing of similar types or grouping to get a sum of ten and then adding up easily all the tens, or finding some patterns which enable a quick addition. Sometimes it works faster if we add by grouping and then subtracting the odd ones. For each of the riddles, the best way to approach the problem is explained clearly in the last pages. Though my son is younger than the age group mentioned and just getting into two digit addition, he still thought it was fun and wanted to learn how to go about the riddles than simple counting by fingers.


Kids who are quite comfortable with two digit addition, will be able to really appreciate these methods. All these techniques will train the children to rely more on common sense and visual patterns that our eyes perceive, to solve problems eficiently !


A great book for children to enjoy maths and also for the parents who would like to teach their children in creative ways !


I was very impressed with the foreword in which Greg Tang writes --

What's the best way to foster a love for learning ? When we teach children to read, we share colourful picture books filledwith exciting stories. When we teach science, we conduct lively,hands on experiments that inspire curiosity and wonder.But what about math - is it possible to make math just as engaging and appealing to kids ? The answer is Yes ! I believe languageand art are the keys t making math more meaningful to children. Words and images have the power to communicate analyticalreasoning and insight and at the same time connect math to a world of things- nature, science, art and stories - that matter to kids.

Flotsam

Photo courtesy Amazon.

Author/Illustrator: DAVID WIESNER
Recommended Age group: 2 and up. You are limited only by your imagination!
Caldecott Award: 2007

I have been reading children’s books for the past three years. The main things I consider while picking out a book are message and language development. For people like me, books like Flotsam are eye openers. This is a wordless picture book and I REALLY noticed the pictures, the effort the author has put in to the pictures in order to convey the message and was simply astounded. The medium Wiesner uses is watercolor. Every seashell is meticulously drawn. The use of lines and the play of light are so wonderful that one can almost feel its texture. The colors are pleasing to young children making the children focus on the story without overly stimulating them. The placement of pictures also plays a major role in story telling in this wordless storybook.

Wiesner’s message through his books - magical things are happening all around us, anything can happen anywhere, do not limit your imagination/dreams and never loose hope on your dreams becoming true(Digression: Check out Wiesner’s 1992 Caldecott Medal book TUESDAY. It talks about the dream of frogs coming true. Any one, even frogs can dream and you never know it might just come true! Keep dreaming, it keeps you alive!).

Flotsam is a story in which a boy finds an underwater camera in a beach, washed ashore by the waves. The boy is not able to find the owners of the camera and decides to develop the pictures from the film in the camera. When he looks at the developed pictures, a whole new world is thrown wide open to him. From now on it is a fantasy journey not only for the boy but also to the readers. The older readers who know about the functioning of a ‘real world’ stare open eyed at the mechanical fishes swimming along side the real ones, a family of octopus sitting on a couch reading a book, puffed up puffer fish acting like a hot air balloon, gigantic sea turtles with a whole city on their shell and star fishes of colossal size – that make grey whales look tiny, housing an entire island on them. That’s not where the surprise ends, one has to read the book to find out what the final surprise!

It was so surprising how different the adult mind works when compared to a child’s mind. I am trying to make some sense of the pictures, and this is exactly how my brain went:

A key wound mechanical fish?!

What do I say if the children ask me to explain this?

May be I can say that this is a marine experiment and the biologists are observing patterns about this school of fish.

Whaaaat? A family of octopus sitting on a couch and reading books?

Aahhha! I see a moving container capsized behind the octopus and the couch must have fallen out of the container. The octopus just happened to sit on it.

What now? Puffer fish flying??? Okay I give up. There is no way in hell I can explain this….

And guess what questions I had to answer? ‘What is the boy’s name?’, ‘Ammaaaa, hermit crab eyes popping out of his head? That’s so silly[they put their index fingers on their fore heads and start doing a hermit crab routine. They even came with a voice for the hermit crab]’, ‘The boy has two shovels, one blue and one red. Can I have two shovels?’, ‘Can we put fish on our couch?’. They just surrendered to the story line and digested everything! Gosh, why did I even worry about flying fish and floating aliens? The open mindedness, amazes me.

There was a lot of language involved. By the time we finished reading this book, the boy had a name, ‘Geeg’ (please don’t ask me why, I did not name him). When he looks through a ring, his eyes become bigger(Errr.. in the book the boy is looking at a crab through a magnifying glass and Wiesner has painted it from the perspective of some one observing the boy. So you can see normal right eye and part of left eye through the magnifying lens). He is playing on the beach and is not being responsible, always listen to your mommy and daddy Geeg (I thought I was looking at myself and listening to myself)…and so Flotsam from a 2 year old and a 3.5 year old’s perspective goes on…..

Hahaha, I am not revealing the final knot. Go get a copy of Flotsam and discover it yourself. Hey, you, you and you get off the couch and get the book. Next post surprise quiz on Flotsam.

