Wrapping up CROCUS 2009!

As our first annual children's blog-book festival, CROCUS 2009, draws to a close today, it is certainly an appropriate time to indulge in a little reminiscence. From an abstract concept to hosting some kind of a blog-book festival to foster the love of reading - the seeds for which were sown in our collective minds last spring - to diving into the concept for a theme as Around the World in Seven Days, this past summer, and then to hand-pick books to review this fall, indeed, CROCUS was planted and harvested together as a team.

Truly, what fun it was to come together and plan for CROCUS 2009! Literally, like kids flocking a candy store, the team rushed to the bookshelves in their homes; whisked to their local libraries; shopped at brick and mortar as well as online bookstores to bring you the unique selection of books that we reviewed for the festival. We skipped, hopped, jumped, glided, and slid from one continent to another to present you an array of native tales and contemporary stories. We had one in-house crossword contest - CROCUSWORD, 26 exclusive reviews of multicultural children's books, and two author interviews.

Like a box full of chocolates, we presented reviews of an assortment of diverse tales from different continents representing many different cultures of our world. Together with our readers, we eagerly scrolled from one review to another and interviews, to gobble up every chocolate...err...word that was blogged during CROCUS 2009. We devoured the books for the beautiful cultures they represented. Through the stories, we also celebrated the wonderful voices of authors and illustrators for sharing them with us and our children.

Despite the diversity in our world, through these stories, we realize that fundamentally human emotions are the same across cultures. Human instincts/appetite for story-telling and finding narratives for life to help pass on valuable messages to children, remain awe-inspiringly similar across cultures of the world. Appreciating multi-cultural stories helps validate our cultural differences, while highlighting the similarities we share as human beings. In that, it carries the seeds of peace, as we and more so, our children, come to live closer each day with the different communities of our world.

What a delicious treat CROCUS turned out to be to all of us who are passionate consumers of children's literature! Yes, the energy level was so high among the readers and the reviewers that it felt like we were on a sugar rush upon reading one review after another. But, you will agree with me that it never hurts to read too much, unlike candy! (even with Halloween in the air! :-))CROCUS, sure, helped unleash the hidden kid in all of us. (certainly did in me!)

Well, now it's time for our heartfelt thank yous as we wrap up CROCUS 2009! We at Saffron Tree, would like to thank each and everyone for their time. We greatly appreciate the wonderful comments and emails we received from several people showing their support for the festival.

Please feel free to come back and let us know if you happen to stumble upon the books you savored on Saffon Tree. Also, please don't hesitate to give us your ideas on how we could improve when we get ready for CROCUS 2010 with a theme and unique tales from other cultures! Meanwhile, keep visiting Saffron Tree for a good chunk of delightful children's literature. And to end,(here's an attempt to sound like Mem Fox - thanks to her wonderful book, Whoever You Are),

"Whoever you are, Wherever you are, together, let's pass on the love of books, stories and reading, to children everywhere!"

Have a great weekend everybody! Thanks again!!

WINNER OF CROCUSWORD!

Thank you all for your enthusiasm, effort, time, and support for CROCUSWORD! Hope you all enjoyed it...OK..OK..I know, I am getting to it...of course...the winner..right?

Ramya Priya was the first to send Saffron Tree an email with all the correct answers!

OUR HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU, Ramya Priya!!!

We are pleased to inform that Karadi Tales is sponsoring the prize for the winner! The winner will be receiving one copy of a book and CD from Karadi's latest series - Will you Read with me? Many thanks to the Karadi Team!

Here the answers for the crossword -



ACROSS

2. Dress us in a different hat, to get his name right off the bat! (2, 5) DR SEUSS

5. The bug, the caterpillar and the bear, for example, all belong to him (4, 5) ERIC CARLE

7. This always calls for a celebration, here at Saffron Tree – time for a book on recycling may be (5, 3) EARTH DAY

9. You wait with flowers, for something new might happen every time this letter is delivered (10) BLOOMWATCH

10. Are men killed, without ed, brutally, in this big publishing house? No. (4, 6) KANE MILLER

DOWN:

1. A …………… called moonlight. There seems to be many books here about this domestic pal! (6) KITTEN

3. If you can get past the stigma you can spice things up with this (7) SAFFRON

4. I go blind crazily every time I see this award! (8) INDIBLOG

6. The confounded cattle doc managed to get the medal for his book (9) CALDECOTT

8. Books from this Indian publisher, galore here (6) TULIKA

If you have any questions regarding the answers, please feel free to email meeratsriram@gmail.com

Thanks!!!

Around the World in Seven (and More) Letters!

Letters Around the World
by Thando Maclaren

Illustrated by Liz Pope & Kate Pope

Ages : 4-8

Letters Around the World is a charming book by Thando Maclaren, and not just because of its unique narrative style. Through this collection of letters exchanged between pen pals across the world, the reader is transformed into a globe-trotter. The letters are colourful sheets tucked inside envelopes and my four-year old takes great joy in taking them out and 'reading' them, and insists on sitting with the globe and pointing out where each of the children lives. The cute illustrations by Liz and Kate Pope describe what the children talk about in their letters.

Emily, a little girl who lives in London, writes to children in countries around the world. She tells them where she lives, who she lives with, what her favourite things to eat are, who her best friend is and what she likes to play. She also draws her favourite things on the envelope and on the letter.

Meena from India replies and tells her about her village in Uttar Pradesh, about her family and the things she likes and does. From Trinidad, a six-year old called Darren writes back and tells Emily about himself. So does Nadia from Indonesia, Marika who is Maori from New Zealand and Muhammad from Tanzania.

Emily is thrilled to get all these letters and replies to them. She describes her recent visit to her grandparents' place in the countryside and asks about their holidays. In reply Meena tells her about a wedding in her family. She describes the road trip to the neighbouring town, the feast, the wedding clothes and decorations and the bride's jewellery. Darren tells her about his beach holiday, Nadia about their visit to Kebun Raya which is a large botanical garden outside Jakarta. Marika talks about a Maori feast she had recently been to and the rituals around it. Muhammad describes the birth ceremony of a baby in the extended family in a neighbouring village.

This delightful voyage tells the reader that despite differences in children's lives in various cultures, what matters most to them is the same really - love of and for those around them. A more obvious impact on my daughter has been a great interest in the business of writing and sending letters. We have done a trip to our local post office, and her lucky cousins have received letters narrated and illustrated by her!

The Peace Book (Re-visited)

Image credit: Todd Parr's website
Author/Illustrator: Todd Parr
Suggested Age Group: 4-8
Publisher, Year: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint April 1, 2009
Country/Continent: The Whole Wide World!

