Four Chapter Book Series

Chapter book series are nice. If the character(s) and the plot line in general catch our fancy, there's usually more of where that came from (not always). Over the last couple of years, some series were enjoyed more than others in our house. Early favorites were Rainbow Fairies, Magic Tree House, Magic School Bus, Junie. B. Jones, Ivy+Bean, among others. But, the more recent favorites happen to be:

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat 
by Chris Riddell

Ottoline is a spunky little girl who finds herself alone at home a lot, thanks to her traveling parents, who send her postcards from across the globe for some in-absentia parenting. She is not entirely alone however. Mr. Munroe keeps her company. He is a sort of short hairy creature who doesn't really say much.

In this story, lap dogs start to disappear one by one, and Ottoline investigates. With Mr.Munroe's help, they solve the mystery of the missing dogs and catch the cat burglar Yellow Cat.

The six year old instantly fell in love with this book. Equal parts of line drawings and text is one of the reasons. Each page engaged the six-year old for quite a while with its details. Ottoline's odd shoe collection with a pointer to her other collection -viz., postcards from her parents, and assorted little notes and things add to the charm, I'm sure.

Ottoline at Sea and Ottoline Goes To School are lined up for us to read later.

[Browse Ottoline And The Yellow Cat at Harper Collins]
[View a video of Chris Riddell drawing Ottoline]

[image source: Harper Collins]

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett

This classic set of three books is a fun fantasy about Elmer Elevator and a baby dragon. The books can be stand-alone reads but when taken in all at once, they provide an unforgettable story.

My Father's Dragon, Elmer And The Dragon, The Dragons Of Blueland together tell us the story about how Elmer saves the baby dragon, returns home, and rescues the baby dragon's family. The language is a bit dated, but, that adds to the charm, imo. The original charcoal illustrations wonderfully complement the story.

The tale is inventive and engaging. Bubble gum, comb, lollipop and suchlike are all Elmer packs and they turn out to be the exact things needed in his adventure.

[image source: http://openlibrary.org/books/OL678743M/Three_tales_of_my_father's_dragon]

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle 
by Betty MacDonald
illustrations by Alexandra Boiger

Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside down house where children are welcome all the time. She has a cure for every common ailment that kids get once in while that the conventional medicine cannot tackle. Like the Don't-want-to-take-baths, or Won't-put-away-toys, Will-not-share, Never-go-to-bed, Ever-quarrelling...

The dated text and repetitive message had me wondering if the six year old would like it but it turned out to be a fun read. We listened to the audiobook during the long drives.

[image source: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780064401487?aff=OblongGirl]

Mercy Watson to the Rescue
by Kate DiCamillo
illustrated by Chris van Dusen

Mercy Watson series is a simple, easy read set of books, a few of which made it to our bookshelf thanks to Nana. The then five year old soon grew out of it and declared it a "baby book" saving hers for her little brother.

Mercy Watson is a huge, silly, lovely pig who lives with Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She has her own room, and acts pretty much like a little kid, and has a lot of inadvertent adventures.

The illustrations are charming and colorful. The story is simplistic, with some possible twist at times, with Mercy coming out on top in the end.

[sample page at Candlewick Press]

[image source: Kate DiCamillo's website]

If I Built A Car

If I Built a Car
by Chris Van Dusen

James Bond's gadget man Q probably had the same idea as the little boy in this book: to build a car that has everything he likes and does whatever he wants.

Imagine a car made out of a special polymer gel that absorbs shock on impact, a car with Plexiglass dome for an all round view, a car whose floor slides open to reveal a cool pool, a car that has an Instant Snack Bar to dole out goodies at the push of a button, a car that has a robot driver who can take over when you feel drowsy, a car that emits perfumed fumes rather than noxious burnt gasoline, a car which can submerge under water at the push of a button and fly up high in the air for long distance travel...

