Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

Silly Sally
by Audrey Wood

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

Silly Sally went to town
Walking backwards, upside down.

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

The pig then follows Silly Sally, dancing backwards upside down, going into town. Then, she meets a dog, a silly dog, who plays leapfrog, who follows them and so on. Finally, she meets a sheep and they all fall asleep. So, how can they get to town?

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

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

Ana started out just listening to me read it, then she started reading it aloud herself (just memorized the simple words), and nowadays, she acts out while reciting the book, trying to stand on her hands but managing to walk on all fours "upside down".

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

It seems like it would have appealed to her even a year ago when she was only two and was devouring books with rhymes.

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

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Grumpy Bird
by Jeremy Tankard

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

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

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

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

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

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

And, it appeals to children of all ages.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

One of Arthur C. Clarke's famous laws of prediction is --
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No, David!

No, David! by David Shannon

How often do you as a parent say 'No!' to your kids. I am a big time culprit of saying 'No' to Sooraj and Shraddha. Well, no or the words equivalent to no is probably the most common word I end up using as a frustrated father. But, I wonder if I was just as infuriating, irksome and naughty as a kid? Nah! I was probably a very goody-goody kid. Probably something that my parents and friends might not agree! :)

This book is a series of 2 page pictures depicting a rather naughty and hyper-active kid going about wrecking havoc in the home. While the kid is going about his innocent deeds, the rather frustrated mother keeps yelling at him - 'No, David!'.

The book starts off by saying -

David's mom always said... No, David!

With the words 'No, David! being drawn on the wall by the protagonist, David.
After that it is a series of naughtiness and silliness as the kid embarks on one funny prank after another. He lets the water overflow from the bath room tub, runs naked on the streets, keeps banging his plate, makes fun toys with his food items - as the rather irritated mom keeps shouting at every page - 'Come back David', 'No David No!', 'David! Be Quiet' etc...

The illustrations of David working seriously on his pranks are depicted in child like fashion. The illustration are shown as if they were drawn by a 5 year old naughty kid - with bright red, green and yellow dominating. An extremely 2 page funny picture depicts David seriously putting his finger into his nose!, while is mom is yelling 'Stop this very instant!'. Sooraj found this very funny and he kept laughing continuously. Another one where David runs wild in the outdoors without any clothes on brought another bout of heavy laughter from Sooraj.

This is one of the books that Sooraj very easily relates to. Sooraj was so happy to see that there are other kids who have the same kind of naughty urges that he or Shraddha would have. Definitely one of his favourites.

By the way, did I mention that the author is David Shannon. Yes. It is based on the author himself. As per author the book is based on his own child hood book called 'No, David' that was illustrated with drawing that David wasn't supposed to do.

A great fun book. Go ahead, read it with your kids and howl with laughter and remember your own silly and funny antics that your parents frowned upon. It has loving ending too.

Snowmen at night

Happy 100 posts to Saffron Tree!!!

Snowmen at night
Written by Caralyn Buehner
Pictures by Mark Buehner

Suggested read together : 3-6 years
Recommended read alone : 4-6 years

Have you ever wondered about the secret life of a snowman? Maybe one morning, his grin is a little crooked, or his tree branch arms have drooped, and you've thought...what do snowmen do at night?

Thus goes the little intro to the book on the jacket cover. The inspiration for this story originated when the Buehners opened their front door one morning, to find that the snowman they had created the night before, had travelled several yards, and was now facing the front door!!!! And it made them start to wonder...and it makes you start to wonder too. So make sure you got on your hats and boots and woollies. For we are about to follow the snowmen on the street and maybe we'll get to see just what it is that they do all night...

The first page opens up to the picture of a little boy building a snowman. When he has made 2 round balls, a smaller one for the head and the larger one for the body, he starts to work on its features. What looks like olives for the eyes and a dotted, curvy, smiling mouth, a carrot for the nose, a bright blue hat on its head and a nice warm red and white striped woolly scarf snug around its neck! Quite a gentlemanly snowman, if I may say so. And the boy goes on to tell us...

One wintry day I made a snowman,
very round and tall.
The next day when I saw him,
he was not the same at all!

And here...begins the mystery...why was he not the same at all? How did he look different?

His hat had slipped, his arms drooped down,
he really looked a fright-
it made me start to wonder:
What do snowmen do at night?