BLOOMWATCH - ISSUE # 3: June 2008

Bloomwatch: Issue # 3

Here's the third edition of our monthly FYI/newsletter, Bloomwatch in an effort to connect parents and caretakers with the world of children’s literature!

Apologies for the delay in publishing this month’s edition of bloomwatch. We have been facing internet connectivity problems – thanks to the powerful thunderstorms that hit the D.C. suburbs last week. In fact, we didn’t have electricity for 30 full hours because of the trees that came down. But when the clouds moved and clear skies came, along came a blanket of heat and humidity. What a dramatic change in weather!

Summer is not even here officially in the U.S., but the temperatures certainly don’t reflect the fact in any way. While in most part of India, summer is almost over. It’s back to school time for children in India while children here in the U.S. are starting to wrap up the school year, and get ready for their summer break.

Summer definitely is a time to make trips and vacations – but I am sure you will agree that there’s no better time to make a trip down the nostalgic lane than summer. Having grown up in a very hot and humid city in India, summer brings lots of childhood memories to me – trips to local beaches, cousins visiting, warm and breezy outdoors, tropical fruits, and not to miss the steady doze of good books from the local libraries!

Living in the U.S. with children of my own, I am starting to look forward to summertime with the same fervor that I used to as a child. This year is even more special because it’s in fact her first official summer holiday break - a perfect time for building lots of special memories for my children!

What better way to build memories than to read an array of wonderful summer-time reads to/with your kids? Vacations are great, but we all know what’s even better… trips to the local libraries in those scorching, hot temperatures will go a long way in opening their minds to the whole world.

Here are the three highlights for the month of June. Sorry about summer monopolizing this month’s theme although it is back-to-school for children living in other countries, particularly India. The resources and links can very well be tied in even during the school year. The key is to encourage your children to read all through the year, and stay connected with the "written/printed word" through books, newspapers, and magazines that you can access locally.

Please allow me to splash right into the June edition of Bloomwatch!

1)Author Birthday: June is the birthday of a special author whose books are indeed very special. Pardon my usage of very…But that’s actually a clue to finding out the author I am referring to. His most popular books include The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Busy Spider. I am sure your children can easily guess his name, particularly if you’ve followed Saffron Tree It’s Eric Carle of course who is celebrating his birthday on June 25th.

Here’s a list of children’s books by Eric Carle. Do hop to your local library to pick a book or two as a token of appreciation for a wonderful author’s contribution to the world of children’s literature. http://www.eric-carle.com/books.html

We have three of his classic books listed here, reviewed by our very own contributors at Saffron Tree.

1)The Very Hungry Caterpillar
2)The Grouchy Ladybug
3)The Mixed-up Chameleon

Another bestselling children’s book author named Robert Munsch, known fondly for his “manic and exaggerated voice in story-telling” (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Munsch) in story-telling with works such as Paperbag Princess, Fifty Below Zero, Stephanie’s Ponytail celebrates his birthday on June 11th. Here’s the review of Stepahie’s Ponytail on Saffron Tree, in case you missed it when it was first posted.

2)Summer Highlights – Reading Resources:

Also in this edition, we would like to give you a sneak peek into summer time reading resources. If you are pondering what books you and your children need to get from libraries for some quality summer time reads, there are indeed lots of guides and recommendations.

One way of doing it is to go by your children’s interests. If it’s no particular genre or topic that your child wants to focus on, you could always choose award winning picture books and Classics in Children’s literature - two that are on top of my list for this summer.

The following are two resources that caught my attention that I would love to recommend to you as well.

1) American Library Association’s ALA)
summer guide has recommendations featuring award winning titles.

2) Another valuable resource that I would like to share with you is the Boston based The Horn Book’s website, which has an excellent list of recommendations in many genres and for different age groups.
Here's one that I love, which is their Children’s Classic list:
http://www.hbook.com/pdf/childrensclassics.pdf

3)Literacy Link:

If you are interested in learning from the literacy experts at Reading Rockets about why it is important to help your children develop healthy reading habits, particularly during summer time, here is a presentation giving you insights on the following

1)why it’s important to read during summer
2)the benefits of summertime reading,
3)what are some of the resources and reading programs to look into
4)What makes a good summer time reading– according to the reading rocket experts, it’s not only about books but even reading other magazines, newspapers can help children appreciate “print, text and words in all forms and fashions.”

If you are interested in listening to the presentation, here’s the full video and slides that you can download and listen to.

Thanks for reading. Hope you and your children have a wonderful summer.
For families with children going back to school this month, hope you have yet another wonderful academic year!

That’s all for this edition of Bloomwatch!

We are taking a break on bloomwatch. When we come back, we will have a new layout, structure for the newsletter and wider array of reading themes and topics for you...moving forward!

Silly Sally

Silly Sally

by Audrey Wood

Ages 0-4

This is a delightful book with catchy rhyming verses about this girl Sally, who happens to be silly, walking backwards upside down trying to get to town.