This book sparked the imagination of the 3 yo with a lot of "What if...",  and made the 6 yo rather skeptical initially asking, "A pool in the car? Well, we can only use it when the car is not moving, else it will splash around".

The rhyming text is an easy read, even if quite a few of the words were beyond the 3 yo - gave us a chance to learn them, or at least get exposed to them. (I like to read to the kids at a level slightly higher than their current anyway).

The illustrations are bright, colorful, playful, and complement the text well. Front and Back inside covers have design drawings of cars that gave the 6 yo ideas for designing her own car (and trying to build it out of cardboard we were recycling).

[image source: http://www.chrisvandusen.com/books/if-i-built-a-car]

Year of the Dragon.

Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Dragon in Chinese New Year. We at Saffron Tree, have found many wonderful books that celebrate children and Chinese culture. Sharing them once again, we thought might be a great way to ring in the Year of the Dragon. Happy Reading!

When it comes to picture books, Roseanne Thong has created some delightful ones that vibrantly capture Chinese culture. Red is a Dragon, Round is a Mooncake are great books that introduce concepts for preschoolers using Chinese traditional words and images as a backdrop. Anusha has neatly "drummed up" a review of Red is a Dragon here. Don't miss it!



Grace Lin's portrayal of Taiwanese culture in her middle grade readers have always been devoured like dumplings! Here they are for a taste of oriental flavor!

Year of the Rat - recently reviewed by Artnavy



Year of the Dog that I had reviewed earlier in 2010.

Also in the pipe is a cluster on some amazing "dragon" books that we have reviewed in the past, which are sure to capture your child's imagination! Do stay tuned! :)

The Year of the Rat

The Year of the Rat , Author/ Illustrator- Grace Lin

Here is a tribute to the children of today- coming from a certain origin, making homes in a different culture. What happens when parents hold on to old traditions which may not be of much significance/ appeal to them. How much of the current new context do the children / parents adopt to be part of the mainstream?

The Year of the Rat, a sequel to the book - The Year of the Dog, is a chapter book that works even if you have not read its predecessor. It is a semi autobiographical work by Grace Lin who very subtly prods young readers to be tolerant of other cultures and be proud of your own heritage.

The protagonist, Pacy Lin, is a typical American kid- going to school and field trips, trying to complete projects, celebrating Christmas and New year and even having her first secret crush. But she is of Taiwanese origin. Does that make her odd or exotic? Neither. The author keeps her normal and therein lies the beauty of the tale.

New years are about wishes and resolutions. The Year of the Rat in Chinese mythology is about change. Pacy Lin faces separation from her best friend who moves to California. She suffers from self doubt in her ambition to become an author illustrator. She makes mistakes too. She sees prejudice against a new comer, who is different from the rest of her class because he is Chinese and barely speaks English but also similar to her for the very same reason.

But Pacy has the love and support of her family. She learns life lessons through
Chinese myths/ folklore and her family anecdotes. And we too learn a bit more about Chinese customs, festivals and food as an intrinsic part of any culture and every celebration.

The black and white illustrations by the author add to the narrative and keep it engaging for the younger reader.

********

Here is wishing all readers a Happy Year of the Dragon!!

Welcome is a Wonderful Word

Welcome is a Wonderful Word
Written and Illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa
Ages 3+
Published by Grosset and Dunlap

All of us, be it adults or children, approach any change in our lives with mixed feelings. Be it a school change, a locality change, a move to another country- each of these experiences bring with them the excitement as well as some amount of nervousness.The anxiety about, how the people would be and whether we would be able to become a part of the new group comfortably, is quite normal.

The author Gyo Fujikawa has taken this significant emotion and come up with a beautiful children's book. Jenny is a fun loving little girl, who loves to collect old things from the people in her small neighbourhood. She uses these old dresses, hats, purses and tiny titbits for her play pretend games with two of her close friends- Sam and Nicholas. Reading about Jenny each time makes me pause and smile, as my five year old daughter does exactly the same things. My old duppatas, hand bags, purses, weave their way into her treasure chest and these get magically transformed into - a teacher making sure the children recite their alphabets one day, Sita of Ramayana the next day and a doctor advising her patients another day :-).