________________________________

How do you explain peace to a four year old? With pizza, of course.

"Peace is having enough pizza in the world for everyone."

There, with that single line, you've offered a preschooler sized solution to the world hunger problem.

The beauty of Todd Parr's The Peace Book lies in conveying a complex message with such simplicity. He illustrates everyday activities that any young child can relate to such as making new friends, planting a garden, sharing a meal, watching the snow, that give you peace, that define peace. Peace, he says, is also "everyone having a home". Everyone is every one, as the illustration shows, a nest for a bird, a web for a spider, a circus tent for a clown. No one is left out.

If each of us practiced the acts of peace that Parr suggests, like keeping an open heart ("Peace is giving everyone a hug"), an open mind ("Peace is learning a new language"), and being at peace with ourselves, would that not multiply and compound to World Peace?

The success of the book lies in saying so much in so few words. Paired with bright, bold, cartoon like illustrations, it appealed to my 4 year old. That, and it inspired me to think of what peace meant to me now.

Peace is joining hands with a team of fantastic people from around the world to celebrate one common cause - Saffron Tree's third birthday.

What is peace to you?

Whoever You Are

Title: Whoever You Are
Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: Leslie Staub
Publisher, Year: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997

Initially people lived in their own little villages. They married within their groups and had children, who also married within the same group. When you identified yourself as a member of a certain group, it is a given that you do a set of things just like the other members of the group.

Slowly, people started travelling out of their groups for various reasons like education, job, adventure, love, wealth, good fortune etc and found themselves amongst new culture, new traditions and people with completely different values. A plant or an animal would have perished, but man is known for his resilience. He managed to survive. But what were the adjustments he had to make in order to survive? Did he keep his home culture intact? Did he surrender completely to the host culture? Did he end up forming his own third culture, which was neither the home culture nor the host culture?

As an immigrant who is bringing up my children in USA, these questions are important to me. Do I embrace the ‘American culture’? If so, considering that America is a land of immigrants, what exactly is American culture? If I wanted to contribute to the host culture without completely being assimilated am I asking for too much?

Imagining that I am carrot, do I want to be cut in to pieces, sautéed along with a host of other vegetables and spices, blended, passed through a fine sieve and become homogenous soup, in the process of loosing my identity? Or do I want to be diced and be a part of a delicious salad? After much thinking I have decided I like my salad better than soup :)

Because when you keep preaching equality, it gets confusing. People are not made from the same dough using the same cookie cutter. However effectivley one blends in, there are differences and one just cannot turn a blind eye to those differences. Its like saying, if we take away 1 from 3, then it will be the same as 2. Now 3 and 2 are equal.

The best way to make people feel validated is by telling that we are all different in different ways. We eat different food. We wear different clothes. We celebrate different things. We celebrate in diferent ways. We have different beliefs. But underneath all those differences the one single common bond that unites us is our humanity. If you can extend a loving hand, share a hug, feel another person’s pain, fully aware of the mutual differences, then true tolerance is achieved.

This is the message of the book Whoever You Are. Mem Fox takes children on a magic ride through out the world pointing that no two skin colos are the same, no two landscapes are the same, no two lifestyles are the same, but past all these differences, if you look deep inside, we all have a heart, we all laugh and we all are capable of hurting and healing.

You know what I kept thinking of? My second standard lessons that talked about ‘unity in diversity’!

People

Image credit: Amazon
Author/Illustrator: Peter Spier

Suggested Age Group: 4-8, 6-10 Publisher, Year: Doubleday Books for Young Readers Country/Continent: The Whole Wide World!

________________________________

Halfway through reading Peter Spier's People, it occurred to me that if someone were to write a condensed Introduction to Human Beings, this would be it. There are pictures of people spilling out of every page and fascinating facts about people fill up every nook.

For starters, we're told that people come in all sizes, shapes, heights, colors, with different eyes, ears, noses, lips, hair. To prove his point, Spier shows us 56 different facial profiles. Yes, fifty-six; and no two are alike. That is just to show a sample of how many different kinds of noses adorn faces.

Page after page, we see glimpses of different cultural elements from around the world - traditional clothes from Nigeria, Java, Peru; games played everywhere - Bocce in Italy, Parchisi in India, Fish fighting in Thailand; different kind of dwellings people build for themselves, pets they keep, festivals they celebrate, food they consider delicacies, religions they practise. An entire spread is dedicated to languages they speak - we see Ethiopic, Syriac, Mongolian, Devanagari and Dravidian scripts.

It is easy to get overwhelmed by a book packed cover to cover with such wealth of information. People is not meant to be finished in one sitting, it is like an encyclopedia, something to visit in little doses, something that is sure to create an awareness in a young mind about the many cultures across the world, and spark an interest in at least one new cultural element.

The illustrations themselves will take your breath away. For a sample, look at the front cover, every human in the crowd is depicted with significant detail to make him/her stand unique from his/her neighbor. If you're wondering about how so much can be conveyed in just 48 pages, the answer lies in the clever layout. Imagine looking at a photo album filled with wallet sized pictures except, every picture here is a hand-drawn watercolor sketch, followed by a caption that tells us just enough to pique our curiosity.

The heart of the book lies in these words - "It is very strange: Some people even hate others because they are unlike themselves....They forget that they too would seem different if they could only see themselves through other people's eyes."

How nice it would be if each of us could see our reflections in others' minds, the way other people see us! To filter that down to my preschooler level, we did a role play with me playing a vegetarian, and him pretending to be my meat loving friend. Both of us had to decide what to order at a restaurant. After some miniature scale conflict resolution and many laughs, we decided to accept that we both were different, but we could still be friends; that salad could co-exist with chicken.

While the theme of People is timeless, the statistics and many cultural references, date back to 1988, the time of publication. A reprint with updated information would be an excellent addition to the home library. I did think that parts of the book - which touched upon mortality and hierarchy - would be more appropriate for the grade school and older kids.

What I loved best were the numerous references to native cultures around the world. I was pleased to find pictures of the Moga Feast in New Guinea, a Bedouin tent in the Middle East, traditional costume of Kurdistan - things I've never seen in any other children's books.

People is a great presentation and celebration of the diverse, rich, colorful world we've created for ourselves.

Augustine

Image credit: Amazon
Author/Illustrator: Melanie Watt
Suggested Age Group: 4-8
Publisher, Year: Kids Can Press; Reprint edition (August 1, 2008)
Country/Continent: Antarctica/Arctic
________________________________

See that adorable penguin on the front cover? That is Augustine. She lives in the South Pole, but her father just got a new job at the North Pole, and now the family has to move cross-planet.