Silly Sally went to town
Walking backwards, upside down.

On the way she met a pig, a silly pig, who danced a jig.

The pig then follows Silly Sally, dancing backwards upside down, going into town.

Then, she meets a dog, a silly dog of course, who plays leapfrog and so on.

Finally, she meets a sheep and they all fall asleep. So, how can they get to town?

Well, along comes Neddy Buttercup, walking forward, right-side up, who tickles them all and wakes them up.

It seems like a good book for beginner readers with easy vocabulary, predictable rhyming format and simple enough illustrations.

The unexpected aspect for us at home was that Ana started acting out while reciting the book back to me, trying to stand on her hands but managing to walk on all fours "upside down", very much like Silly Sally.

It has sparked her imagination enough where she adds other creatures she meets on the way to town - mainly any of the toy she happens to meet on the carpet and makes up a simple sentence about them. On the way she met a bunny, a boo-boo bunny, who hoppity-hopped...

It is a fun book to read aloud and pore over the illustrations. Each illustration gently hints at the next animal Sally might run into in the next page. The sing-song verses seem simple enough for toddlers to follow along, and catchy enough for preschoolers to comprehend.

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Grumpy Bird
by Jeremy Tankard

I fell in love with the illustration of the bird in this book, and, noting that some days Ana wakes up grumpy, uncharacteristically grumpy, I thought it would be nice to read this to her and see what she thinks.

It is a simple story: Bird wakes up grumpy for no apparent reason. He feels too grumpy to eat, play, even to fly. So, he starts walking. He meets various animals on the way. Their cheerful, "Hello Bird!" aggravates him further and he gets progressively ornery... however, thanks to the procession of his friends comically following him, imitating his walking, stopping, standing on one leg and even jumping and flying, Bird forgets all about being grumpy and invites them over for a snack and has a wonderful time.

Author Jeremy Tankard says he drew the grumpy bird for his daughter one day and then the idea for the book just came together.

The illustrations are simple and catchy. The grumpy expression on Bird’s face at the start of the story is precious. The bright, bold colors, simple backgrounds, cartoonish animal figures highlighting their prominent identifying physical characteristic - like big front teeth in beaver, dark circles around eyes for raccoon and such - not to mention the obviously non-grumpy expression these animals sport, certainly seem charming and catchy and serve to draw the children into the story.

I liked the fact that while Bird tries his best to stay grumpy, just walking along and (reluctantly) interacting with his friends helps him lose his grumpiness and he ends up having a jolly good time.

I have woken up grumpy many days, even now at my ripe middle age, not knowing how to get rid of it instantly, snapping on and off at people and things, till I felt the cheer creeping back into my system over time. This book legitimizes the emotion and says it can be overcome with ease, rather than condemning grumpiness in toto.

And, it appeals to children of all ages.

Interview with Padma Venkatraman

We have the honor of hosting Padma here on Saffron Tree, and we are very proud to mention that Saffron Tree is in fact Padma's first official blog tour stop. Thanks for accepting our invitation. It's such a wonderful milestone for Saffron Tree!

Padma, despite her busy schedule around book signing events, has answered a few questions about her novel Climbing the Stairs, and her writing career in general. Padma will also be available to take questions from readers throughout today and if you happen to stop by on Saffron Tree, please don't forget to leave a comment.

Please join me in welcoming Padma Venkatraman to Saffron Tree!

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Most of your earlier books were for younger readers as opposed to Climbing The Stairs, which is intended for young adults/adults. Could you share with us your thoughts on the differences/similarities in writing for different age groups- in terms of time, research, and other aspects that you had to be aware of while working on Climbing the Stairs?

A simile I use is that writing a picture book is like sprinting for a 100m dash, while writing a novel is like running a marathon. There are some fundamental differences in the mindset one needs for each type of effort, although both require some fundamentally similar writing skills.

CLIMBING THE STAIRS is set during a period of Indian history that I find incredibly intriguing and interesting – a time when the world was engaged in World War II and Gandhi was leading the nonviolent Indian struggle for independence from the British. I first fell in love with this time period when I was writing a short story for younger children, but realized that there was just so much more to this era than I could fit into a short story for the middle-grade age group. Writing a novel, of course, implied many more years of research, many more months of time in libraries, many more books to read, many more websites to look at, many interviews to conduct with people who experienced India in the 1940’s.