One day Jenny notices that one of the houses in their neighbourhood which had been empty for long, seemed to have new occupants.She earnestly wishes that a little girl like her, has moved in there. As she finishes her round of collecting old things from other houses, she notices a little girl peeking out of the windows of that house. Thrilled, she walks up to their door and knocks.But the girl does not open the door. Confused, she goes back to her friends Sam and Nicholas and explains what happened.

It is then that Sam suggests that may be the girl did not feel welcome in the new area. So they brain storm and come up with a brilliant idea. They decide to create a Welcome Wagon, filled with all their favourite things, to offer to the little girl as a welcome present. Armed with these goodies, the children go and invite the little girl to come out, saying they want to give her a welcome gift. The shy little Mei Su comes out and she is thrilled with all the knick knacks her new friends have brought her. The friendship is cemented right that day, with a lovely picnic. When the friends get ready to leave, Mei su says that she felt very sad when she had to move out of her old house, but now she is very happy to have been welcomed so lovingly into her new neighbourhood.

This was a feeling I could readily identify with, having moved last year to a new place.The gnawing feeling about leaving familiar people,apprehension about the new neighbours,the comfort feeling which slowly started enveloping me and finally a sense of relief, that comes with familiarity.

The illustrations are also by Gyo Fujikawa. The pictures of the characters are very expressive and even the houses that have been sketched exude a lot of personality.The pages alternate between colour and black-white sketches throughout the book. It is difficult to say which is more gorgeous, though the back and white sketches have an undeniable charm !

This is a cute little picture book which has been read many times in our house and is enjoyed by everyone. 

Lessons in Manners

To start off the New Year on the right note, brushing off the dust from the past, and reinforcing priorities, the family felt in need of a revision of basic manners. We were looking for best ways to communicate this to the 6 and 3yo ones, for anything preachy turns them off. The local library pointed us to this collection of simple, no-nonsense books, conveying the message using monsters and animals. Both kids related to them, and I'm happy to say, are responding well.

How do Dinsoaurs series, one of which was reviewed here by Artnavy, and No, David, reviewed by Satish, are perfect starters for the young preschooler. Here are a few more for all ages.

Please Say Please - Penguin's Guide to Manners
Margery Cuyler
Will Hillenbrand
Scholastic, 2004


Looking at themselves during worst behavior is often enough
for young kids to avoid repeat offenses. Please Say Please uses this to its advantage. Seeing inappropriate behavior among cuddly, adorable animals prompts them to admonish it. Penguin has visitors; his friends Elephant, Hippo, Lion all come to dinner. The animals should barge in and knock over the unsuspecting host. They should slurp and splat all over the table. They should loudly demand seconds. Each page makes an outrageous statement like this, followed by "Is that Right?" prompting attentive listeners to shake their head in disapproval. Turn the page and a more appropriate behavior for the moment is illustrated. I was grateful to see this included -

When a lion is served cauliflower, he should say, "I hate cauliflower." Ew! Is that right?

..and the question is answered on the next page...

No that's wrong. When a lion is served cauliflower, he should say, "I'll try some." Mm, not bad!

A good set of guidelines to practice at home every day.