So with Picaso (her toy penguin) for company and mom for help, she starts to pack her things in and labels them with purple stars. But, as her mom says, that's only the "tip of the iceberg." The packing really is only the tip of the iceberg in a move, isn't it? It is what comes after. First come the tearful goodbyes to her loved ones - cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, friends, teachers. Then the journey. Augustine boards Penguin Air and heads for the Arctic. A long plane ride later, the family arrives at what will be their new home.

Everything is new here. They are aliens in a foreign land. They are one of the few of their kind. There are Arctic hares, seals, polar bears, puffins, but penguins? Not so many. There are more differences than commonalities with the natives ("My accent is so different"). The only thing common - the snow - reminds her so much of home, and home is Antarctica.

Does any of this sound familiar? It did, to the immigrant in me. Right from the separation from everything that was near and dear and familiar, to landing in a country far, far away and feeling like an alien - yes, it felt very familiar. It appealed to my son too, who still remembers every detail of our big cross country move from a year ago. He now knows what it feels like to move to a place where you know no one and have to make friends from scratch. That one factor hooked us both to the book.

For Augustine, the worst is yet to come. She has to start school and she doesn't know anyone. We feel her anguish and completely understand when she wants to hide in her closet on the first day of school. But thanks to her parents, she makes it to school and greets her classmates who don't really make any effort to talk to her. At recess, she feels left out while the others play ball, and we feel like reaching out and giving her a hug. We wonder how she's going to cope.

Oh, but she does, and she does it with finesse. Her skill draws her classmates to her and she wins them over in a short span of time. By the end of the book, we see a cheerful penguin in the arms of two special people who make a surprise appearance.

What works best is the first person voice. We hear the story in Augustine's words and it connects us directly with her character, almost as if we're reading her personal blog! Despite the heaviness of the topic, the author keeps the tone light and never misses chance to sneak in a pun or two. Eg: Penguin Air's slogan is "Now penguins can fly too!", and they have fish sandwich for lunch and goldfish crackers for snack. My son loved these little penguin-y details thrown in; not all of it is said in the text, most of it is hidden in the illustrations.

Which brings us to the illustrations. They are simple color sketches that convey so much emotion and character. Look for Augustine's own drawings on every spread, the ones which she signs with an "A." She is named after the Pierre Auguste Renoir, so it is no coincidence that her art is mature for her age and sometimes reference famous paintings. Her portrayal of her new teacher will look familiar to anyone who's seen the Mona Lisa. You might find her self portrait drawn the night before school, eerily similar to Edvard Munch's Scream.

To those of us living between the poles, Antarctica may seem as desolate as the Arctic. But as Melanie Watt shows us, to a penguin, the difference is a whole world. All it takes is a little bit of skill, and one can adapt to the cold, foreign land to make it a warm, comfortable home.

Capping it off with one of the poles... Antarctica!

Rainbow Bird

Image source: Amazon
Author: Eric Maddern
Illustrator: Adrienne Kennaway
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Childrens Books
Continent: Australia

__________________________

What do crocodile tears, starting a fire with sticks and the rainbow have in common? Nothing. Unless you read this aboriginal tale from Northern Australia, and see how neatly they are all intertwined.

The story is set in the Time of Dreams, and is about mean Crocodile Man who had something that no one else did. He had Fire. The other animals in the forest spent their nights in the cold darkness, people ate food that was raw and uncooked, all because they had no Fire, and Crocodile Man would not share it.

The kangaroos and other animals and birds, including our heroine, Bird Woman, plead with him to share, but he only growls back at them, taunting them by playing with Fire, breathing it from his mouth like a dragon, balancing it on his back, holding it in his foot, everything except sharing. Bird Woman watches him quietly from a tree top. She knows this is not a battle she can win with muscle. She bides her time, sitting on a branch, watching, waiting, observing for several days.

At last she gets her chance. One slow moment for Crocodile Man is the victory moment for Bird Woman and she swoops in, snatching the fire stick and flying back up as Crocodile can do nothing but watch in helpless shock. The noble bird that she is, Bird Woman does not not keep Fire for herself. She believes everyone should partake from the warmth and she flies around the forest, spreading it everywhere, putting in the heart of every tree.

Why does she do that? So that even after the tree dies and the wood dries, the spark is still left. That is why when two pieces of dry wood are rubbed together, the spark is ignited and Fire comes alive again.

Bird Woman does not stop there. She carries the fire stick in her tail, and flies around the sky. Her tail and wings change into the brilliant hues of a rainbow. She flies back to Crocodile Man, who now stripped of all his power is nothing more than a croc, and warns him to stay put on the ground. The crocodile is obviously not too pleased, but what could he do? That is why you see him only in the swamps, lamenting his fate, opening and closing his jaw, shedding tears, hoping Fire will come back to him.

Bird Woman on the other hand flies free across the skies, and a lucky person might catch her lighting up the clear sky with shades of rainbow.

The illustrations are rich water color. The orange desert, the yellow flame, the rich green foliage, and of course, the gorgeous hues on the rainbow bird bring this ancient story to life.

I loved the metaphorical imagery throughout the book. On one hand there are the mythological explanations. On the other, I thought of Fire as the spark of life in all of us. Sometimes we have the misfortune of running into a bully like Crocodile Man who deprives us of the fire, leaving us cold and dark. All it takes is a savior or our own free soaring spirit to restore it back right where it belongs. If you asked my four year old though, he'd tell you he loved the power of Crocodile Man, especially since he could play cool tricks with fire. But even he agreed that being mean was unacceptable and sharing was important.

Rainbow Bird is a neat bedtime story, a good way and time to introduce aboriginal mythology to a young kid, right before our own trip to the Time of Dreams.

My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch

Ages : 4-8
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

“My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch” by Graeme Base is my second pick for CROCUS 2009, featuring yet another "hi-energy" grandma and this time, not one but a plethora of exotic Australian animals and birds.

The story revolves around the wild and crazy adventures of Grandma who lives in a little Australian town with the native Australian animals and birds. Everyone knows Grandma's crazy lifestyle - carefree and full of fun.

The crux of the story centers around Grandma going on a seaside holiday with her pet wombat on her back, flying on a pelican over mountains and desert lands. The three, on their way, spend the night in an oasis, filled with strange creatures and of course, that makes wombat very nervous. Next morning, they manage to reach the seaside. Excitedly, Grandma changes into her bathing gear while wombat is fast asleep still and pelican has gone fishing.

What happens next? Grandma abruptly disappears on a blow-up horse because she gets carried by a tide. The narrator ends positively by saying, grandma must have drifted to an island and from there, she must have found her way to England or Spain or may be, even back in Gooligulch. And with that note, the story ends.

