Of Thee I Sing - A Letter to my Daughters

Author: Barack Obama
Illustrator: Loren Long
Ages: 5+

Now I do not know much of American Politics ( for that matter, much of any politics of anywhere just wafts over my head as a barely audible mumble!). I usually do not like to pick up and read books just because the author is larger than life and famous. And I do not know of any politics behind the characters that Obama has chosen to include in this book.

For me, Obama, he is different. Not as a President, but as a very strong, dependable, gentle family man. I have always admired the way he treats his three girls. I adore his tender, fatherly exchanges with his daughters, his little teases and inside jokes, loving smiles, gentle hugs and kisses. You would instantly believe he is that perfect dad and husband. Mostly the dad part is what always tugs at my heart strings. Because I am a BIG fan of my Dad! A big fan of all daddies who truly love their children and guide them without preaching, encourage them without demeaning their tiny achievements, empower them with guidance and independence and love them unconditionally. Because that is my dad's gift to me, and it is the most priceless gift that I hold on to ever so tightly.

Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?
Have I told you that you are creative?
Have I told you that you are smart?
Have I told you that you are brave?
Have I told you that you are a healer?
Have I told you that you have your own song?
Have I told you that you are strong?
Have I told you how important it is to honor others' sacrifices?
Have I told you that you are kind?
Have I told you that you don't give up?
Have I told you that you are an explorer?
Have I told you that you are inspiring?
Have I told you that you are part of a family?
Have I told you to be proud to be American?
Have I told you that America is made up of people of every kind?
Have I told you that they are all a part of you?
Have I told you that you are one of them
and that you are the future?
and have I told you that I love you?

That is the simple and yet strong poem from a dad to his girls. And for each of these, he points out to a famous American personality who inspired the world - like Neil Armstrong, Georgia O'Keeffe, Martin Luther King, Einstein, Helen Keller. Together, they make a beautiful message of love and wisdom.

The illustrations by Loren Long are very delicately done. It is wonderful to see that all of the famous personalities have been drawn as little children as well. It kind of makes the children see that great people were all little kids just like them - boys and girls who just dreamed big and believed in their dream and worked hard to make it a reality.

And it is refreshing to see that he has picked up personalities from different walks of life, different background and gender - just how parents of today should encourage, guide and love children. I liked that a lot.

Here is a youtube reading of the book.

I am glad I picked this one up, we really enjoyed reading it.

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Author: Chris Van Allsburg
Ages: 5+

Warning: Extreme over usage of the word mystery, because, well, it is an extremely mysterious book!

When you find a beautiful story, you find yourself getting transported to the world it portrays. When you find a story though, with a title, a picture and just one line as caption, you are treated to not one, but a thousand possible worlds and stories and the result is just endless hours of intrigue and extreme suspense. And when you find a book that has 14 such pictures, it is a riot of imagination! And that is exactly what this book is.

Mulled over by many and attempted to be solved by many more, Chris Van Allsburg's book is truly a sensation. And the mystery and suspense became too much to bear that a group of choicest authors from all over the world ( including Stephen King, Louis Sachar and Chris himself) put down to pen their own versions and published it as a book, "The Chronicles of Harris Burdick".

As if this isn't mysterious enough, the origin of the book is another mystery in itself. Chris saw a set of 14 drawings during a visit to a children's book publisher, Mr Peter Wenders. Mr Wenders explained that thirty years before that day, a Mr Harris Burdick came into his office with these pictures, which were samples from the 14 stories he had written.

Mr Wenders was fascinated by the drawings and wanted to read the stories. Mr Burdick left the samples with him and agreed to bring the stories the next day, but he never turned up. Mr Wenders was never able to find him, and Mr Burdick remained a big mystery. Inspired by the drawings, many children including Mr Wenders' had written so many stories about each picture. Chris read the stories and was amazed at the endless possibilities and got inspired himself. He reproduced these drawings and made them into a book including Mr Burdick's original captions as well, in the hope that it will inspire children of generations to come. I'm including a picture here with it's caption and you can see how hard it is to not imagine a story!

Title: A Strange Day in July. 
Caption: He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back.

This book has been used by teachers, parents, story competitions all over the world to stimulate the children's imagination. The drawings are stunning and in keeping with the black-and-white pencil drawing style that Chris has used to create so many timeless magical books like Jumanji, Zathura and my favourite one, The Polar Express. 

Chris' works have won many awards and have even inspired directors to create enchanting and extraordinary movies, all of them going on to become mega hits! And although Polar Express would always be my favourite as a book and also as an entrancing movie ( particularly during the Christmas season), it is always Robbie Williams in Jumanji who would come to my mind whenever I read any work of the author.

More at Chris' website here. Story Competitions and an opportunity to win signed copies here.

P.S: Many years later, the mystery of Harris Burdick became even more profound when another picture made by him was located elsewhere in a library collection. Read all about it here.