Excuse Me

Lisa Kopelke
Pocket Children's Books, 2004

A loud, happy burp - signature of a satisfactory meal, and of social embarassment. The title character Frog can't help himself. How could he not love food - when there was a repertoire of gourmet choices -
fly noodles, dragonfly soup, worm burgers. He loves to eat and he punctuates his meals with loud, satisfied burps, so they would make room for dessert. He is so engulfed in his eat-burp-eat routine that he doesn't notice signs of revolt from his companions. The townsfolk have had enough, and one day, vote him out. Hurt, Frog goes on to live with fellow frogs in another city who are just as happy burpers. Who never say excuse me or pardon.
Who also live in the blissful oblivion of the effect their gastronomical excess has on creatures around them. Living amongst his like, Frog sees the disgust in his own behavior, returns home reformed, but will he be forgiven? Flamboyant illustrations in earth tones paint cartoonish facial expressions of frogs in all sizes. What I liked about Excuse Me is that it does not demean the natural biological reaction that even grown-ups sometimes have little control over. Instead, it teaches a socially appropriate way to deal with the aftermath, should a burp escape you despite your best efforts.


Monster Manners
Bethany Roberts
Andrew Glass
Houghton Mifflin, 1996

Monster Manners understands that even for the most well behaved kid, it is hard, if not impossible, to adhere to a strict guideline for behavior every hour of every day, in every circumstance. While the inconsistency and monstrous behavior might make it seem like they have no manners, it is just that they sometimes forget, and sometimes they get ahead of themselves. Sometimes they don't clean up after themselves, but other times, they are so good that they make amends for it. Ridiculous comical illustrations that show monsters behaving their best and worst, brilliantly pair the text. A dining table scene, for example, shows one monster eating another's sock. Another has a monster dressed in spaghetti sauce. Both had the kids in giggles, and they nodded approvingly when they saw on the next page how the monsters had cleaned up nicely. The point conveyed is that the whole game of manners is not to enforce an unforgiving, uptight style of living, it is okay to err, as long as the intention is right, you are willing to make quick amends and learn from past mistakes. That's a lesson in life itself, I'd say!

The Jewel Fish of Karnak

The Jewel Fish of Karnak
by Graeme Base

Graeme Base needs no introduction. Best known for Animalia, every page of every book he has illustrated so far is a breathtakingly amazing work of art! And, no wonder, considering he takes a couple of years or more to complete each book.

From our favorites like The Waterhole, Jungle Drums, Uno's Garden, My Grandma Lives in Googligulch (first book Base wrote and illustrated), The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery, it was interesting to note that the books are not necessarily written for the age group for which they are marketed. I remember reading an excerpt that quoted the author regarding his books: "I write them for myself in order to fulfil a creative desire and only after these considerations do I look at the requirements of a 'children's book,' whatever that might be!"

Anthropomorphic Animals and Fantasy - an irresistible combination seen in many of his books - describe The Jewel Fish of Karnak as well. If just four main characters - a Female Feline Pharaoh, The Crocodile Prince, and two thieves Ibis and Jackal - in an exotic land doesn't sound intriguing enough, then, Graeme Base has more for you: a puzzle with clues in the story and a gorgeous last page to figure out the answer.

Jackal and Ibis, thieves as they are, are caught stealing a trinket in the marketplace at Asyut, and brought to Cat Pharaoh for justice. They beg for pardon. So Cat Pharaoh sets them on a quest: Bring back the Jewel Fish of Karnak, and

Do not take anything else while you are in Karnak. And know that the Jewel Fish is magical. Be sure it does not get wet.

If they succeed and do as told, they will be pardoned and set free.

While the quest itself may not be terribly perilous, the temptations are. They are warned sufficiently. But can thieves resist thieving?

Of course, not, or we wouldn't have a story. They take something they are not supposed to and so are pursued savagely by Crocodile Prince. In the confusion that ensues, Ibis and Jackal lose the Jewel Fish of Karnak in the River Nile which mingles among the other fish, hard to recover.

Are they doomed? Not really, that's where we come in, we the reader. The last page is a note from Cat Pharaoh which says:

Jackal and Ibis were not clever, were they?
...
But I am a merciful cat. If you bring the Jewel Fish to my palace at www. graemebase.com, I shall release Jackal and Ibis from their endless task - and reward you as well.


But be warned, I shall demand proof that you have brought me the right fish!