A lot of complex issues are raised in the book (for example, the impact of British colonization on India), and while my characters argue and debate many questions, they don’t arrive at any answers or conclusions, partly because I feel many of the questions they ask are too complex to have one simple categorical answer. Some very serious and very different threads are woven into the fabric of my novel which are, I think, better suited to discussion by young adults and adults: World War II, prejudice (racial, societal, and gender-based), Peace and nonviolence, Indian philosophy, Judaism in India, etc.
This – the subject matter and the way I wanted to deal with it, my desire to show the different complicated facets of each question – made it immediately obvious that the target age group had to be older. I guess what I’m trying to say is that a fundamental difference between writing for kids versus adults (young or old) is the subject matter (or theme) and its treatment (or the approach you want to take).
The language and the metaphors you use are, of course, also very different when you write for different age groups. For instance, even the title of the novel – CLIMBING THE STAIRS – is a metaphor that works on several different levels. Vidya must climb the stairs in secret to reach the forbidden realm that awaits her, but there are other ways to interpret the title. A woman whose book club recently chose to read CLIMBING THE STAIRS told me that one of the questions to discuss is what the title means – the many ways to interpret that phrase.

Do you think your writing has changed or evolved over the years since your first book got published?

CLIMBING THE STAIRS was a quantum leap in my writing career. It is very special to me, and without a doubt my best work thus far, head and shoulders above anything else I’ve ever written. The novel is all consuming and it transported me to a different time and place. It took my blood and sweat – none of my other books was as much work or had such a deep emotional hold over me. So yes, I do think my writing has evolved greatly over the years.

Another difference between CLIMBING THE STAIRS and my previous work was the strong relationship I developed with my editor at Penguin. I respect him totally and completely. He is my very best editor, over and above anyone else I’ve ever worked with. In fact, I respect all the people who’ve helped in various ways with the book at Penguin-Putnam: the publisher, the editorial assistants, the publicity and marketing personnel. The high degree of professionalism and dedication shown by everyone at this publishing house is amazing – it is (hands down) the best publication house I’ve had the honor to interact with – every step of the way. And the success the novel has already enjoyed (the starred review in Booklist, the starred review in Publishers Weekly, the Booksense Notable citation, the nomination for Reading Across Rhode Island, the nomination for one of ALA’s 2009 Best Books lists) is certainly a shared success and the result of a group effort by us all.

What were the challenges you faced getting access to the publishing industry here in the U.S. as a person of Asian origin?

One of the greatest challenges was getting the manuscript accepted for publication. I remember the first day that I had a letter from an agent asking to see the manuscript. Elated, I sent it off. A month later, I heard from her. My writing was beautiful, she said. CLIMBING THE STAIRS was a wonderful story. But, she said, she didn’t think Americans would really find it interesting. Then I heard from a second agent. My hopes soared as I sent the manuscript off a second time. But her response was almost exactly the response of the first agent. She loved CLIMBING THE STAIRS, said many wonderful things about it, but felt no editor would be willing to buy it.

Then three agents asked to see it and the first to complete the reading told me, “I read and re-read CLIMBING THE STAIRS and I cried over it each time I read it.” She signed me on, and she sold it. Ironically, my editor said he accepted my manuscript precisely because it was different, because it told him something new. So that was certainly an interesting twist!

However, one of my challenges now in the United States is: How do I get people to see CLIMBING THE STAIRS as a book that happens to be multicultural rather than as “yet another multicultural book”? We’ve had so many wonderful women writers who are of South Asian origin but it’s sad that sometimes we are seen first as South Asian and then as writers, rather than the other way around.

I fear sometimes that CLIMBING THE STAIRS will be stereotyped as yet another book about India, rather than appreciated for the different threads that are woven into it. The multiple facets of my book could provide fuel for passionate discussion in classrooms at schools and universities, and at book clubs such as: Gandhian and Kingian nonviolence, the contributions of colonies to the WWII effort, Judaism in India, Indian philosophers, the inner realities of faith. Some of the fundamental questions in the book are: is war sometimes inevitable, what does violence mean, does nonviolence work, how does colonialism impact cultures, what is common among different types of prejudice. Those are issues and questions that transcend culture and are fundamental to us all. The reason my book speaks to people here is because human beings everywhere are essentially the same.

But if a reader does not move beyond the fact that the book is set in India featuring a strong female protagonist, there is the very real possibility that it will be viewed (or even dismissed) as a book about India and Women’s rights. That would be a great pity. Because although these are both extremely important aspects of the book, it has more to offer. Kitta is a really important character in the book, and his struggles are as fundamental to the plot as Vidya’s.

I’d like to end, though, by saying I’m very encouraged by the fact that the book has been nominated for Reading Across Rhode Island. One of the criteria for this nomination is that a book should speak to men as well as women and should have crossover appeal for adults, teenagers, and senior citizens. It’s very heartening to know that some readers feel convinced this is the case, enough to nominate my title. I’m also thrilled to say that some booksellers have been selling my book on adult as well as young adult sections of their store, which indicates their belief that it appeals to a wide audience.