We adore children's books with rhyming text. And in My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, you get a good doze of lilt too. The made-up town Gooligulch itself sounds funny, isn't it? The illustrations are intricate and full of life. The fact that the author is also the illustrator never fails to amaze me when it comes to picture books. Something to said about the way the book talks to you when the illustrations are done by the author himself/herself.

Not to miss, there's a good share of fantasy, made-up, improbable elements – grandma rides kangaroos, talks to coot, listens to wombats playing the lute. And as if that's not enough, Grandma also hosts crazy parties with emus and lizards and kookaburras as guests and goanna playing a game of two-up with rat and a dingo.

A word of caution - some elements of storytelling may be slightly overboard for some of us. For instance, there is one part in which "emus drink eucalyptus wine and spread gossip in less than sober state" that I didn't particularly care for. :-)

Although, on a positive note, I would like to end by saying that the book is full of fun and frolic. So many names of Australian wildlife one can learn about, some of which my kids were hearing for the first time - Australian birds such as galahs, rosellas, coots, magpies. So, next time you see a pelican or a kangaroo in your local zoo, think of Grandma's wild adventures and go wild with your imagination and may be, even take a make-believe trip to Australia with your children on your pretend kangaroo or pelican! :-)

Teddy's Night Lost in the Bush

Teddy's Night Lost In The Bush
Written and illustrated by Bruce Peardon

All Ages

When our book-crazy neighbour gifted this book to my children, what struck me first was the beautiful illustrations. Author-illustrator Bruce Peardon's heart-warming tale is one that any child will relate to, and the rhyming lyrics make it a joy to read and listen to. The book is dedicated it to his son Ben so that he and the future generations "will have the opportunity to enjoy the unique flora and fauna of Australia".

The story centers around a teddy bear which is dropped accidentally when the little boy it belongs to falls asleep in his horse-cart on the way back home. His parents drive on to their farm and put the sleeping child into his bed, unaware that the precious Ted has fallen in the middle of the bush.

Ted lies alone all through the moon-lit night. When morning comes, Wombat waddles over and is puzzled about who the strange creature is. He asks Ted but gets no reply. He turns to Jack Possum who is equally clueless. They check with Mope Owl and when the owl also cannot shed any light, they decide to summon all the creatures of the bush to solve the puzzle. Soon there is a meeting and Billy Magpie, Major (the parrot), Emu, Tim the Koala, Alf Echidna, Numbat and Katie the Kangaroo all arrive. There is a brief 'exchange of words' between the echidna and the parrot but differences are eventually laid to rest and the parrot declares that he does know where the strange creature belongs. He tells them that he has seen it with his playmate at a nearby farm. Katie Kangaroo volunteers to tuck him in her pouch and the procession of animals heads to the farm.

They gently put Ted at the doorstep, and at that very moment the little boy wakes up and wails for Ted. His parents rush out looking for it and find Ted, not realizing how he turned up there. The animals all watch through the window and feel good about a job well done. The story ends with the echidna apologizing to the a parrot and the wise owl saying -

There's a lesson we all can learn,"

Said Mope, 'Which I will relate...

And that is, through thick and thin,

We must all co-operate..

..When it comes to helping someone,

Nothing should be a bother,

For that's the way we can survive,

By caring for one another."

At the end of the book, I came to the page that talks about the author. I was very surprised to find that Peardon had created the illustrations by painting with his mouth and feet. At the age of seventeen, he was severely injured in a car accident and as a result had quadriplegia and could not use his arms and legs. He was a member of the Association of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists. His work has won wide acclaim within and outside Australia and many of his paintings are held in private collections.

His love for the creatures of the bush shines through and my guess is that through this book, lots of children (and their envious parents!) will certainly enjoy the beauty of the Australian bush.

Possum Magic - An Australian Classic!

Possum Magic
Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: Julie Vivas
Continent: Australia
Ages : 3-6

As far as Australian picture books go, no doubt, Possum Magic, is the most popular one from the island continent. Mem Fox is a renowned Australian author and through her books, she tells a story like no other.

Without further ado, let me get started with my review.

Once upon a time, but not very long ago,
deep in the Australian bush lived two possums.
Their names were Hush and Grandma Poss.

Indeed, a delightful start that sure enough got my kids glued to the couch for a read-aloud session. I personally loved the use of “but not very long ago” – I could hear the magic of Mem Fox’s story-telling, popping out of the book, right away. And best of all, she knows how to get the attention of children.

Ok, let’s move on. Wonder what the magic is all about? It so happens that Grandma Poss knows how to do bush magic! She makes wombats turn blue and Kookaburras pink. She even makes emus shrink! Well, the humor and fun have just begun.

Of all her magic, the best one is making Hush, grand-little possum….. invisible! It gets even better - you see invisible “Hush” ( my children loved the way the illustrator portrayed “invisible” Hush……….with dotted lines!) sliding down from kangaroos and getting squashed by Koalas. And then, you find out why Grandma makes Hush invisible. She wants her grand-little-possum to be safe from snakes. Of course!

What happens next? Hush, tired of being invisible, asks Grandma Poss if she can make her visible again. But, Grandma Poss doesn’t know how to undo the magic. She reads all her magic books. But the magic to make someone visible is not to be found anywhere. What will she do?

Grandma Poss figures it has to do something with food – people food! They decide to leave the bush. Grandma Poss on her bicycle (even has a rattan basket attached to the handlebar - love those!) and with Hush on her back, are off to Adelaide to eat Anzac biscuits, Melbourne to eat Minties. Nothing seems to help Possum. She is still invisible. Off they go from one city to another in Australian exploring one local food after another!

Does Hush become visible again? What do they eat next? Where do they go? Discover the regional foods from down under that help Hush become visible again. In the very end, there is a page that carries a map of Australia, the different cities where Grandma and Hush travel, and a glossary of all the foods of Australia they discover through their magical journey.

Possum Magic is an entertaining, informative and one delicious picture book giving us little bit of everything - magic, Australian animals, cities in Austrlia and their local foods. Offer it to preschoolers and you will see them rollickingly take in Possum Magic for its enchanting appeal and happy-ending. Many thanks to Mem Fox and Julie Vivas for Possum Magic!

Please click on the following, if you are interested in reading more on Mem Fox and Possum Magic!
http://www.memfox.com/possum-magic.html
http://www.memfox.com/mem-reads-aloud

Slide down to Down Under, Australia!