The Unboy Boy

Author: Richa Jha
Illustrator: Gautam Benegal
Ages: 5+

I always used to admire Georgina, or George, one of Enid Blyton's Famous Five . With a boy cut and boy's gut and always up for adventure, she was breaking gender cliches long before they started to be talked strongly about. I also admire parents who try to thwart these gender barriers and simply let kids be kids, playing with anything they fancy - girly or boyish. But of course most of the boys would be mud bathing, stick-fight holding boys and girls would be pretty-in-pink girls and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all! Like the author Richa Jha says, there are no unboy boys or ungirl girls in the world. It is simply cool enough to be just the girl or boy that the child is!

Gagan is a gentle boy who loves nature, loves to explore nature, loves his teddy and stamp collection. He hates fighting games, harming even little ants, hates cape guns and battle stories. So he is promptly named "sissy", "scaredy cat", "chooha" by classmates and  made fun of. Even his Dadu tries hard to make him a Boy boy by getting him a cape gun. Only Mum understands how gentle and wonderfully kind he is and reassures him that he is perfect just the way he is and he makes her ever so proud.

All this continues until the class goes for a summer camp. Are the brave Boy boys really brave? Is gentle Gagan really a scaredy cat? All is unveiled in the last few pages of the book with a positive finishing note.

The illustrations are good and there is a part where the children peek into a dark staircase and imagine scary things, which has been done beautifully. Like all those exaggerated, vivid imaginary creatures and dark fears kids picture in their minds until the light is turned on! Reminded me of what kids talk about Prabhu's house in the "Anjali" movie. However, some parents may feel one or two illustrations look a bit scary, perhaps. Although I have to say they are not the gory type, just a little scary and very much aligned with the story line. :o)

Richa Jha writes @snuggle with picture books. I had previously written about her blog here. She has been kind enough to send us this beautiful book to read and review and the boys were so thrilled about it! Thank you so much Richa, we hope you continue to write more wonderful books in future!

Private and Confidential

Author: Marion Ripley
Illustrator: Colin Backhouse
Ages: 5+ years

Children are always intrigued by anything and everything that is prohibited to them. If I ever say to my little one " Never open Dad's draw, he has some really important documents in there", I can be 100% sure he is going to get a sneak peek at the earliest available opportunity. Not take anything from it, not even touch the contents, just take that forbidden peek. Was it the negative suggestion ( DO NOT DO IT!), was it the thrill of breaking the rule or was it simply innocent inquisitiveness, I have no idea.

On the other hand, have you ever tried even touching the little ones' diaries, journals or cereal boxes that have been sealed with miles of cello tape dangerously criss-crossed? Anything private and confidential to them MUST never even be looked at from a long distance And if you ever break that rule even by mistake, you pay a dear price indeed. (And if it happens to be your PMS day, well, you'll have my hugs and sympathies galore!).

My son picked this book up exactly because he loved the title - Private and Confidential. Like Dad's draw! What we did not expect was the thought-provoking story with a learning inside.

The girl in the story, ten year old Laura, gets a bit upset when a "private and confidential" letter comes for her mum by the post. Even her brother gets his own letter and she longs to get a letter in her name as well. By chance, her teacher at school says he has some interested children in Australia who would love to be pen-pals.

Laura wants a girl with similar interests, but instead gets to be pals with a boy, Malcolm. They write to each other and exchange photos. But after her reply, Laura never gets another letter from Malcolm. Just when she was beginning to wonder if he didn't like her picture, she receives a letter from Malcolm's sister explaining that Malcolm has to have his eye operated as he is almost blind. And that she was the one who'd read her letters to Malcolm, as Malcolm could only read Braille.

When Laura sits deeply saddened by the fact that Malcolm never told her this in the first place, her Dad tells her that Malcolm had just wanted to make friends, have happy talks and perhaps would have told her later. And he asks her how this would make any difference at all if he is her friend.

Very soon, Laura gets a letter from Malcolm in Braille ( The book actually has the Braille letter inside that you can feel and read) and is so overjoyed! And when he brother asks what it is about, she comments that it is "private and confidential"!!

What a beautiful way to introduce a sensitive topic! We took so much time figuring out the letter and my little boy was so overwhelmed by the difficulty. He instantly commented "But how is Malcolm not sad about it at all, why did he not tell Laura he had a problem or he couldn't read!". We re-read what Dad told Laura about it, and I thought it was such a beautiful discussion on how he doesn't think of it as a disability and does not want to project it so.

Malcolm never brings out any negativity regarding his condition. He is very positive and outgoing and it is a trait all of us could do with. Laura never feels sorry for Malcolm, but instead, starts writing to him in Braille. That is the beauty of friendship. And the beauty of children. They simply are full of love and understanding, pure and fresh. They take things by face value, never look up or look down, and when guided rightly, never discriminate. All that happens right after we "adult"erate them with our thoughts and actions.

Again, this is one of the stories that are going to be woven into our talks and discussions for a long time to come.

Private and Confidential. A moving story with a positive note. The Braille letter is an added touch of genius.

