The Snowy Day

Author: Ezra Jack Keats
Illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats
Ages: 3+ years

Ezra Jack Keats is one of my favourite illustrators. I was reading about him last week and I learned that it was his birthday yesterday - March 11. This post is a day late, but a tribute to his wonderful contribution to children's literature.

Ezra was born just after World War I. He struggled his way out of a childhood in poverty, served in second World War and later went on to become one of the most beloved American authors with his beautiful books and illustrations.

The Snowy Day is a book with a special background and a testimony to Keats' compassion and spirit of humanity. It was the book that Ezra created to defy the colour barrier in children's publishing prevalent at that time. The book, in his own words had "a black kid as hero".

"None of the manuscripts I'd been illustrating featured any black kids - except for token blacks in the background. My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along", said Ezra in an unpublished autobiography. The character - Peter, was inspired by the clipping of a little boy from a newspaper that Ezra had preserved in his room for a long time. He won the Caldecott Medal in 1963 for the book's extraordinary illustrations accompanying a very simple, yet timeless storyline.

Today, you would barely notice the colour of the boy or ponder about it. In that way, he has certainly defied and thwarted not just the colour barrier, but also bridged generation gaps and created an ageless classic that appeals to children of this century as well, despite being created 52 years back!

The Snowy Day is about Peter's joy on experiencing snow for the first time, discovering the beauty of the flakes, awed by the canopy it creates and his urge to preserve a part of it for posterity ( in his coat pocket!). It reminds us of beauty of little children - their openness to nature and instant bonding to its wonders, their happiness in the most simplest things, their sense of exploring and discovering new things and most of all, their extraordinary ability to exist only in that moment and enjoy it to the fullest.

This book was also Ezra's first foray into illustrating with collages, home-made stamps and textured cloth and paper. The end result, as seen in the book, is so simple, which makes it even more stunning.

And the book reminded me of little M's first experience of snow - how he stood out looking at the flakes all day, asking me who threw them down, trying to catch them in his tongue and simply not getting enough of it even by the end of the day! And of course he wanted me to store bottles of snow in the freezer "for tomorrow"! :o)

Here is a Youtube reading of the book.

You can read more about Ezra and his books here.

Meet The Parents

Author: Peter Bently
Illustrator: Sara Ogilvie
Ages: 3+

Meet The Parents is a wonderfully thought-out and even more wonderfully illustrated comical celebration of all the funny, heroic moments of parenthood. I am not sure who would love this book more - the parents for being through almost all of it at least once in their toddler-raising times, or the kids for having been the perpetrators of all the mayhem and receptors of all the love!

You look inside any house with kids, toddlers in particular, and you'd think those parents are forever bossing around, teaching manners and trying to run an orderly, punctual, cleanliness-driven regime (they wish!) round the clock. At least that is what kids think about all the nagging. But that is not all that parents do.

Because then, who hunts for lost toys and retrieves them? ( from gardens, toilets, DVD players, and the gaps in the radiator and the most remote corners beneath the sofa!)

Who mends and fixes knee-caps and teddies and train-tracks?

Who heats up tiny toes and fingers? (DS2 would always ask me to sit on his palms to warm them :o))

Who carries bags while the tiny tot scoots around, then carries his coat and teddy, then eventually carries the tot and scooter as well!?

Who makes tents out of blankets and mop sticks and then holds wonky ends to keep the tent up?!

Who acts as dustbins for all the food not eaten and wipes for the grimy fingers and grubby mouths?!?

Who sorts messes and muddles and heals broken hearts with cuddles, and tucks kids in bed all cosy and warm with lovely stories?

And who says sorry to people they've just met! ( Gosh, I cannot count the many sorries I would have muttered out to strangers, mostly in trains - for noisy giggles, spread-out legs, blocked ways, banging legs on the sides, the list is endless)

And of course when all is fixed and happy and well, the kids better beware...

because parents love...

TICKLES!!!

