The Places You Will Go

Fuzz Ball in a Top Hat

Tots to Teens
By DAPHNE LEE

IT’S easy to understand why bears are so popular with children (and many adults). They are attractively rotund, cuddly (looking) creatures which children readily identify with through that favourite of toys, the teddy bear. There are plenty of bears in children's lit. Pooh is arguably the most famous of them all, thanks, in part, to Disney. But my favourite literary bear is Little Bear.

He is the creation of Else Holmelund Minarik, although my impression of him is largely formed by the illustrations, done by my favourite illustrator of all time, Maurice Sendak!

Picture Book of the Month: Kate, the Cat and the Moon

May 2008

Kate, the Cat and the Moon
By David Almond
Illustrated by Stepehn Lambert
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books, 32 pages

Kate wakes one moonlit night and is invited, by a white-furred, blue-eyed cat, to join him on an adventure in dreamland. The best part of this escapade is that Kate experiences it as a pretty grey-striped cat! Even the moon morphs into a beautiful feline and joins Kate and her new friend on their journey, through the dream-filled skies. This book is very like Lane Smith's "The Big Pets" in its magical, dreamy feel, and the glowing illustrations that look like they've been dipped in milk!

Picture Book of the Month: The Way Back Home

April 2008

The Way Back Home Author

By Oliver Jeffers

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, 32 pages

OLIVER Jeffers' books tend to feature little boys with big dreams, big hearts and big appetites. Here, we have another boy who, finding an aeroplane in his cupboard, flies off in it. The sky's not the limit for this young adventurer: he flies past clouds, stars and planets and, finally, lands on the moon when he runs out of petrol. Luckily, he's befriended by an alien who's suffered the same fate. Hopefully, the pair can figure out how to get out of the predicament they're in. And if they don't, at least they'll have company on the moon.

Saying Goodbye

"Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes," said Benjamin Franklin.

Death is not a common topic in children's literature, but it is something that kids have to deal with and books help to explore the topic, which most adults find hard to discuss with one another let alone little ones. 

Ways to Live Forever is the story of a dying boy from his own point of view. Other YA books that deal with death and dying include winner of the Costa Children's Award, The Bower Bird by Ann Kelley, and Garbrielle Zevin's Elsewhere.

Michael Rosen's The Sad Book (a picture book, illustrated by Quentin Blake) was written in response to the death of his son Eddie.

And Badger's Parting Gifts by Susan Varley (illustrated by Maurice Sendak) tells the tale of Old Badger who senses that he will soon be leaving his friends and gathers them so he can say a fond farewell.

Picture Book of the Month: Zen Ties

March 2008
ZEN TIES
Written & Illustrated by Jon Muth
Publisher: Scholastic, 40 pages
ISBN: 978-0439634250
Addy and Michael meet Stillwater, a wise and gentle giant panda who tells them stories based on zen parables. In Zen Ties, Stillwater's nephew comes to visit. The young panda is called Hi and speaks in verse: zen-influenced haiku ("Hi, Koo!" say the children, pun intended on Muth's part). Stillwater introduces the siblings and Hi to an old woman who seems surly but is simply lonely. Miss Whitaker helps Michael learn to spell and he wins a red ribbon at a spelling bee. The friends all celebrate by wearing red ties - zentai is Japanese for "whole" or "togetherness" and Zen Ties celebrates the joy of friendship and being part of a circle of friends.

All Creatures Great and Small

There was a Potter who never wielded a wand but who was, nonetheless, very good at creating magic.

Picture Book of the Month: Come On, Rain!

January 2008

COME ON, RAIN!
By Karen Hesse
Illustrated by Jon Muth
Publisher: Scholastic Press, ,40 pages
(ISBN:978-0590331258)

You can imagine this story being performed at a spoken-word gig. Karen Hesse's words dance like sunspots on your skin, trickle like cold water down the back on your neck, ripple across your consciousness - rumbling like thunder, sizzling like an egg frying in a pan full of butter. When the rain comes, you feel like you could stick out your tongue and catch a few raindrops. Jon Muth's watercolours shimmer with heat and then dissolve in silvery wet streaks as the heavens open and the rain finally comes ...

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.

A Puff of Magic

By DAPHNE LEE

Tots to Teens

PARENTS, do you remember the song Puff, the Magic Dragon by folk group Peter, Paul and Mary? It was released in 1963 and reached the number two spot on the American pop charts. The song was banned in Singapore and Hong Kong because of its supposed references to drugs, particularly marijuana, but lyricist Peter Yarrow insists that Puff is simply a song about the passing pf childhood and the loss of innocence.