The Rooster and The Sun

The Rooster and the Sun
Story and illustrations by Meren Imchen
Age Group: 3 to 6
Region: India, Asia
Publisher: Tulika

The North East is one of the most beautiful, most engaging, most fascinating parts of our wonderful country. Shrouded in mystery, you won't get to know the North East unless you make an effort. One that I made after I headed out of my small town, headed to Delhi and met a variety of people from the North Eastern States. Positive that I didn't want my children to grow up as ignorant of the North East as myself, I hunted around for children's books and was shocked to find little until I chanced upon this folk tale from Nagaland.

I love how our folktales treat objects of reverence so lightly and in this particular tale, a farmer, sweating it out under the hot sun angrily tells the sun to go away so that he can work in more pleasant conditions. The hurt and angry sun goes away and the farmer goes to bed. Of course he oversleeps because the sun doesn't rise the next day.

The story goes on to talk about how the farmer realises the error of his ways and sends emissaries to lure the sun back. They all fail and finally he sends his good for nothing rooster. How the rooster lures the sun back and why the cock crows at dawn is what the tale is about.

Simply told and written in Hindi as well as English, its a good way to teach children to read in both languages. It is also available in combinations of English with Tamil, Kannada, Bangla and Telugu.

The illustrations are based on the author's animation film and simple yet brilliant. Attention to detail in the illustrations is something that fascinates me and is particularly important to me in a children's book because children are greater observers. A little snake peaking out of the corner, a fox behind the tree and the children are poring over the pages, grubby fingers tracing the patterns, soaking it all up.

It's a pity we live in the city because its the kind of tale that is so easy to believe and the Bean often wakes up in the morning, looks out at the sun and then looks at me quizzically and says, "But where's the rooster?!"

The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story
originally in Kannada by Ashwini Bhatt
Illustrations by Chinmayie

Ages : 3-6

Who doesn't want a never ending story? Just the thought of it would delight any child.. A girl asks her grandma for a never ending story and grandma gives her not one but two of them that are never ending!

The first is a folk-tale like ditty about an old man who comes from Madikeri to Bengaluru. Then comes the old man's wife from Madikeri to Bengaluru... Then their daughter, and the daughter's doll, and the doll's dog, and the dog's tail .. and you can imagine in this vein the story would never end.

But the girl isn't satisfied, perhaps she can see through her Grandma's ploy? She gets agitated and asks her grandma "When will this story end?"And that's when Grandma comes up with the second story that is nicely interwoven into the first. She says that the story will end when the needle comes out of the well.

Needle come out of the well? How did it land up there? Well it so happens that there was an old woman who had a torn saree and asked her son for a needle to sew it. And then the needle fell into the well.

And then what happened? - you may ask.

Well - if you ask Grandma that, she would say - "If you ask me what happened, will the needle come out of the well?"

To which you might respond with a "No". And then grandma would say "If you say No, will the needle come out of the well?".

Did you just say Aaargh? To which grandma would respond, 'If you say Aaargh, will the needle come out of the well?"

You see where this is going?

When my daughter read this story, she was laughing hard at this point, to which I obviously said "If you laugh, will the needle come out of the well?". She tried various things, like shaking her head, to just looking at me with a meaningful expression, to writing to me, but all I said was - "If you do that, will the needle come out of the well?"

For days after reading this story, we ONLY spoke about the needle coming out of the well, because in case you remember, only if the needle comes out of the well, can this story end. Else it is a never ending story!

A lovely book (by Ashwini Bhatt), very to-the-point illustrations by Chinmayie, and written in several languages Hindi/Kannada/Telugu/Tamil/Bangla.

My only gripe? This book is best enjoyed in Kannada, the meter of the ditty (Madikeri to Bengaluru) is a bit unwieldy in English.

Under the Cherry Blossom Tree

Book: Under the Cherry Blossom Tree

Author and Illustrations: Allen Say

Age Group: Ages 4-8

Country: Japan

World over, stories about miserly folks are common and a great fun. Under the Cherry Blossom Tree is a old classic tale from Japan about one such miserly landlord.

Long ago, there lived an old miserly landlord in a tiny village in Japan. He was probably the richest man in the village as well as the most irksome person in the village. All the cherry trees blossom around the same time during the spring and the whole village has a great time singing and dancing under the cherry trees.

During one such flowery spring season, the old man sitting alone in one corner of the meadow, accidently gobbles up a cherry pit or seed. The seed makes its way to his head and the next day morning a small cherry tree starts growing on his head. He is too miserly and embarrassed to go and get it cut off from the doctor; as the story goes along the small cherry tree grows into a giant cherry tree.

If you find this initial bit of the story hilarious, watch out for what follows in the book. It will have you rollicking with laughter. Sooraj and Shraddha love this book. The first time I read this book to them, they laughed and laughed. It is silly and lots of fun.

As per the book, this story is supposedly a very popular and classic makura(means pillow) - intended to set the stage for a more longer story in Japanese joke houses. The Japanese joke houses are called Yose and it is an very old form of entertainment, originating in Japan during 7th century.

Allen Say chooses black and white ink drawing to illustrate this wonderful book. His other books always has a touch of nostalgia and tiny bit of melancholy; but, in this book he departs from his trademark story telling and has every one in splits with this retold mischievous tale. If you are looking for a fun time with your kid and would like to watch their faces glow with twinkle and mirth, this is the book for you.

If you are interested in old and interesting folk tales based from Japan, please check out this interesting link.

Mister Jeejeebhoy and the Birds

Author and illustrator - Anitha Balachandran
Age group - 3- 6 years
Young Zubaan Books

My usual grouse with Indian literature for children is that the illustrations suck. If you have the same grouse, you're going to have to eat your words when you pick up Anitha Balachandran's Mister Jeejeebhoy and the Birds.

The book opens with Diya and Tara coming to live with their Ninamasi. The first spread shows Ninamasi planted in her doorway, hands on her hips, with the house framed behind her, right down to a house number. The illustrations are brilliant and the attention to detail is amazing. Unfortunately none of the children in the neighbourhood want to play with the girls and it's not hard to see why. Ninamasi's house is strange. The mirrors have mood swings, the photographs speak and the clocks go backwards.

The saving grace is Mister Jeejeebhoy's sweetshop where the gulab jamuns are golden and syrupy, the burfis silvery and sweet... the rasmalais cool and milky and cover with flakes of pistachio...' Are you drooling yet?

The book is really a delight to the senses in more ways than one. You've barely taken in the illustration than the words leap out at you -'the pictures were bustling, hustling, crinkling, crackling, creaking...'

And then of course the magic that lets your imagination run away with you. The girls fight with each other and something strange happens. Tara's hair 'was turning into twisty branches and sprouting leaves! Not the ordinary kind - these were silky, glowing leaves in peppermint blue, buttery yellow, mango orange...' And Diya learns she can fly.