I’ve already had a number of adults including senior citizens write me emails demanding “Why is CLIMBING THE STAIRS categorized as young adult? It should be for all adults.” My answer is this: books for adults are sometimes inappropriate for young adults, but books for young adults often should be read by everyone, young or old. I wanted the book to be accessible and appropriate for young adults because I feel they have the power to change the world – teens are idealistic – they aren’t jaded the way many grown-ups can be. But it is wonderful to hear from adults who enjoy the book as well, and I’m certainly delighted to know that adults are appreciating it.
Labels and categories shouldn’t keep people from enjoying a book for what it is – a novel is a novel, regardless of the labels applied to it.

What are your hopes for Climbing the Stairs?
I hope readers will see that some of the questions the characters struggle with are still highly relevant, as relevant in America today as they were in India in 1941. What does it mean to be a colonial or occupying power? Is war inevitable during certain circumstances? What is violence and how do we internalize it? My characters don’t provide answers in the book to any of those questions – partly because I feel there is no one correct solution to the issues raised, partly because my scientific training has dinned it into me that a good question is often far more important than any answer. Those issues are of current interest – and the book could serve as a vehicle for readers to discuss these issues with a certain level of objectivity and distance, given the historical perspective.

Any advice for the wannabe-writers - children, young adults and grown-ups like me?

Be patient. Writing well takes time and effort as does everything else. Wait, let it happen, and believe in yourself.

Networking with agents, publishers and bookstores - could you share with us your experiences on this front ?

I don’t think I consciously tried to network with them, ever. However, I would advise aspiring writers for children to join SCBWI – it is a very useful organization. Writers for adults – look around, ask around and visit a reputable organization that specializes in your area of writing – they usually have conferences and publications that may be useful to you. Those looking for agents should definitely do all they can to research the agents background, educate themselves about avoiding scams, and ensure that they are familiar with the AAR (association of author representatives). And please remember that reputable agents and reputable publishers NEVER ask you to pay them any money. In my opinion, agents should make money purely off what they sell, and publishers should pay you (not the other way around).

What can we look forward to from Padma Venkatraman? I presume there's another book of yours coming out next year? Could you tell us a little bit about your next book?

Last summer, my agent sold my second novel to my editor at Penguin. It’s called Island’s End. It’s written in two voices – which is a wonderful challenge – and in writing it I drew upon my experiences as a researcher in a remote location.

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Thank you for taking your time to answer our questions. We, at Saffron Tree, wish you the very best with your book. From the reviews online, it is nice to learn that Climbing the Stairs has already been climbing the charts!

FYI: Climbing the Stairs is now widely available independent bookstores as well as chains such as Barnes and Noble and online at amazon.com.

Please don't miss Padma's upcoming blogtour stops, which include:

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1. Friday, May 23rd. Exploring issues of faith, culture and colonization in CLIMBING THE STAIRS; Gandhi and Martin Luther King at Olugbemisola Perkovich’s blog http://olugbemisola.livejournal.com/ (author of Eight Grade Superzero, coming in 2009).

2. Saturday, May 24th. Travel, living in different Indian cities and different countries, how this has influenced my writing at http://blogpourri.blogspot.com/

3. Sunday, May 25th. Being a writing mom, finding time to write, parenthood and writing at http://desimomzclub.blogspot.com/

4. Monday, May 26th. Where were the British colonies during WWII? A few funky facts I unearthed while doing background research for CLIMBING THE STAIRS at author Laura Purdie Salas’s blog. http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/

5. Tuesday, May 27th. CLIMBING THE STAIRS. The process of writing the novel, weaving together the different threads. http://the5randoms.wordpress.com/

6. Wednesday, May 28th. Oceanography, research and CLIMBING THE STAIRS. Making my schizophrenia work to my advantage. My (at least two) personalities. What it’s like to spend your 21st birthday on a research vessel at author Greg Fishbone’s blog. http://tem2.livejournal.com/

7. Thursday, May 29th. What exactly is that dot on the forehead all about? Arranged marriages, Women in India in the 1940’s, Indian marriages today, gender equality issues in CLIMBING THE STAIRS, anything else you ever wanted to know about India at author Carrie Jones’s blog. http://carriejones.livejournal.com/
Friday, May 30th. The grand finale. Moving to America, Becoming an American, Multicultural writing at author Mitali Perkins’s blog. http://www.mitaliblog.com/

Climbing the Stairs

Author: Padma Venkatraman

Age group: Young Adult(teenage)/Adult novel

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (May 1, 2008)

Not often do you get to read a novel set in historical, pre-independence India with a story so wonderful and riveting. Padma Venkatraman undoubtedly brings a wonderful and fresh voice to the world of young adult and adult English literature with her debut novel, Climbing The Stairs.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and found the story very touching. The book appeals to both young adults and adults alike. For both the groups, the story's backdrop can offer interesting insights into India's political and social fabric during World War II and the independence struggle.

Please allow me to offer a little glimpse of the story's plot and the characters Hopefully, I am not giving away too much so you can go and find out for yourself how wonderful the book is.