I even have a special nickname for this - Kichukichu Boodham ( Tickle Monster, in Tamil)! When I close my eyes and extend my arms and wiggle my fingers, it is absolute pandemonium as boys scramble away to escape and thwart the attacks. :o) This is a game we play ever so often and we all LOVE tickly fun times!

When we read the book, every single word and picture resonated with us, and we were amazed at how common and special the tickling game is in many other families as well! I am sure it will ring a bell with just every mum and dad and kid.

Peter Bently is the winner of Roald Dahl funny prize and this book reflects his funniness well enough. Sara Ogilvie's illustrations complement the funniness perfectly. Just look at the picture above, it is so amazing how an eye drawn with just a circle and a dot can emote so aptly in different scenarios!

Meet the parents in this book, you'll love them even more!

Oh Puppies!

Author : Adrian Collman
Illustrator: Duncan Preston
Ages: 3+

You know with all the publicity and PR and stuff books get these days, it is rather very soothing to come across a very talented, yet unassuming author. Adrian Collman is certainly both, as I found out when he visited my little boy's school. Had he not been sitting in front of his books and signing them, I'd have assumed he was just another hassled parent doing the school run :o).

 And the books appear even more unassuming. My elder boy asked me if they were really books or something printed out by school.

But the stories do the trick very well. The text is simple and repetitive, catchy for a toddler to latch on to and enjoy. The story is about kids requesting Dad for a puppy with all the usual promise of taking care of it. But then Oh! Puppies will be puppies - cute, loving, adorable, but naughty! The puppies actually happen to be the author's own, and there are photos of the author's household with the sweet pair, sometimes up to their neck in mischief.

It is fun to read the book with little ones. Forget about a moral, a learning, whatever. Kids need to simply enjoy sometimes -  no punctuation, grammar, stress and pause attached, and this book achieves just that ( although there are so many things that they would pick up and remember for a long time - Like asking for puppies!). There is a little hide-and-seek thing as well which would interest the tiny readers a lot.

I liked the intro page and the last page a lot in this book. It provided for good guided reading tips for adults and a very important message for kids - "Dogs are very hard to look after and the naughty things they get up to won't always make everyone laugh". Perfect, just the handy thing parents would need after the kids are done with the book and started with the " Pleeeeeease Could we get a puppy" mantra.

The author's website was quite interesting as well.

We also enjoyed our signed copy of another book by Adrian, "Worst Animal Jobs Ever". Quite suitable for the toddler kids, it was hilarious seeing what jobs ought NOT to be given to some animals!!

My elder kid wasn't quite interested with the repetition, he has been reading the following:

"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawkings
"Bleach" series by Tite Kubo
"Just William" by Richmal Crompton
"Big Nate" series by Lincoln Peirce

Also revising "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" and the "Horrible Histories" for the last who-knows-since-when days.

Not sure if I'd be getting round to reviewing any of these soon! I guess I need some growing up as well!! :o)

The Journey Home

Author and Illustrator: Frann Preston-Gannon
Ages: 3+ years

The author of this story happens to be the only person from UK who has won the prestigious "Sendak Fellowship" and worked on this book while staying with the author himself during the fellowship program. The book is so neatly written and illustrated so splendidly that it is hard to believe that this is the author's first picture book, although she has illustrated for Walker books, Burt's Bees etc before.

The world as we knew it has since deteriorated. The world as we know it is being devastated by us even as I am writing this. I sometimes wonder if all this pollution and deforestation could ever do anything at all to Earth which has borne testimony to life and endurance since its genesis. One giant wave, one rapid solar flare, one meteor blaze and all the plastics in the world would vanish into thin air. And before long, life forms would start establishing themselves afresh. To quote one of my most favourite lines by Dr Malcolm from Jurassic Park, " Life will find a way".

But that does not in any way justify what Man is doing to his co-inhabitants- how he is unethically, unlawfully, inhumanely destroying their homes, their food and the creatures themselves. It is nothing but pure horror story. If this is what is the survival of the fittest, then I am ashamed to survive.

