The Places You Will Go

Say "No!" to Sham-Pooh! We Want the Real Pooh!

By DAPHNE LEE

Tots to Teens

MOST children now, if you say Winnie-the-Pooh to them, will think of that saffron-yellow tub of lard in a two-sizes-two-small red T-shirt, star of Disney's several series, all of which are based on A. A. Milne's books about the "bear of very little brain".

The latest Disney series is called My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and as usual, there is an annoyingly catchy theme song and characters who Milne would not recognise from his books.

Watching any of Disney's Pooh series makes me want to wring the bear's neck and also bash his friends, especially Tigger and Rabbit, to a pulp. Pooh, Piglet and Tigger are not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer (understandable since they are toys who have stuffing for brains), but their stupidity reaches new, unchartered depths in the telly series. And the usually shrewd Rabbit (my favourite character in the original books) appears to be suffering from some form of dementia - worse still, Disney portrays him as a rather effeminate and neurotic elderly male.

But back to Edward Bear (that's Pooh's real name, although we also learn that he once lived in the forest under the name of Sanders) - the books he appears in are Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). The former introduces us to the bear and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga and Roo, and Rabbit and Owl (the only two of the gang who are real animals and so, in theory, more brainy than the rest). Pooh has a growly voice and he does Stoutness Exercises. It's established that he is rather greedy, a bit of a coward, quite brainless, but perfectly amiable.

And the award goes to ...

I wonder if Malaysia will ever have its own awards for children's literature. Will the standards of writing and the number of children's books published ever call for the sort of recognition given by prizes like the Newberry and Caldecott, and the Carnegie and Greenaway, or should the awards come first, acting as encouragement to writers and illustrators of children's books?

In Singapore the National Book Council held a picture book writing/illustrating contest a couple of years ago. If I remember correctly, out of the submissions, six picture books were published. I didn't consider them particularly interesting or inspiring, well-written or -drawn. And, speaking to several writers and artists who had submitted work, I think the NBC still has very old-fashioned ideas of what makes a good children's book.

A friend and I are toying with the idea of applying for a grant with which to start a similar contest. Stay tuned to see if anything comes of it. As I keep saying, so much to do, so little time ... 

Hot Men of Children's Literature

In Tots to Teens today, I linked Fuse #8's final entry for her Hot Men of Children's Lit series. I'm starting my own list on this blog and choose Oliver Jeffers as my first Hot Man :-D!

Jeffers is an artist, designer and illustrator. He has written and illustrated four picture books: How to Catch a Star (2004), Lost and Found (2005), The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006) and The Way Back Home (2007).

Jeffers is also a founder-member of the art collective OAR, along with Rory Jeffers, Mac Premo and Duke Riley. OAR's exhibitions so far include 9 Days in Belfast, book and the award winning BUILDING.

Jeffers was the official World Book Day illustrator for 2007.

He is from Northern Ireland and has a degree in visual communication from the University of Ulster. He lives in Belfast.

Red-headed rebel

Pippi Longstocking annoys me to death, but I'd still choose her over Pollyanna.

Cinema Paradiso

Tots to Teens

By DAPHNE LEE

Pictures That Tell the Best Stories

PICTURE books work as gifts for children of all ages. And then there are illustrated novels, like Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scholastic Press, 544 pages, ISBN: 978-0439813785), which is on The New York Times' list of the 10 best illustrated children's books for 2007. 

Hugo Cabret was also been nominated in the young people literature category of The National Book awards. (Sherman Alexie won for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - more about this book in the near future.)

Picture Book of the Month: The Dancing Tiger

July 2007

The Dancing Tiger
By Malachy Doyle
Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Francher
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books, 32 pages

One moonlit night, a little girl sees, from her bedroom window, a tiger dancing in the woods. She goes to investigate and is asked by the big, graceful cat not to tell anyone his secret. In exchange, he will let her dance with him on moonlit nights. And so, the little girl and the tiger dance together, every moonlit night, through the seasons and the years, until she is an old lady. Her great-granddaughter then takes her place and the dancing continues.

The illustrations are by Steve Johnson and Lou Francher, who, with their paintbrushes, magically bathe each picture spread with the milky glow of moonlight. The painting of the girl and the tiger skipping through fields of bluebells is especially enchanting. Malachy Doyle tells the story in rhyme that is simple and gentle in tone, making The Dancing Tiger perfect for bedtime.

Crab Village

I've owned this book, Crab Village, by Julia Clark, for a few years now, but only got around to reading it this past week.

It's a charming, slightly surreal story set in a seaside village. Fact and fantasy mingle seamlessly and the magical is described in such a matter-of-fact fashion that it becomes quite  a natural thing to expect and enjoy.

I was drawn to the book by its illustrations, by Bernard Brett, which are black ink, with lots of details done in simple lines.

Ballet Shoes

Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes (first published in 1936) was illustrated by Ruth Gervis.

When Gervis was asked to illustrate the book, the publishers had no idea that she was Streatfeild's sister.

There is a bit in The Vicarage Family, which is based on Streatfeild's girlhood, where Isobel (the Ruth Gervis character) talks about illustrating Vicky's (Noel Streatfeild) books when they are adults.

Another Lucky Dip

As Dogger by Shirley Hughes has won the public's vote for all-time favourite Kate Greenaway medalist, I thought I would feature illustrations by her, from Another Lucky Dip, a collection of short stories by Ruth Ainsworth.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I thought it'd be interesting to highlight three illustrations, by different illustrators, of the same scene in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (originally titled Alice's Adventures Underground) by Lewis Carroll.

I thought it'd be fairly easy to find a well-known scene/image that had been depicted in all three of the editions of Alice that I own and am familiar with, but this wasn't so.

Alice, getting to grips (literally) with a live flamingo as a croquet mallet, is the scene I finally chose, illustrated by Lewis Carroll himself, John Tenniel, and Helen Oxenbury.