Vidya and Kitta cruise their young adult/teenage years with their everyday lives filled with typical family and school related happenings when all of a sudden a bad event in the family forces them out of their homes into their uncle's home. In their new home, the two deal with clashes in values and judgements with members of the extended family. Kitta makes some important decisions for himself in line with his own ideals. And when it's Vidya's turn, the story's key focal point touches upon her personal struggles, and family and social pressures. Eventually, it boils down to how she makes some very important decisions for herself filled with determination, courage and hope.

A fascinating plot, and such interesting characterizations and text that kept me glued to the book cover to cover. With Padma's writing so lucid and well-structured, the book is a real treat and offers a multi-faceted experience. And for the teenage group, there are definitely lots of inspirations to draw from based on an interesting plot, and fascinating characters.

I should also mention that it was truly a pleasure to read the characterizations of both Kitta and Vidya. I would be missing the point if I didn't recoginize the fact they were both equally strong-willed and important characters.

Final Word: There are so many untold stories about WWII that affected people's day-to-day lives in countries such as India that were already dealing with their own political and social struggles. Thanks to Padma we got to hear one such story of young Vidya and Kitta whose struggles and dreams many will find close to their hearts – a historical story so wonderfully told that it in fact is truly timeless in its appeal. Once again, many thanks to Padma Venkatraman for her fabulous new book, Climbing The Stairs.

Lastly, I think the book will be neat pick for teenage book clubs, and for any bookclub reading for that matter. And if you are like me that enjoys reading juvenile/young adult fiction in order to compensate for those wasted teenage/high school years of limited non-academic reading...I have to confess I am shamelessly going for young adult fiction with a vengeance...

I am not done yet - here's a little piece of advice for moms with pre-teens and teens - if you really want your children to read eclectically, and if you are involved in picking what they read, books such as these should be on top of your list! Books are indeed a great way to connect with our children and the world around us, isnt it?

BLOOMWATCH - Issue # 2, May 2008

Bloomwatch: Issue # 2

Here's the second edition of our monthly newsletter, Bloomwatch — giving you the highlights of special days in May in an effort to connect people across cultures to encourage reading a diverse array of books to children!

Let’s delve right in, and see what’s in store for May…

1) Author Birthday:
Four time Caldecott Honor Winner , Leo Leonni was born in Holland on May 5th, 1910. Leo Leonni, a legend in contemporary children’s literature, was perhaps the first to use collage in children’s books. He worked as a graphic designer and advertising designer before writing children's books. Leo Leonni's work paved the way for the use of modern art and design elements in children’s books - a technique later adopted by many who were deeply inspired by his work, including legendaries such as Eric Carle and Ezra Jack Keats – two award-winning authors/illustrators known for their use of collage in illustrations. Here's the list of all his books published by Random House.

Some of his most extraordinary books include, Swimmy (1963), Frederick (
1967) and Little Blue and Little Yellow (1995), An Extraordinary Egg (1998).
He died on Oct 11, 1999. If you are interested in reading Leo Leonni's books, we do have a review of one of his most popular books Little Blue and Little Yellow.

2) Holiday Highlight Cinco De Mayo – (Fifth of May) is an important Mexican holiday that commemorates the victory of Mexican forces over French forces in the Battle Puebla (May 5th, 1862). Throughout the United States and other countries, the day is celebrated to honor Mexican heritage and culture. Here is a useful link to print out activity sheets based on the holiday. Holidays are a wonderful opportunity to present information to little ones about a country and its heritage - for instance,this Cinco De Mayo, parents and caregivers could teach little ones the location of Mexico on the world map/globe, the nation's flag, foods and other interesting information.

3) Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month: May being Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, let's read books focusing on the stories and folktales from different parts of South East and Pacific regions of Asia, and celebrate reading authors of Asian-Pacific heritage. Here’s a quick list on New York Public Library’s website for some recommendations surrounding the theme. For adults, the resource links on the websites of The Smithsonian Institurion has lots of information, if you are interested in the culture, history and the life of people of Asian-Pacific American heritage. For more information, click here.
Of course, on Saffron Tree, we are proud to say that there is no shortage of children's books focusing on Asian American, and particularly Asian-Pacific flavors.

Here are some past reviews by our contributors -
Yellow Umbrella, Minji's Salon, New Clothes for New Year's Day, Zen Shorts , A Place to Grow and Dear Juno.

4) Children’s Book Week: The Children’s Book Council (CBC) of New York is celebrating the week of May 12 – 18, 2008 as children’s book week, which according to CBC is the longest-running national literacy week in the U.S.
As part of the celebrations, CBC is organizing the first-ever, child-selected book awards program, the Children’s Choice Book Awards. To see the list of finalists, and if interested in having your child vote - click on this link from the same website. The list could also be useful to check out some popular, mainstream titles this year among children.

Thank you, and see you on our next edition!

Hasta La Vista!