One day something terrible happens. Mister Jeejeebhoy of the sweet shop fame collects birds as a hobby and somehow they all escape. And oh the horror *gasp* he shuts down his wonderful shop until he can find them. Does he find them? Do Diya and Tara make friends with the others? Do their magical powers reveal themselves to the others? I'll leave you to find out.

A hardcover book, the lovely glossy pages make it easy for my 2.5 year old to handle it. The crunchy, crinkly words make it a pleasure to read aloud. Few books are really written to be real aloud - and this is one of them. The children love to pore over the pages and point out little details to me. And what is really endearing is that the text is scattered across the pages so that your eyes go darting around in an attempt to pick up on every bit of it. Almost comic book like in its treatment, but not quite.

Do I recommend it? Hugely. As an adult I felt the magic element could have been played up more and the girls could have done so much more. I also felt the title was misleading. While Mister Jeejeebhoy and his Birds were catalysts, the story was really not about them. But that is just me nitpicking.

On the plus side I think its beautiful to teach kids an early lesson in accepting those different from themselves. And in accepting them for the very qualities that make them different.

Dancing on Walls

Dancing on Walls
by Shamina Padamsee
Art by Uma Krishnaswamy

Ages : 4-8

When you find a children's book that combines Indian culture, ancient tribal art and the imagination of a child, what do you do with it? Grab it with both hands, read it and re-read it and review it of course!

Dancing on the Walls is set in the foothills of the Sahyadri Hills (Western Ghats). Here lives a Warli girl called Shirvi who wants to surprise her parents to a clean home when they come back from the market. As she despairs finishing on time, she looks out the window and who should she see but the Moon People! Yes, the moon people! Who come down to Earth occasionally on vacation, to smell the flowers and climb the trees.

Is it any surprise then, that she befriends them, and they come to her home? How these moon people help Shirvi, and how the popular Warli art form originated from them, form the rest of the story. Needless to say this is a fabulously illustrated book. How could it not be, when it shows us the classic red and white Warli paintings?

And the language is so simple that even though the blurb at the Tulika Website says ages 4 and above, my mostly vernacular 3 year old daughter (then), enjoyed it tremendously. The concept of people on the moon meeting a little girl on Earth pleased her to no end. Bonus for a parent, who's always looking for a lesson to teach, is the introduction to a piece of Indian Culture, to the Warli people and their art form.

What I would have additionally liked this book to have is a footnote for parents about Warli people, and their customs, something that would have been interesting for us to read as well as impart to the curious child.

Dancing on the walls is published by Tulika. It is written by Shamin Padamsee and illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy. It is available in English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati and Bangla.

Magic Vessels

Magic Vessels - a folktale from Tamilnadu
Author - Dr.Vayu Naidu

Art by Mugdha Shah

Magic Vessels is a beautiful folktale from Tamilnadu, written by Dr. Vayu Naidu. What attracts you to the book first is the colourful cover picture embellished with the intricate Kolam patterns at the bottom of the page. As you start flipping the pages, you realise it is truly a cultural journey into the heartland of the South Indian villages.

The story is about a poor playwright Muthu who lives with his wife Chellam and eleven kids in the forest, right under a big banyan tree. Chellam, worried about the future of the kids, goads Muthu to seek better fortunes in the yonder. Muthu sets off into the forest, armed with a small pot of old cooked rice. Enjoying the scenic beauty of the forest he troops on and then suddenly finds himself lost. His tiredness coupled with the soothing breeze lulls him to sleep.

It is then that the tree spirits discover that his rice is so delicious and finish it off completely. Waking up hungry, Muthu is dismayed to find the pot empty. He then notices something else near his feet - a brass vessel. With this in his hand, Muthu wishes aloud to have something to eat. Lo - behold ! A full course South Indian meal is served to him on a plantain leaf by the kind tree spirits. He is told by the spirits that it is a magic vessel (an akshayapatram) which he can take with him. Muthu is so delighted and makes the same wish for his family when he sees them. The whole family is treated to a sumptuous meal by the friendly spirits. To share their good fortune, Muthu and Chellam invite all the people who had fed them during their bad times. The village people are so amazed and delighted by the wonderful feast thrown by the couple.

As the news spreads in the village, the richest man of the village feels envious of Muthu's good fortunes. He tries to adopt the same strategy to win over the tree spirits and acquire a magic vessel of his own. Does he manage to trick the spirits and be successful in his endeavour ?

I will leave it to you to pick this book and find out for yourself the hilarious ending !!

The illustrations in this book are just awesome and complement the story so well. They have been done by Mugdha Shah. A lot of attention has been paid to the minute details, such that, the art brings out the very essence of the culture of the state. The pictures of the kolam patterns, the terracotta horse figures, the lavish lunch spread on the plantain leaf, the uruli, a lamp in front of the deity etc give scope for elaborating the customs and traditions of the people of Tamilnadu. This is a wonderful book for the kids who would love to know about the traditional practices of a South Indian household, some of which are still followed in many houses.

This book is one of the "Under the Banyan" series of Tulika books, where they have specifically used the art form of the region to do the illustrations. The characters depicted in this book's illustrations are adapted from the Ayyanar figures, the guardian deities of the villages.

Colour Them - Tamil Nadu traditional art

At the entrance of many small villages all across Tamil Nadu, one can come across massive clay figures (terracotta figures) called Ayyanars. They are considered as guardian deities of the village. One such terracotta figure is shown below. Reference for this image is from this photograph. Thank you Shakti7.

Similar to giant pumpkin based scary themes for Halloween in west, Tamil Nadu uses pumpkin based scary figures/demons to ward off evil from houses. They are sometimes called dhristi bommai. Here are a few of them for the kids to colour and keep in front of their rooms :). The first one is similar to how it appears in the book The Magic Vessels.

If you want the large version of these pictures - they can be found here, here and here.

Kamishibai Man

Kamishibai Man
Author & Illustrator: Allen Say
Age Group: 4-8 years
Japan

In the age of television, movies and instant entertainment many traditional modes of entertainment are going towards sunset. In India, traditional art of story telling like Villu Pattu, Burra Katha and others are out of reach to most of the kids in urban areas and slowly in rural areas too. The only time I have seen Villu Pattu was on Doordarshan.

Kamishibai , a similar such old form of story-telling based in Japan, has slowly gone the way of Villu Pattu and other traditional folk arts of India.