In this wonderfully penetrating book, the author handles just this very issue, but in such a simple way that children could understand. It certainly is a book that parents should read out to kids or read with them, because it opens up so many avenues for discussions and would hopefully linger inside the children long enough for them to decide on acting upon issues in any way they could ( walk more and use car less, reduce plastic bags, plant trees, recycle properly and be sensitive to nature. After all, as my DS2 said, we are 100% natural, but 100% acting against nature!).

The story opens with the Polar bear sitting on a tiny iceberg wondering where the ice had all gone, because its food had also disappeared with the ice. So he is forced to swim away, and finds a lone boat and climbs into it. Soon, he swims by a city of machines and sky scrapers and finds a lone Panda there. He is certainly the odd thing out in a concrete jungle with no bamboo shoots to eat, so he joins the polar bear.

As they float on into what was once a jungle before deforestation but now just tree stubs, they spot an Orang-utan looking so lost as there aren't any more trees to climb on. They invite his to join the boat and they all sail along. Very soon they spot an elephant who is hiding behind a boulder from poachers trying to steal his tusks. He joins the boat gang as well.

Then the boat sails into a storm and drifts very far away form their homes. The animals think of their homes and miss them so terribly. They feel completely lost until they sight a Dodo in a tiny tropical island. They tell the Dodo that they want to go back home. The wise Dodo says that that is very much possible "when the trees grow back and when the ice returns and when the cities stop getting bigger and bigger and hunting stops".

And when the Polar bear questions when that would be, Dodo just says " I don't know, let's see what tomorrow brings".

And there is the beautiful picture of those animals huddled together and looking at a lovely sunset.

All through the story, the animals never stop to admire nature - the gulls, the fish, the clouds and the sunset. It gives  you a feeling that they are really connected and completely blend into nature, unlike Man.

The illustrations have a hint of Eric Carle's tissue paper creatures. They are simple, but emote remarkably, a bit disturbingly as they seem to question our conscience so much. In all, this is a perfect bed-time cuddle book with a strong message.

The journey home. Perilous but Possible. If only...

(The Hueys in) The New Jumper

US: The Hueys in The New Sweater
Author and Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Ages: 3+

I remember when Seth Godin's book was released, Purple Cows were very much in! Being different suddenly became a trend that was so religiously followed. Actually so much followed that suddenly, being normal became the new fashion :o).

Jokes apart, this book by Oliver Jeffers is a children's version of The Purple Cow. Only, it doesn't really talk about standing out in the business as much as saying that being different could be so much fun. And how fashion trends go from initial rejection to passive aversion to almost Swine Flu-ishly feverish copying world-wide! ( Gangnam-ishly viral, to make it sound "in trend" as of now :o))

The Hueys ( they are just plain cute - plain and cute!) are a clone-ly lot of beings: they think the same, act the same, do the same and are just the same. That was the rule of the clan - Always same to same :o).

Then comes a stir in the form of Rupert. This Huey is suddenly taken by a whim and knits himself an orange jumper ( sweater).  Looking at his proud display, the Huey town goes into a state of violent shock at the eye sore. Rupert stands out like a sore thumb, didn't he know the rules of being a Huey! Tongues wag behind in disgust, baby Hueys cry looking at this aberration, Mama and Dada Hueys get plain sick, drop their things and get into little accidents just at the sight of this orange-clad anomaly.

But then Rupert's friend Gillespie thinks "Why not!" and he knits himself the same jumper. One is madness, but two different Hueys look curiously cool. Hueys start looking at the daring pair with rising admiration and start wondering "Hmm. Want that!".

And hell, no, wool(orange) breaks loose in Hueyland. Every Huey wants to be different and is busy knitting away orange jumpers. Orange jumpers jump high up in the trend so much.Each Huey thinks it is so different, so Orange and cool. Suddenly all the Hueys in town look different ( and hence, the same :o)).

All until Rupert decides to wear a Hat.