And, how exactly can we help? There is a code on the first page - a set of symbols - pictogram of sorts, which we use to find the encoded clue(s) that points us to the one and only Jewel Fish of Karnak.

Did we go to the palace of Cat Pharaoh and get rewarded for retrieving the right Jewel Fish? Indeed!

The inside of the jacket is full of tidbits about ancient Egypt. All in all, another fantastic book from a master.

[image source: www.penguin.com.au]

The World of Anahi and Vir

Author- Kalpana Subramanian
Illustrator- Prashant Miranda
Publisher- Little Latitude
Ages- 3-6 yrs

The World of Anahi and Vir is a set of three board books that caught our eye due to the delightful water colour illustrations by Prashant Miranda. He was doing an art show at the venue and readily autographed the copy we bought!

If there was one place I could be captures the Wonders of the Sea, as seen through the mesmerised eyes of a young girl. The words rhyme and are easy even for early readers. The illustrations are simply captivating.

If I lived in A Treehouse captures the various living environs and finally affirms that home is best when loved ones keep us company. Here you see both kids, Anahi and Vir in action.

If there was one thing I could be takes flight in a boy's imagination as he visualises himself as a bird. A good introduction to birds and their distinctive features apart from indulging most children's fantasy- to fly and be free.

The collection is thus a child's journey as she absorbs the magic of creation- animal habitats, ocean life and birds. My six year old enjoyed these books and gifted them to her two year old sister who loves seeing the pictures in it.

Wonderfully Warli!

Art appreciation has always been a favorite topic for us here on Saffron Tree. For this new year, I am delighted to share with you all a cluster post on some of the books we have enjoyed reviewing on Warli Artform.

Over the years, we've read a number of folk art oriented picture books from India, along with a few western art oriented books. Books incorporating folk art are always a hit in the homefront as they offer culturally enriching visuals that are meaningful.

Warli holds a special place among all. That's because the simplicity of the artform lends itself easily to different age-groups making it universally accessible.

At the storytime program last month here at a local children's activity center, I was thrilled to create Wonderfully Warli as a new theme for children in the 4-8 year age-group.

After a brief introduction to the simple ways of drawing Warli figures, I read to the small group that had gathered for my session, two of my favorite Warli picture books. Both by Tulika books.



One titled It's Only a Story by Cathy Spagnoli. Warli illustrations by Uma Krishnaswamy.

The book has been reviewed here by Tharini on Saffron Tree.

And here's the blurb from Tulika's website -

"An ant’s curiosity leads to adventure in this chain story of repetition and cumulative images. The illustrations within illustrations drawn in stark white on brown are adapted from the art of the Warli storytellers. Chain stories are fascinatingly illustrated in a flowing river-like fashion, capturing the pattern of the cumulative tale visually as well."



Shamim Padamsee's Dancing on Walls is yet another story featuring one delightful take on the origin of the artform. This book is again illustrated by the talented Uma Krishnaswamy (an interview with the illustrator on Paper Tiger and also an engaging review by Poppy on the book here on Saffrontree.)

The artform is so popular in modern India that it is not a coincidence that many more Warli stories have been done by other Indian publishers working for children.

It's therefore a pleasure to present here a list of what seem like equally entertaining books on Warli by other Indian publishers that I simply can't wait to lay my hands on.

1) Karadi Tales - Blue Jackal

2) Tara Books - Do!

3) Mango Books - Tales from the Warli Tribe by Sheila Dhir

4) Pratham Books - The First Farmers
(the book can also be viewed here)













Finally here's something for teachers, storytellers and parents - an entire Warli lesson plan created by our very own UTBTkids for CROCUS 2010!

Overall, I found the books that I read offered a very enriching experience for children. The children also worked together in creating a simple Warli puppet for themselves as an extension activity. I am sure there might be many other choices on Warli based books that I may have missed. If you happen to know of other Warli titles, please do drop us a note on ST. Thanks!