Pete & Pickles by Berkeley Breathed

Pete & Pickles

written and illustrated by Berkeley Breathed

Ages 4-8


Pete & Pickles is a charming tale about Pete the perfectly predictable pig and Pickles the highly imaginative Bohemian elephant.

Pete, a lonesome widower, likes his orderly life - grieving his wife, getting nightmares out of the way on a stormy night, and doing nothing unpredictable to upset his carefully cultivated routine of a humdrum life.

One stormy night, Pickles enters his life (and house) in a desperate attempt to escape the circus. When the circus clown comes looking, Pete rats out Pickles who is frantically (and comically) trying to hide her massive self under the couch. However, to Pete's surprise, as Pickles is being led away she flashes a smile. This puzzles Pete, naturally.

And, when he is disinfecting (oh yes, he is not just cleaning) his room the next day, he notices the dandelions that none other than Pickles could have left behind. Ridiculous, he mutters. Nevertheless, he takes a longer walk that evening and finds himself amidst the circus tents.

Pete looks in to see Pickles sitting in a very dark corner of a very dark tent wearing a very locked chain.

Pete suddenly, inexplicably, finds himself reaching for the key.

TEA was on my schedule today! NOT elephants! whispers Pete as he helps Pickles escape, not quite knowing why.


Thus begins the germination of the tiny little seed of friendship between these two polar personalities.

Pickles takes Pete swan-diving off Niagra Falls. (Sort of). They sled down the Matterhorn in Switzerland. (Sort of). After brunch at Tahiti and Paris, they glide on the lazy canals of Venice. Just as Pete begins to enjoy the wild ride, Pickles apparently goes a bit too far.

IT'S TIME YOU PROBABLY LEFT! yells Pete.

What happens next is an unlikely event that makes Pete realize what his life would be without Pickles and he makes amends in a most touching way.

Berkeley Breathed, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, relates on the back flap that his inspiration for the odd couple came to him some years ago from a crayon sketch his daughter (then five) left behind at a safari-themed restaurant. Intrigued by the sketch, he asked his daughter why the elephant was putting flowers on the pig's head. The pig is sad, she said. Why?    Because he is lonely, Dad. Then she leaned in and whispered But he doesn't know it.

That is quite a profound statement, and sketch, for a five year old... Sophie must be quite a talented kid young lady.

The digital artwork is arresting, even hilarious at times, especially where Pickles is doing a little tai chi one morning.

It is a wonderfully well-written book with superb illustrations and a touching tale. However, I am inclined to think that it is more suited for older kids and adults as the presentation is somewhat mature and complex and can be easily lost on very young kids.

Not much unlike A Visitor for Bear, Pete & Pickles shows us the possibility of enriching our lives if only we are willing to step out of our self-imposed confinement and comfort-zone.

Best Friends, for EARTH DAY

Its EARTH DAY today everyone! As always it calls for a celebration here at Saffron tree! And what better way to do it than through a good book? That is why I have here with me BEST FRIENDS, written by Nina Sabnani; a neat blingual production from Tulika Publishers, India. No contemplation preceded the choice of this book. And it cannot be more befitting for today - the celebration of a little girl's friendship with a tree.

We are introduced to little Tamanna playing in the garden. We see her talking and sharing stories from her school and home to the big tall beautiful Kuchi. The sounds of nature had led her to believe, when she was a baby, that the tree actually spoke. Shhhuunnn! Muuuunnnn! was the language her companion spoke, she thought, and thus a friendship was born. However, her chatty friendship becomes a subject of ridicule and mockery amongst her human friends and that prods her to rethink her relationship. Pragmatism wins and her delusion ends.

Years roll by and we see her reading a book to her daughter. Shhhuunnn! Muuuunnnn! Something beckons her. Running out into the garden she sees a man with an axe. Stop! Don't touch Kuchi! screams the woman, our Tamanna. The closing image is that of a little girl in a swing suspended from one of Kuchi's branches. The friendship is passed on.

I turn the book and read "Based on a real friendship between Nina Sabnani's niece and a tree....". Deeply touched.

The author is also the illustrator. The text is oddly simple and the reasoning for this would be its ability to support multiple Indian languages. But the profound thoughts that the simple text can transmit impresses me. Trees, like water, symbolize our giving earth in its (her) full glory. Irrespective of whether we choose to talk about deforestation or recycling or about simply closing the pipe while brushing, amongst us and to our kids, the importance of our environment, the generosity of nature and the beauty of our home, the earth stands. Happy Earth Day!

Easter by Gail Gibbons

Easter
by Gail Gibbons

Ages : 5-8

It was in about.com that I came across a list of recommended books for Easter, and picked this one with the selfsame title, by Gail Gibbons. I was very curious to see how the subject of Jesus' crucifixion and subsequent resurrection would be dealt with from the pov of a young child, and I am pleased with what we saw and read. Winkie has been asking me all week what Easter is all about and I've been putting off the explanation till the time we could read about it. Last night, it happened. And it was a spellbinding 15 minutes. He remembered Jesus from our story books from Christmas last year, and was very intrigued as to why He had so many enemies. He was fascinated when I told him about some of the miracles He had performed and his downcast face, with a 100 questions written on it, was enough proof of the effect of the pages on the crucifixion. And just when he thought that was it, we turned the page over and were greeted with the happy, joyous account of the resurrection. That really was the epitome of the book for him. Overnight he has become familiar with phrases like Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And suddenly, everyday of this Holy Week becomes more significant to him as he relates it to a point in the story of the last few days of Jesus.

However, the book doesn't just stop with Christ's story. It moves on to tell us how Easter is celebrated around the world, what were its origins (the word Eoster), what is the significance of eggs and the egg hunts which are so popular today and so on. In all, there is a wealth of information, packed into a very reader friendly format, and I stood as much to gain from it, as my son. The world has a maddening pace all its own, and its wonderful to have a week like this to connect to a part of history that is so ancient and mysterious and deep and joyous and sorrowful, and see yourself as part of a whole, even at the level of a child.

Wishing all you readers a very Happy Easter! May hope resurrect in our hearts and light the path to the road ahead!