In this story, Kamishibai Man is old now and thinks nostalgically about his good old days of regular rounds of story-telling to the kids. He decides to give it another shot for old time sakes. His wife packs sweets and he rides again on his bicycle after a long forced retirement to tell the story of Kamishibai. He feels totally out of place in the big, bad city; finally finds an old spot and starts his story. When he wakes up from his nostalgic reverie of story telling, he is surprised by a great response from the onlookers. Ironically, he even gets featured in the prime time television - the same entertainment media which had pushed him out of his job.

Allen Say, the wonderful author and illustrator of such great children's books like Bicycle Man creates another great piece of nostalgia. Similar to the Bicycle Man, he again takes us on a great ride of his childhood days when the Kamishibai mode of story telling was common. While entertaining us with a wonderful story; he also gives us a small lesson in the times and history of Japan in a very subtle manner.

A mark of a great story teller is the ability to mix all emotions and take us all along with him. In this wonderful book, Allen Say, uses his words and even more powerful illustrations to take us on a wonderful journey of Japan around the time of World Wars. His subtle changes in the colors as he switches from the present to the past and a switch back to the present is amazing.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Pick it up for your kid or just pick it up for yourself. You will not be disappointed. Also, do check out Lama Mani books - which is based on traditional story telling art of Tibet.

Interview with Aravinda Anantharaman

A few posts back we had a review about Lama Mani Books. We sent a few queries to Aravinda Anantharaman, the author of the Lama Mani books and she was kind enough to reply back with detailed answers for them.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.
Aravinda: I've always liked reading and I suppose writing was never too far behind. One of my early jobs was as writer for an online magazine on Bangalore.

2. In the Lama Mani books, it is mentioned that your interaction with the Tibetans in exile started during a interview with some people selling sweaters. Can you let us know more about this.
Aravinda: As part of a feature series, we had planned to cover various communities here and I picked the Tibetans, call it karma. I had vague and assorted bits of information about them when I went to the pavement near the railway station to chat with the sweater sellers.

One of the sweater sellers was Dorjee. He was in his mid-sixties then, in early ’99. He was also the president of the sweater sellers association. He told me about leaving Tibet as a teenager, coming to India as a refugee and fighting in the Bangladesh war before becoming a sweater seller. Over the next few weeks, I met him often to hear his tale and over many cups of tea, he spoke about his life, about Tibet and about how difficult it was to sell sweaters. And as the interview neared its end and I gathered my books to leave, he said, "I want to go back home before I die." And I could see that he often thought back to the days when the Chinese invasion had just become official and the Tibetans were more hopeful of getting their country back. Days when idealistic young men enlisted in the guerilla army, days that held more promise.

3. How did the concept of Think Tibet come up? How long did it take to bring these books from the inception of the idea to final publication? and what did the process involve? Why did your team in Think Tibet decide to go and publish the books yourselves instead of going to some other established publications?
Aravinda: There were many Tibetans I met over the years in Bangalore and they spoke of things that I had never known in my world. And yet, most of the Indians I knew were as clueless as I was, and it’s still that way. I found it unacceptable that we had all this happening so close to home (Karnataka is home to the oldest and largest Tibetan settlements in exile) and people were not aware of it.

My friend Tenzin Jangchup Lingpa is a second-generation Tibetan in exile. We met through a Tibet support group. Being in Bangalore, we met often to talk about Tibet and exile and eventually, in 2006, he created Think Tibet. More Tibetan and Indian supporters came forward to join us and Think Tibet became a forum to take on various projects. We have had a theatre workshop for Tibetan college student, an art exhibition and regularly bring speakers as part of Tibet Talk, a lecture series.

One of the things I felt I could help with was in the creation of books and we started working on it. From the start, we felt that having our own publishing imprint would offer a platform for the kind of books we wanted to see. It may have been a naive decision but we did want to try it out. Around that time I also applied for the Indian Young Publishing Entrepreneur awards that the British Council offers and the rather long form that I filled allowed me to work out the details of the publishing idea. It was one of the shortlisted entries and I went on to present the concept to a panel in Kolkata. The response came as an affirmation and we felt we should atleast try and make a beginning. This was in early 2008.

Good fortune also came in the form of a small grant for one of our book proposals from the Foundation of Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and we now had a deadline along with a dream.

Can you tell us a bit about the other books that you are planning through Lama Mani publications?

Aravinda: I’ve always felt that stories must come from where we live and what we see and with the Tibetan life in exile especially. Which is also why our first stop was the Gyenso Khang or old age home in Mundgod. It was the first one to be set up in exile, in the mid 60s. We chose the sweater sellers because they are the ones who interact most with the local people, and who are most visible of the community.

The Dalai Lama arrived in India in March 1959 and this is the 50th year in exile for the Tibetan people. So we were keen to release the books at a significant date and we chose to do so close to July 6th which is also marked as World Tibet Day in honour of the 14th Dalai Lama’s birthday. So well, it took us a good year and a half to put it all together. What we are doing currently is having a Tibetan translation of the two books done.

We borrowed easily from real life - for instance, Zema the dog from Dolma Visits the City can be seen hanging outside the sweater stalls in Majestic. The sweater sellers call her Zema or ‘beautiful’ and she is very loyal to the Tibetans. When some of the sweater sellers saw the book, they immediately recognised her and enjoyed it. Similarly, in Mundgod we saw a Tibetan hoarding on the road and that made its way to the book. What we wanted to show was that life in exile in India is not unpleasant for the large part but there are underlying issues that make it challenging. That is also what we are trying to show here.

The lama mani’s of Tibet were storytellers and we feel that our books must be a tribute to those artists who could hold their listeners spellbound. With Lama Mani Books, we want to create contemporary stories that may borrow from tradition but speak the language of our times and lives while creating a thing of beauty. That, for me, is the function of art.

About your involvement with Hippocampus?
Aravinda: I joined Hippocampus when it started in 2003 out of a pressing desire to be around books. I’d been working the dotcoms and the IT sector as a writer of sorts and my heart was not in it. These last 6 years have been exciting in the kinds of books that come out in children’s literature and what better place to catch the fun than a children’s library! Our work has extended to government school and NGO-run libraries and I am involved in selecting books, recommending titles and whatever else around books. We have recently created something called the Hippocampus Book Council to bring together various aspects of book-related work that we do. I’m also been involved in organising our annual storytelling carnival called HOO’s Tales.

What kind of books do you prefer and what are some of the memorable books that you have read recently? Any favourites in kid literature that you would prefer that every adult should read?
Aravinda: I enjoy a good story in any form. My must-read list currently has Patrick Jennings’ The Beastly Arms, Ally Kennen’s Beast, Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Philip Pullman’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter, Maurice Sendak’s Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must Be More to Life, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.