Quite rightly, Gillespie hits his head, perhaps imagining the frantic fever that is going to grip the town again to "look cool and different". The good thing about the ending is that all Hueys are shown wearing totally different outfits and being very happy about being different.

Such a wonderful story, and this is not at all the first time I am wondering if any of these books is meant only for children at all. I rather INSIST that adults get to read these books. They should really be used with older children as well as a discussion point on how fashion trends are created and more important, how it is actually quite nice to be different and original.

My boys loved the story very, very much. The best part of the book is the seemingly very simply drawings. Which means that the kids have created dozens of Hueys since the day they read this book.

I found out that you can design your own Hueys here. Something that the younger children love to do over and over.

You can get a sneak peek into the book here.

And there is a reading of the book here.

Oliver Jeffers says he was greatly influenced in childhood by Maurice Sendak's works, and in particular one of my favourite books,  Where the Wild things are.

He has written many other sweet, quirky, funny and subtly touching books - Lost and Found, How to Catch a Star, This Moose belongs to Me, Stuck, Heart and the Bottle to name some.

The New Jumper. A trendsetter!

Where the Wild Things are

Author: Maurice Sendak
Ages: 3+

After my last post about the graphic and scary illustrations and demons in stories being like similes and metaphors for man's negative qualities, I was somehow reminded of this wonderful book that we used to enjoy reading a lot - Where the Wild Things are. I somehow forgot the author and asked my elder son if he knew. He went, "Oh! That's the book President Obama read to kids, it is by Maurice Sendak. Did you know he died last year? Did you know he was Jewish? And he wrote the book in 1963?".

That was information overloading for me. I quietly went to wiki to check out the facts, and they were bang on. It turns out that they had a special assembly about Maurice Sendak in school and listened to President Obama reading the book out to kids. Nice gesture by the school, I thought.

Imagine this situation. You get angry over a silly thing and then you keep on sticking to the angry mode, mainly because you've rather started revelling in it. You do and say things that you would regret later. You want to stop it, but you are enjoying the vent and rampage. And you continue brooding and sulking until the point where you realize it doesn't make sense any more. You actually long for the other person's attention, you want to be laughing with them and be normal again. That last bit of letting go isn't quite easy, as your indignant ego tries to pull you back into the anger. Finally, when you snap out of it, you find that a mega cuddle and smile puts everything back on track and you're back to normal.

Children go through this, too. They act wild sometimes and when they get told off , they sulk and stamp around for a bit too long, until they realize their mistake and quietly come behind you, eyes begging for a hug. A cuddle and a kiss and they are instantly transformed into tame puppies waiting to be pampered :o).

Max, the boy in this story, is like that. One day he exceeds his naughtiness levels and his annoyed mother calls him a wild thing. Max shouts at her that he would eat her up. So he gets grounded with a " No food go to bed" order in his bedroom. I guess he either sleeps off and dreams, or perhaps does an angry role play with his toys and the play tent that he sets up in his room. The room transforms into a forest and he sets sail in a boat to a land where the wild things are.

Now these things, they are wild, they have gnashing teeth and claws and look monstrous, but there is something really timid about them. Some pages have just illustrations and no text, but the pictures tell the story even better. Max tames all of them by looking into their eyes and then he becomes their king. They go on a rampage and create a great ruckus, until Max gets bored and sends them off to bed without food. Then his anger fizzles out and he feels really lonely and longs for home. But the wild things don't want to let him go. He finally somehow manages to come home to the smell of food ( of course mums seldom mean what they say!) in his table and he happily eats away.

When this came out as a movie, I was very much looking forward to seeing it. But somehow it was never meant to be. Not yet, at least. I read in reviews that the movie is on the mellow side and plays to the melancholic emotions. One of the reviews said "This movie portrays how children can lose their fear only by losing their innocence". Heavy, but eerily true sometimes.  I wonder if this ended up as one of those Disney movies which look like it is designed for the kids, but has all adult emotions tied inside. There's a child inside all of us, but alas! there ain't no grown ups inside kids! The good thing is that the children usually don't make the adult link, they just enjoy the movie as it is.