MINJI'S SALON

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Eun-hee Choung
AGE GRP: 3-5 yrs
SPANISH language edition also available

“An ode to the power of children's imaginations (and their parents' patience), Minji's Salon reminds readers that creativity and play are worldwide phenomena.”
is what the publisher Kane Miller rightly claims.

Yet another book on pretend-playing and dress-up that I got my hands on, but the overdose doesn’t seem to tire my 4 year old girl!

A simple story line. Mother visits the local salon for a vivid red color and a fancy haircut. Daughter creates a make-believe salon at home assuming the role of the stylist. The guinea pig is her dog companion at home. Smell chaos already? Wait until you see what Minji is up to.

Something really neat in the book is the juxtaposition of equivalent scenes, the city salon on one side and Minji’s home base on the other. This presentation makes it easy for the child to get a grasp of the hilarious on goings in parallel. While the rendezvous of the mom with her stylist progresses on the left, Minji’s date with her canine friend evolves on the right. Similar drill, dialogues and drama. An ice-cream concoction for color, crayons for holding the fuzz, generous use of water colors – all to simulate the hairdresser’s paraphernalia and perform the shear act on her own specimen. Can you imagine the predicament of the dog? Visuals just enough to make the little reader giggle or guffaw.

Another observation would be the fact that mom’s proceedings happen in a confined rectangular window while Minji’s play has no defined boundaries (on the pages), clearly portraying how a child’s imagination has no bounds, whatsoever! And this is the central idea of the book.

Mom is back, pretty and perky. Her initial shock softens into surprise and then a sweet tolerance takes over even as she stands there encompassed in total mess. A feeling that mothers all around the world can comfortably relate to.

“ My goodness! Are you the owner of the salon?”
“Yes Madam. Would you like to make an appointment?”

We see no end to Minji’s frolic. However the book comes to an end with a picture of Minji staring at a mannequin through the glass window of a city store, not to forget the bright red oversized stilettos she has gotten herself into!

Eun-hee Choung lives in South Korea, academically qualified in art and illustration. And I can safely conclude that she has done adequate justice to the above fact in Minji’s salon where visuals dominate text.

MY FRIEND JAMAL

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNA MCQUINN
ARTWORK: BEN FREY
AGE GRP: 4-7 YRS.

The book is a boy’s narration of his culturally diverse yet completely uncomplicated friendship with another boy his age. In other words it is a celebration of an unadulterated friendship that oversteps borders, religion and culture.

Our little narrator, Joseph, introduces to us readers, his friend Jamal of Somali origin, however, born in the same hospital as him, the same month! After sharing with us the staples of their friendship built on activities and interests that are typical to boys their age, Joseph lets us into more unexpected specifics. This includes Jamal being a Muslim, Jamal’s dietary restrictions (both cultural and health-related) and an analysis of Jamal’s household - how pasta is served with banana toppings and how his family dines on the floor, more like a picnic! In fact, something that, in my opinion, felt very real and down-to-earth were these lines –

Sometimes I go to Jamal’s house.
It smells different from ours because his mom cooks with special spices.

Isn’t it true that something as simple and different as this can actually be acknowledged and reasoned out by the innocent mind? And books that carry such thoughts, I believe, can provoke and aid open healthy discussions of complex issues of the real world with a growing child.

Marching on, the pages are filled with fun and precious details of their likes and dislikes, commonalities and differences, - about superhero games, basketball teams and automobile preferences, all sure to score a three-pointer with any male child! Joseph then narrates more about the prayer routine he witnesses at Jamal’s, the Koran in Arabic that his friend talks about and the war and fighting in Somalia from which the family fled. What catches the reader’s attention is the non-judgmental and intrigued tone with which the small boy speaks. In fact, everything that revolves around Jamal with whom Joseph shares his life is probably diametrically in contrast to his own settled Christian life and yet he nonchalantly accepts Jamal and his family.

This book can be an ideal pick for discussing cross-cultural friendships with children. The details though raw are real and gentle. The author Anna McQuinn was raised in Ireland and now lives in England adding titles like Lola at the library and Wanda’s washing machine to her credit. The illustrations are a combination of photography and art – bold, colorful and explicit, just as the front cover indicates.

A wonderful work that showcases how children adjust and adapt to strikingly contrasting cultural canvases while holding on to their own individualistic identities, something that nature and puerility seem to take care of.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

One of Arthur C. Clarke's famous laws of prediction is --

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."





One of the great magics for me in my life is the medium of cinema. Cinema has the ability to create life, destroy it, re-imagine it and turn it topsy-turvy in seconds. Sometimes, I feel movies makes one a voyeur -- making us peek in characters, emotions, desires of imaginary, nevertheless real people. Sometimes, I wonder if the people in the cinema can look back at us, voyeurs in great groups, watching their every move.