I love cross-over authors (writes of literary fiction writing for children) and have enjoyed Roddy Doyle (The Giggler Treatment, Wilderness) and Carl Hiassen’s (Hoot, Flush) books for younger readers. I absolutely love the work of Maurice Sendak and Mommy? finds a special place in my bookshelf. Other favourites are Irwin Shaw, John Steinbeck, Amit Chaudhuri. I am currently reading Marina Lewycka.

What are the other books that you were involved in?

Other books I have worked on:

Stark World - Bangalore & Karnataka (as Asst. Editor). Published by Stark World, Jan 2005)

Reaching for the Stars (co-author on the autobiography of Hella Mundhra, Founder, Shishu Mandir). Published by Shishu Mandir Jan 2008

Where can folks buy a copy of the Lama Mani books in India or abroad?

Dorje’s Holiday at the Gyenso Khang and Dolma Visits the City are available at

Blossom Book House, Church Street Bangalore

Tibet Store, Patrick’s Complex, Residency Road, Bangalore

Focus Book Shop, Malleswaram, Bangalore

and Tibetan stores in Bylakuppe, Delhi and Dharamsala.

In the US, one can place orders at :
Tibet Moon

47, Broadway

Fairfax

CA 94930

Tel: 510 390 6771

We are talking to the people at flipkart.com to see if we can sell through them. For now, email orders to info@thinktibet.org are also fine.

Thank you Aravinda.

Hop, Skip and Jump across to Asia!

Rechenka's Eggs

TITLE: Rechenka's Eggs
AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Patricia POLACCO
PUBLIHSER: Philomel Books
AGE GROUP: 4-8 years.

While Patricia Polacco needs no introduction to those of you who have been enjoying her stories, rest of you book lovers deserve to experience the warmth that her books generously ooze out. And that is why I chose Rechenka's Eggs.

From my Russian background my stories are kind of ethnic, primitive, Eastern European — that's one type of voice I write in, says Patricia. Set in Moskva in pre-revolutionary Russia, that is exactly the voice we hear in this book.

Babushka (Russian for grandmother) is a kind hearted old woman who spends the cold and dark winter days painting eggshells in her country home. She has a reputation for her beautifully designed eggs and she plans on taking them to a contest for the Spring Festival in the city. On a snowy day that winter, even as she is greeting a herd of caribous outside of her home, an injured goose separates from its flock and falls on her lap. The good Samaritan Babushka is, heals the goose and gives it a cozy corner in her own home. Babushka lovingly names her Rechenka and the bird lays an egg for her every morning. Thus a friendship is born.

However, an accident that ends the serenity and goodness that we have gotten used to so far, also leads to a chain of magical events. A clumsy Rechenka overturns paint jars and even breaks Babushka's gorgeous eggs. Babushka is upset. But the next morning, her usual breakfast egg from the goose is not an ordinary one, but an exquisitely painted one! A dozen more follow. "A miracle",thrilled, Babushka whispers. It is soon spring, time for the festival. Also, the time for Rechenka to move on and migrate with her clan. Time for adieu. Babushka leaves for the city with her (Rechenka's) eggs. The eggs win her accolades. Back home, curled up loney with her book in bed, Babushka hears something. Following it, she finds a glorious egg left in the basket Rechenka rested. But this one moves....jumps..rolls...and there lies Rechenka's special gift!!!

The reader swallows a lump in the throat. A sigh. Beautiful does not describe it. And I am not saying it just for the story but for all those pictures that whisked us off to old Moscow. The Moskva women in ethnic attire, the onion-domed architecture, the eggshells - a dozen of them with intricate folkloric art, even the wrinkles and folds of skin on Babushka's face and limbs, all do their bit in binding us to the story.

There is also this balance in the elements of reality and imagination - while the backdrop of wintry Moscow, the festival and the contest, the caribous and a warm-hearted Babushka ground the story, the painted eggs from the bird and the element of surprise impart a fairy-tale like magical quality that children will love. With her eye-catching illustrations, richness in flavor, lucid writing and a touching storyline, Patricia Polacco is truly a wonderful writer and artist. You need to read the book, to experience the joy!

Mrs.McCool And The Giant Cuhullin - An Irish Tale

TITLE: Mrs.McCool and the Giant Cuhullin
AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Jessica Souhami
PUBLISHER: Henry Holt and Company
AGES: Good for "Read Aloud" and "Read it Yourself".

The joy of folktales is something that we recently discovered at our home. Stepping aside from classics and contemporary humor , we seem to embrace folktales, quite effortlessly. The book that I have with me is an Irish folklore, bearing a tale very similar to the ones that were orally passed on to me while I was growing up.

The central characters in this tale are legendary giants Cuhullin and Finn McCool. Mrs. Oona McCool is the one with the brains and quite intuitively, also the one to save her husband oftentimes from Cuhullin. Now, Cuhullin has a magic finger that makes him strong and Finn has a magic thumb that bestows upon him, the power to foresee things. Finn uses his magic thumb and announces (in jitters of course) the impending arrival of Cuhullin. Mrs.McCool to the rescue! A simple story you think, buckle up for a good dose of slapstick humor! Children will be laughing boisterously as they see fun illustrations and hear goofy dialogues.

Mrs.McCool is quick witted. She drops Finn with a bonnet in a cradle and welcomes Cuhullin for tea. She makes unreasonable, rather unrealistic (not that there is realism to worry here) requests that demand extreme brawn from Cuhullin. And this she does, so nonchalantly that Cuhullin is led to believe that the tasks are all a routine in the McCool household. Just look at the front cover - there is Cuhullin trying to lift the house so Oona can broom off the dust underneath! Here is also a sample of silliness to taste - "Goodness!" exclaimed Cuhullin. "Look at the size of him! Look at the moustache! If this is the baby, what must Finn be like?" , as Cuhullin mistakes Finn for a real baby. He also ends up sticking his finger in the "baby's" mouth, only to have his magic finger bitten off! Petrified, the shrinking Cuhullin runs amok, leaving a cheery couple dancing!

"It was nothing, dear Finn," said Oona."Big is Big. But brains are better!" . Probably the profound truth that this story intended to convey to little children and just as the message drives home, you are still not really far from the jocund moments. The magic of folktales it is. Loony and wacky, oh yeah! But did you also realize the feminist undercurrent, the portrayal of the woman endowed with brainpower, the one to thwart a giant - amazing to think of it when there is still so much gripe in contemporary children's literature about the roles women or girls are given! Quick paced with bright collage like illustrations, this book is wonderful to be read aloud to children!

There is never enough said about folktales. Flavorful, informative and historic, with so much room for imagination. These hand me downs from wonderful storytellers, sometimes didactic and sometimes just for laughs. Timeless.