Oooooo...interesting isn't it? Don't you already feel the thrill of mystery and suspense nibbling at your toasty toes? Well, if you think you're going to sit back, solve the mystery and find out all that happens in the pages that follow...you're sadly mistaken! Oh yes! For I shall delight in leaving things hanging in the air, with just this much to go on. But I will give you some little clues to tide you through from now till the point you lay your gloved hands on the book. For instance, there is a little depiction of snowmen mothers who lovingly serve cups of ice cold cocoa to all the gathered bunch of snow-people, which is utterly cute and appealed to the mother in me! And in the lovely illustrations by Mark Buehner, there are also many hidden images, which you and your child will simply delight in finding together. Figures of a cat, a rabbit, a Santa face and a Tyrannosaurus Rex are all interwoven skillfully into the paintings, adding to the wintertime mystery and involving you, just a little bit more, as a reader.

All through the book, you will not find yourself in passive action. You are drawn in to the whole scene and given special privileges to take a peek into the secret lives of snowmen. On the last page, the scene depicted is that of the morning. The sun is out, and the little boy comes out of the house, pulling on a sled, all ready to head out and enjoy the snow! But what does he see when he comes out??? He tells us...

So if your snowman's grin is crooked,
or he's lost a little height,
you'll know he's just been doing
what snowmen do all night!

Well...you still don't know yet, do you?

If...

A few blogs entries below, Ranjani dealt with the fascinating subject of Why? - the ever questioning nature of children regarding happenings around them. I am going to deal with a book with similar theme - but, from a different perspective.

Wonder and amazement comes naturally to kids. It is a trait that needs to be nurtured and not suppressed. The book 'If...' by Sarah Perry re-kindles the interest and questioning nature of the kids. The book is strewn with various 'ifs..' followed by an illustration that depicts the what if scenario. Some of the interesting ifs... include --

What if there are fishes instead of leaves on the trees.
What if worms had wheels...
What if ants could count...

Each illustration is surrealistic and depicts the what if concept in a stylish and elegant manner. It is a very simple book with a powerful concept behind it.

Some of the ifs might make a few adults say 'yuck'!, but, children would love them. For example, one of the ifs is 'if mice were hair...' and it showed a very realistic painting of a small girl who had mice on her head instead of hair. Ranjani found it very yucky, but, Sooraj had a great laugh. Similarly, I felt a bit irritated when I saw the illustration of 'if toes were teeth'. But, children would love to see such wonderful and realistic portrayal of odd things.

If you had noticed, I had used the term surrealistic to describe the illustrations and later used the term realistic. But, the truth is that the illustrations are both surrealistic and realistic at the same time.

As kids grow up - the society, parents and friends mould them and slowly we make them a replica of ourselves by imposing our own ideas in a subtle manner. A book like this would act as a deterrent to the relentless moulding that the whole society works on without its own knowledge. It helps them to explore a world where things can be different and probably make them realise that there is nothing wrong in thinking/acting differently .

The Red Tree

There are days when we feel extremely downcast and so lonely(run the Akon song here for effects!) that the whole world seems to pass us by. There is no hope in sight and days are dark and nights even darker. Anxiety and depression sets in and we keep wandering from one disaster to another. There almost seems to be no end for the depression. But, whenever there is a trough; there is always a peak near by.

This is the idea that is portrayed in this rather dark picture book by Shaun Tan called The Red Tree. A name less girl wakes up to find her room filled up with dry leaves which slowly envelope the whole room. She gets out and as she walks through the streets, there is a big crying fish that throws a dark shadow all over her. Every imagery that accompanies her through her journey is dark and poignant. We have no clue why there is always a great depressive mood hanging over her. But, it does not matter. Sometimes we get into depression for a rather small reason and sometimes the reasons are rather big. All we know in the illustrations is that the nameless girl is struck by a nameless / reasonless depression from which she is trying hard to get out. After a long wait, she returns back to her room to see a beautiful red tree blossoming right in front of her bed.

If you ever had a doubt that images can speak a thousand words; please stop by and pick up this book. One will be amazed by the brilliance of this young illustrator. Although this is a picture book, it is definitely not for our 5 year olds. It is more for young adults and people like us. It is the book that you may gift to a friend who is going through a rather tough time. Young children might not get it at all(or atleast that is what I think!).