It is about this great magic called the movie that this wonderful book called - The Invention of Hugo Cabret deals with.



The book is a combination of multi-page illustrations with some pages with written words. It is a massive book, a replacement for a pillow! But, one could easily complete the book in an hour; and keep coming back to it in order dig deep into the illustrations and the words.



The book starts with an introduction by Professor H. Alcofrisbas as he starts describing the story about the kid called Hugo Cabret, living in 1931, whose life changes forever during the course of this story. Hugo Cabret lives inside the railway station and makes sure all the clocks in the railway station are running properly. He is not the official time keeper; but, his uncle is. His uncle had disappeared some time back, but none of the railway official know about it. Although, the railway officer keeps dropping off the monthly cheques for the time keeper's job; Hugo Cabret does not know how to use them. So, they keep accumulating, while Hugo steals food from the various shops in the railway station to keep himself alive.



He has one goal in his life - He has some set of drawings in a treasured notebook and an automaton that does not work. But, he thinks his father had got it to work, just before he died in the fire accident. He gets the automaton and the drawings and starts working on getting the automaton to work. He feels that once he gets it to work, he would be able to read some cryptic message from his father.



One day, he gets caught by a grumpy old man who lives by selling toys near to the railway station. The old man snatches the notebook with drawings from him and keeps it to himself. The old man refuses to give it back. The old man's granddaughter, a girl who reads a lot of books, promises to retrieve it for Hugo Cabret.



The rest of the story is about how the girl and Hugo Cabret retreive the book and try to understand the mystery and the hidden message in the automaton. I would not reveal more than this. But, the rest of the story leads to the story of the Georges Milies, the creator of the first science fiction movie in the history of world cinema - A trip to the moon



It is great combination of fictionalizing based on a real person and a real movie and writing a story around it. It would be a great read and source of entertainment for kids above 10+ (or any one who can start reading English). I enjoyed it a lot. Why don't you try it too?

Children's Book related special Events in April - Launching Bloomwatch Newsletter

April Showers Bring May flowers...
Saffrontree's April flowers Bring a Bloomwatch bouquet for Children's Booklovers!

Tulip blossoms, green grass, daffodil blooms.... When everything grows and grows in Spring, so do the flowers on Saffron Tree!

Spring is a perfect time to plant bright new beginnings in celebration of the season. We, at Saffron Tree, plan to bring to you a newsletter of events called "Bloomwatch" centering around children's books and diversity each month on the first Sunday. Together, let's grow our little bookworms and sprout their tastebuds by reading an eclectic variety of books!

As always any thoughts/suggestions for improvement are always welcome. Here's the first newsletter giving you a list of special days and events for the month of April.

Bloomwatch: Issue # 1

1) Author Highlight/Birthday: Danish poet and children's book author, Hans Christian Andersen (also refered to as H.C. Andersen) was born on April 2nd 1805. He is most well-known for his fairy tales. "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Ugly Duckling" are some of the most popular stories written by him that have been translated into many different languages, and have sold millions of copies all over the world. International Children's Book Day is celebrated on Andersen's Birthday. According to the International Board on Books for Young People, the day is celebrated "To inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books." Let's come together this April to share the stories of H.C. Andersen with our children.


2) Earth Day: Every year many countries around the world celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd to raise awareness about the planet and earth's environment. This is a great time to share with your children do-you-own special arts/crafts using recycled materials, play games and read books on reducing, reusing and recycling. Take the time and the opportunity to talk about our planet, its fragile ecosystems and the natural environment. Plant a tree or sprout a seed! There are also many Earth Day topical books that you can bring to your children's attention - here's one book that was reviewed on Saffron Tree for last year's Earth Day - http://www.saffrontree.org/2007/04/this-book-is-not-trash_21.html. Let's join hands and save our planet for our children's future.

3) National Poetry Month: World Poetry Day was celebrated on the 21st of March this year all over the world. It's National Poetry Month in the U.S every April. Spring Blossoms can definitely inspire reading and writing of poetry. To honor the season and the poetic mood it offers, let's look for resources online and play rhyme-time games with our children to encourage the love of poetry starting at a very early age... A for Acrostics, C for Couplets, H for Haiku, L for Limericks are a few words you can introduce to your children's growing vocabulary. Let's grow their linguistic skills and get them to be budding poets early on. We all have read nursery rhymes of some sort or the other to our children during their early childhood stages. And we know little ones love rhyme/meter. Let's keep their interest in rhymes/poems alive. You may want to look for teacher guides offered by publishing companies and other online language arts resources - Here's one you may want to look into and there are tons like these - http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/k_2theme/poetry.htm

4) Holiday Highlight: Passover The Jewish Holiday of Passover, one of the three pilgrim festivals, is celebrated every Spring. Let's open our children's minds to pilgrim and immigrant stories from other cultures that celebrate freedom.

Thanks, and see you on our next edition of Bloomwatch!

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!