Max is wild. He is playful and has a vivid imagination. He has fear, anger, pride. He shouts at loved ones and then repents. He longs for love, forgiveness and acceptance. He is like us. He is us. (check your simile and metaphor!).

Here's an animated version in Youtube. And an audio book.

Some of the parents might object to the illustrations and the bad qualities exhibited by Max, and some children may not probably like seeing hideous creatures ( only as hideous as the illustration in the cover, maybe with some extra toothy grins and claws)

Where the Wild Things are. Right within us!

Funnybones

Author : Allan Ahlberg
Illustrator: Janet Ahlberg
Age: 3+

I have noticed that stories that strike a chord with our daily life experiences get to become a great hit with every member of the family. Funnybones is just that type of book. Written by husband Allan and illustrated by wife Janet Ahlberg, this was created in the 80s and is still going strong.

From all my unique experiences of living with an Aquarian husband, I have learned to accept and enjoy the fact that unplanned outings can be so much fun, too. And it is a very tough proposition for a strict Capricorn like me who is a stickler for routines and HATES surprises!

Once DH asked me to get dressed and get into the car with the kids and said we were going on a long ride. The long ride turned out to be a 3-day, 300 miles trip all the way up the breath-taking Scottish Highlands! Good thing I always have a spare set of clothes for everyone, but still we had to pick up underwear and some tops to go with our live-in Jeans and other toiletries and essentials on the go :o). Stayed in hotels in remote places and the memories of that trip linger on even now, the best trip I have ever had in my lifetime. No sticking to time, no ticking off places, no packing stuff, no breaking heads over routes and stops. It was daring, chilling, thrilling and it tasted precisely like liberation and freedom, even heaven!

The mantra is to let go of plans but not the fun mood and just flow on. Every once in a while, at least.

This story is just about that.

On a dark dark hill
there was a dark dark town.
In the dark dark town
there was a dark dark street.
In the dark dark street
there was a dark dark house.
In the dark dark house
there was a dark dark staircase.
Down the dark dark staircase
there was a dark dark cellar.
And in the dark dark cellar……some skeletons lived

A big skeleton, a little skeleton and a dog skeleton. One day they feel quite bored and plan to go out in the dark with the agenda of scaring people and having fun. They go outside and enter a park. They start playing around and in the process, the skeleton dog crashes and gets all his bones dislodged. The little and big skeleton try assembling, getting it wrong several times before fixing it back the right way.

Which brought to my mind a fresh picture of the tent pack-up distaster we had: me screaming out the instructions, frustrated Dad not really getting the hang of it, boys chasing bunnies with obnoxious screams and finally us realizing that all it needed was a "Hips don't Lie Shakira style" shake and flip of the rim to get it back inside the bag :o) . Funny they never let you in on these cheats in the instructions paper.

Anyways, the skeletons don't find anybody to frighten and end up in a skeleton zoo and have fun again. Finally they realize they haven't really achieved the purpose of their outing, but there's just nobody on the streets to scare! So they decide to scare each other, but fail miserably, albeit enjoying themselves a lot.

In the end is a little twist to the story. A frightening thing does happen, but who scares who?!? Eventually they go back home ( and I loved this bit so much, it is always just the thing we say when we open the doors and get in after a nice trip!) and unanimously agree that " That was fun!" even if they hadn't quite succeeded in what they planned to do. They then realize it is getting light and they should be in bed. The skeletons wish each other good morning and go to bed for a tight sleep.

There is enough repetition that will appeal to little ones and they will love the pictures and the friendly skeletons. There are many Funnybones books featuring these skeletons and my son would always ask me to pick one if he saw them in the library. We also discovered it was a hit television series as well.

Funnybones. Rib-tickling read!