Shaun Tan, the exemplary illustrator says the following about the book - The Red Tree

"I'd also been increasingly aware that illustration is a powerful way of expressing of feeling as well as ideas, partly because it is outside of verbal language, as many emotions can be hard to articulate in words. I thought it would therefore be interesting to produce an illustrated book that is all about feelings, unframed any storyline context, in some sense going ‘directly to the source’".

Aptly summarises this picture book.

ps: For more pictures/illustrations by Shaun Tan, check out the French site LaBoite Images , Lines and Colors and his own site.

Free Fall

Hobbes (of Calvin and Hobbes) says - I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time.

Calvin always lives in his dreams or his dreams and real life overlap so much that there is hardly any demarcation between them. Calvin lives in a surrealistic world. Who knows? May be most of our kids live in a surreal world where their real life and dream life merge and intermingle. May be, we were like that during our young days and slowly lost ourselves completely to the real world.

A young boy falls asleep reading a book and drifts slowly and silently into the book. The book draws him into a glorious world as it travels through wide and varied landscape. Each page of the book takes him through one adventure after another. As he glides through the wide fields, he meets some the members of his chess game. The bishop comes out to greet him; while the rook and the knight keep a safe distance watching him. The bishop leads him to a gigantic castle guarded by iron-clad knights. The castle is a maze of steps and circles that could lead to anywhere. He goes along to greet the knight only to realise that one of the knights have turned into beautiful sea-birds. The pillars of the castle turn into massive trees and walls of the castle turn into dragon's sharp back. and so on.. goes the dream!

Well, so goes on the wonderful picture book called Free Fall by David Weisner. Another great wordless book; as he demonstrates the amazing creativity and boundary less nature of dreams. David Weisner depicts the fluid nature of the dreams with one dream after another merging in his wonderful paintings. There is so much of activity going on in each page of the book that one needs to spend at least a few minutes going through the minute details. Every page is a potential for the kid to make up his own story. Every time we browse through the illustrations, I end up finding something interesting.

It is a great reminder for us about the tremendous power of creativity and dreams - something that we tend to forget during our mundane day to day work.

As Marcel Proust says - "If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time."

Dream on! and let your kids free to dream their own dreams!

Why?

"Never has there been a good war or a bad peace. " - Benjamin Franklin

Is there any reason for a war/battle? As the war drags on, does any one remember why the whole battle started? At the end, only devastation remains. There would probably be victors, but what is the price? Or is there ever a victor? Is there any sense in a war?

All these are big questions. Something that one would not want our children to know about. Do we want our children to know about war and violence? At what age do we tell them about war and violence. Nikolai Popov thinks it is never too early to talk about violence and war with children. He talks about the senselessness of a war in simple and understandable format of a wordless book called Why?

In a very peaceful environment; a buttoned up frog is sitting peacefully on a rock and enjoying the pleasant evening(or morning) with beautiful flower in its hand. Very soon, a rodent digs out a nearby hole with an umbrella and for no reason attacks the frog. The frog is crestfallen, but, it has a few buddies around and they gang up and attack the rodent. The rodent flees leaving the yellow umbrella. The frogs use the yellow umbrella to pick up flower and enjoy among themselves. Soon, the rodent is back with its own friends and launches a fresh attack on the frogs. Soon, every one joins together and there is a big war in progress. For absolutely no reason, the frogs and rodents keep bashing each other up. The final page shows the first frog with the torn umbrella and the rodent with a completely smashed flower in hand. Both look crestfallen and seem to wonder why the whole incident happened?

All the illustrations are in green water colour initially to depict the greenery and peace and slowly the colours change as we scroll through the various pages. By the end, the whole page is brownish depicting the ravages and destruction of the war. There is no bloodshed, the illustrations emote the dreadfulness and senselessness of the violence very well.

It is an extremely loaded picture book. It is probably a good gift for all adults and kids of all ages. I am not sure if kids might be able understand the depth of the tale, but, it would probably stay in their mind. Sooraj and I went through this book once or twice. But, he did not seem to enjoy it that much - atleast there were no visible signs. I have a feeling he might enjoy it and appreciate more as he grows older.

"An eye for an eye makes the entire world blind" - M K Gandhi