Author: Judi Martschinke
Illustrator: Janet McDonnell
Age:4+
If there is one possession that I can never bear to part with, it is my book collection. This hold good for my boys as well. The moment a Summer Fair table top sale or a charity sale turns up in school, I ask the boys if we could do one and with books that they've outgrown, but the answer would be a top-of-the-voice NO! And every time we go back to Chennai and Bangalore, I ask them if we could give some of the books to their younger cousins, and the answer would be a "only if they promise to give them back!". Then I have to sit, teach and make them see through the fact that people mean more to us than books and that it is a noble deed to share your things to people who mean a lot to you, it is how you show you love them.
Easier said than done. You have to be a believer first and a doer as well before you can preach, you see!
So if anybody has ever got a used book from me or my kids, know that you are being loved in abundance, so much that we were ready to part with our most precious possessions!
And the converse is very true as well. If someone gives us one of their much loved books, and that too without even hesitating once, they sky rocket in our TRP ratings. Right to the top :o). And stay there forever!
That is just what my lovely sis and her little boy from US did when they visited us - gave away the "Tangramables" book ever so readily, even though I could see that they loved it so much that it got to travel with them! And they have set a very beautiful example for my kids, as they always point out to me whenever they use the book.
This is a very versatile tangram activity book for ages about 4 - 8. It might appear a bit too easy to look at, but it needs quite a bit of logical reasoning for their age. As the puzzles start getting more and more complex, they involve loads of imagination and is a very good vent to the excessive energy and restlessness of little ones when they are indoors.
The book comes with 7 tangram pieces (a square, a parallelogram, 4 triangles) which the children would need to use ( either some or all of them) to solve the puzzles in the book. The initial ones are quite easy involving just geometrical shapes. The next set is more for the imagination. Like building familiar objects, animals etc with the tangram pieces. The final section is to create familiar geometric shapes using the pieces, and this is the trickiest bit!
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This book has been used and reused so many times and I have see my younger boy growing in confidence in solving the puzzles. He also started appreciating the wooden tangram puzzle his dad got for him from India ( Landmark, I think) and now even tries to draw animals and objects from real life using the basic shapes and playing guessing games with his brother as to what is being drawn. For once, being snowed in is fun!
I guess this book is used as a learning resource across schools in the US. I have seen lots of tangram activity books in both UK and India. This book is on Amazon for £2.99 (used), but looks like it always gets sold out pretty fast! Being a US publication, the original books seem a bit too costly in ££s. Landmark ( or perhaps Odyssey) has loads of square wooden puzzles with many little colourful pieces and a book of shapes that could be made. Guarantees hours of concentration and a quiet house for mum. Well, for a while, at least!
Tangramables. Truly food for thought!
P.S: The day me and my boys readily give away all our books would be the day we have attained absolute Nirvana!
Illustrator: Janet McDonnell
Age:4+
If there is one possession that I can never bear to part with, it is my book collection. This hold good for my boys as well. The moment a Summer Fair table top sale or a charity sale turns up in school, I ask the boys if we could do one and with books that they've outgrown, but the answer would be a top-of-the-voice NO! And every time we go back to Chennai and Bangalore, I ask them if we could give some of the books to their younger cousins, and the answer would be a "only if they promise to give them back!". Then I have to sit, teach and make them see through the fact that people mean more to us than books and that it is a noble deed to share your things to people who mean a lot to you, it is how you show you love them.
Easier said than done. You have to be a believer first and a doer as well before you can preach, you see!
So if anybody has ever got a used book from me or my kids, know that you are being loved in abundance, so much that we were ready to part with our most precious possessions!
And the converse is very true as well. If someone gives us one of their much loved books, and that too without even hesitating once, they sky rocket in our TRP ratings. Right to the top :o). And stay there forever!
That is just what my lovely sis and her little boy from US did when they visited us - gave away the "Tangramables" book ever so readily, even though I could see that they loved it so much that it got to travel with them! And they have set a very beautiful example for my kids, as they always point out to me whenever they use the book.
This is a very versatile tangram activity book for ages about 4 - 8. It might appear a bit too easy to look at, but it needs quite a bit of logical reasoning for their age. As the puzzles start getting more and more complex, they involve loads of imagination and is a very good vent to the excessive energy and restlessness of little ones when they are indoors.
The book comes with 7 tangram pieces (a square, a parallelogram, 4 triangles) which the children would need to use ( either some or all of them) to solve the puzzles in the book. The initial ones are quite easy involving just geometrical shapes. The next set is more for the imagination. Like building familiar objects, animals etc with the tangram pieces. The final section is to create familiar geometric shapes using the pieces, and this is the trickiest bit!
This book has been used and reused so many times and I have see my younger boy growing in confidence in solving the puzzles. He also started appreciating the wooden tangram puzzle his dad got for him from India ( Landmark, I think) and now even tries to draw animals and objects from real life using the basic shapes and playing guessing games with his brother as to what is being drawn. For once, being snowed in is fun!
I guess this book is used as a learning resource across schools in the US. I have seen lots of tangram activity books in both UK and India. This book is on Amazon for £2.99 (used), but looks like it always gets sold out pretty fast! Being a US publication, the original books seem a bit too costly in ££s. Landmark ( or perhaps Odyssey) has loads of square wooden puzzles with many little colourful pieces and a book of shapes that could be made. Guarantees hours of concentration and a quiet house for mum. Well, for a while, at least!
Tangramables. Truly food for thought!
P.S: The day me and my boys readily give away all our books would be the day we have attained absolute Nirvana!
Very nice one, again!
ReplyDeleteThey seem like real fun with little (really??) work to your grey matter.
Hey Gai, but you did give me some of your books to read. Though I returned some books, I do have a couple of them with me. Which means you are in the highest state of evolution, already.
But yeah! Books do mean a lot to us. Every time I go to a bookstore god only knows how time flies.
LOL I certainly remember the ones that never comes back. But of course you can have them :o)
Delete*come back !!
DeleteBrings back pleasant memories :)
ReplyDeleteBTW I am the same way about books like you. I LOVE them and revere them. Sometimes people just borrow books and forget about it completely. Drives me nuts :)) And to top it off they would be nonchalant in their reply too .. that would drive me up the wall .. :))) Trying to let go of that feeling, but hard to do it.
Absolutely. Particular reply that drives me insane: "Oh! That book! Haven't even touched it, don't know where it is, will try to find it". Those are the times I wish I could kick decency out of my system.
DeleteI was the reading the first book of a collection. Had to stop for some reason. A friend borrowed the series. and after multiple chases and not getting it back, I asked again. I really wanted to read. He was like - that was a book that you stopped reading, why do you care. I was sooo pissed off that day. I had it shipped from India to read and he took it and there he is judging what I am doing with it.. is it his business to ask such questions?
Delete:o( :o( I read you. :o(
DeleteIts an interesting topic gomathy.. i have had collections when i was in chennai, US before marriage and US after marriage. Many books have stayed with me.. so have been borrowed and never returned. Now I have a collection here (best ever as books are sooooo cheap in UK). I do let ppl borrow from me and I tell them very clearly how important it is for them to give it back to me. and yes, I always remember the books and ppl who have not returned it.
ReplyDelete