Dogger

Author: Shirley Hughes
Ages: 3+

Toddlers love cuddlies. They have their own favourite which is inevitably the tattiest of the lot that gets paraded to every single place they have been to.  For years. They take joy rides in prams and strollers and then trikes and scooters, get fed all sorts of sticky things, jump puddles, have little "accidents" and get mended, get baptized in muddy ponds, share the couch for TV shows and demand theatre and air-travel seats, get sick with the kids and finally get turned a new leaf by the warm tumbles of the washing machine ( but ONLY when the toddler is not clutching on to it dearly, which is not a daily, not even a monthly occurrence, and hence the tattiness!).

If the above strikes a chord with you, Dogger is just the story you'd love! Dave loves Dogger, his little toy puppy dog. His sister Bella has loads of toys and shares her bed with all of them, but Dave loves Dogger and only Dogger. On a sunny day, Dave goes with mum ( and Dogger, of course!) to pick Bella from school, then they have some leisurely fun and by the time they get home, Dogger is long lost! Nothing could console Dave, not even the generous offer of one of her precious teddies by Bella.  Mum turns the house upside down ( oh! that frantic search that has happened so many times!) and Dad searches the garden, but to no avail. Dave goes to bed a sad little boy (and your heart goes out for him).

The next day is School Fair day. Dave and Bella get taken to the stalls and fun is in the air. Bella has some luck with the raffle draw and wins a huge Teddy and is beside herself with joy, but Dave remains forlorn thinking of his beloved Dogger.

Right then, what do they see in the toy sale table right behind all the toys - Dogger, with a price tag of 5p! Unable to find Mum to get the money, Dave is dejected because he is close to losing the toy. And lose it he does. To a little girl who jumps ahead of him and pays for Dogger. What happens next is a very brave and compassionate display of sibling affection saving Dogger. And all is well that ends well with a happy Dave taking Dogger to bed that night!

It is hard to believe that this story was written  decades ago and has rightfully won the test of time. Dogger still features in all the "Best Childrens' book of all times" lists. It was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1977, the exact year I was born. Shirley Hughes has not just written a story with children at the heart, she has also illustrated it so! The beautiful pictures tell the story themselves and take you to those good old days when life wasn't as complicated and children had unadulterated, simple play times and fun.  But the core values in the story hold just as good even now, and is something to quote to children as an example, a message of selfless love and affection that they should carry for a life time.

Here's a nice reading of Dogger online.

Dogger, Puppy love at first sight!

Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth

Written and Illustrated by Eric Carle. Ages: 3+

The magical world of Eric Carle needs no introduction. There wouldn't be a school or a house without a copy of  "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Ever since he illustrated first for "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see", he has been creating his own stunning picture books that have been translated into many languages and have sold millions and millions of copies world-wide.

I adore his rich illustrations that are basically collages of tissue papers that he paints in different colours. They create such unique, vivid backgrounds for his stories. And his stories are great picks from nature itself and so, are interesting as well as educational! He is also such a benign, sweet person and a nature lover himself. This really shows in all of his books.

One of our favourite reads of Eric Carle is " Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth". It is set in a luscious amazon rainforest setting and the main character is the slow, slow, slow Sloth. While all the animals pass him by and question his sluggish attitude, the sloth simply hangs on unconcerned and unaffected by it all. Finally he delivers one of the best "punch dialogues" ever that has to be read to be relished! It is the perfect punch for pushy people who are always rushing through life and also just the right attitude to carry!

This book really made me introspect my impatience with kids. Children are learning all the time and catching up on new things every day. Every child is different and takes his/her own time to grasp and do things. But all parents tend to hurry the children up in anger or exasperation sometime or the other and simply accuse them as being lazy. And how so wrong we are!

The kids loved the different words they can use to defend themselves when mum shouts "lazybones, hurry up!" And I have to admit, I learned a word or two from the sloth as well! As if it is all not enough, the closing page has a collection of exotic rainforest animals in striking collages and is a great hit with the inquisitive kids.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, but quite steadily, the Sloth has captured our hearts!

Here's Eric Carle talking about his inspiration for this book.

And here's a reading of the book itself in Youtube.

Finally, here's an example of how slow (but cute!) a sloth is...