This Moose Belongs to Me

Author: Oliver Jeffers
Ages: 5+ to all adults who love quirky moose and a little enlightenment :o)

image courtesy:http://www.oliverjeffers.com/media/TMBTM-04-05_F.jpg 

I am a great admirer of the Geethacharam. Roughly translated, it means:

What has happened, has happened for good
What is happening, is for good
And what will happen would be for good
What possession that was truly yours did you lose
For you to cry over?
What did you bring (into the world) for you to lose it?
What did you create yourself that has been destroyed?
Whatever you took for yourself belongs here
And Whatever you give out belongs here, too
What is yours today will be another's tomorrow
And yet another's, another day.
This is the  principle of the world
This is the essence of creation, of evolution.

Who would have thought that all it takes is a Moose and a funny little boy to make kids understand such a beautiful lesson in life! Hats off to Oliver Jeffers for coming up with this gem of a book - This Moose belongs  to me.

Wilfred finds a moose in his garden, names him " Marcel" thereby proclaiming it belongs to him. He wanders in the woods and mountains with Marcel. He makes many rules for Marcel to follow, to train him. Some of them include serving drinks when he needs, getting things for him that are out of his reach, sheltering him from rain, not disturbing when he plays his records and many such funny rules. Marcel of course, is totally nonchalant. He cares two hoots about the rules, but by nature does things that sometimes tick off some of these rules.

And all is well until one day a lady comes up and calls Marcel as Rodrigo and says it is hers. Much to the fury of Wilfred, Marcel acts as if Wilfred didn't even exist and goes readily to the lady, who has an apple in her hand for him.

An angry Wilfred stomps back home, only to be tangled in a mess by a length of rope that he had left behind. But then he gets rescued by Marcel ( or so he thinks), who then goes to another man who comes by and calls him Dominic and claims that it is his moose!

Hidden inside all the funny, yet very perfect story and illustrations are so many beautiful facts stated in Gitacharam. The Moose belongs to no one, everyone simply assumes it is theirs. It comes and goes as it pleases, people get attached to it, but it is like an enlightened being, just not belonging to anyone. It comes from the woods, goes back into the woods.

You get caught in a mess, you are saved out of a mess. These things happen on no account of no merit from your side, it JUST happens.

And even if every now and then things might look as if they belong to you, it is JUST your illusion.

Accept it, you own nothing. Not even your children, as Gibran says.
(They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you....)

Oliver Jeffers' illustrations are also so perfect, the emotions beautifully shown and the book feels very much complete and wholesome with his drawings.

This Moose belongs to Me. This book belongs to me, or does it?!

A Child's Garden - a story of hope

Author and Illustrator: Michael Foreman
Ages: 5+

It is never easy to explain to children about war. It is always a very painful subject and brings only negative emotions and fears. But it would be a lot better to handle it by also talking about the extreme resilience of the human spirit, hope and healing.

Michael Foreman has done a nice work of handling both very delicately in "A Child's Garden". This book has been endorsed by Amnesty international UK as contributing to a better understanding of human rights and the values that underpin them.

A little boy lives in a world of ruins, dust and rubbles and barbed wires. Separating yesterday's neighbours and friends as strangers is a fence of barbed wire. The landscape is black and white and grey. Sad and barren, it has destruction written all over it.

One day after the rain, the boy sees a dash of hope. A tiny green plant is trying to establish its roots in his side of the fence. The boy immediately takes to it, and shelters it from the scorching sun with rags and broken bricks. He waters it with the rain water collected in old tins. The plant grows into a grapevine that clings on to the fence and spreads out its green tendrils everywhere.

Soon, the place is bursting with colour. Butterflies and birds make it home and children play under the shades. Laughter and merriness are back! The memory of ruins and war is forgotten for a while.

But not for long, though. The soldiers on the other side uproot the vine and throw it in a ditch on their side. The little boy looks over to the hills in the yonder where he once used to go with his Dad, but now are on the wrong side. Life is back to black, white and grey and the boy is overcome with grief.

 

image courtesy www.guardian.co.uk/books

Winter passes, cold and harsh. Spring arrives late, but the boy sees new green shoots both on his side and also the other side of the fence. A little girl tends to the vine on the other side, the soldiers not really minding it as the plant is now on their side. The vines grow on both the sides and the tendrils get entwined over the fence. And the colours are back! Together, the vines spread out shade and hope on either sides. The children forget all their worries and play happily, laughter sounding again!

And the boy comprehends a very positive message. Let the soldiers come again and uproot the vines. It wouldn't matter anymore. The roots are deep. The seeds multiply. The plants will find a way out again. They don't give up after being battered down. Instead, they simply endure it all and rise back in all their glory.

Maybe, one day, the fence would go as well. And the children would be able to climb up the lush hills and be friends again.

(There Are Ways
To Get There
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place.
Heal the world we live in, save it for our children)

Michael foreman has made the illustrations really stand out. It would have been a heavy responsibility to create a picture of a war-torn landscape, yet instilling hope and faith. It is not threatening, yet there is ample detail and the parents can talk as much or as less about the pictures. The author does not mention any countries, but it could be just any neighbours torn apart by war.

This book touched me in many ways. It was a reminder to count the blessings and be thankful for every safe morning I wake up to. And teach these values to my children - a message of caring, thankfulness, hope and extraordinary endurance.

 A Child's garden. Fragrant and promising.

P:S He has also illustrated Snow Tales, which I had reviewed previously.