Books To Buy and Keep

Three new books and a classic are what I'm recommending this month in Reads Monthly. Kinokuniya Bookstores is offering a 25% discount on all the books is available until 10th June, if you cut out the coupon (only available in StarMag).

Every picture tells a story

From Tots to teen: By DAPHNE LEE

HAVE you never felt comfortable in your own skin? Perhaps you think you’d be better suited as an orang utan, a wild boar or even a camel!   

In Alligator Boy (Harcourt Children’s Books, 32 pages, ISBN: 978-015-206-0923), a boy decides that his inner-him is an alligator and becomes one, much to the dismay of his poor mum.   

However, the vet assures her that all will be well ... so long as her son keeps up with his studies of course!   

I would have thought that one of the attractions of alligatorhood would be not having to go to school and instead move to Florida and hang out in a swamp.   

Oh well, Alligator Boy doesn’t seem to mind school and in fact he does rather well there, as a sharp-toothed reptile. Imagine, being able to vanquish the class bully simply by grinning! 

Diane Goode’s illustrations make me wish one of my sons would turn into an alligator (maybe the one who already behaves like one!). Read your kids this story (it’s written in rhyme that just bounces and flies) and they might end up wishing they were alligators, too. Hmm ... I wonder if there’ll be a sequel in which Alligator Boy eats his parents up! 

Speaking of animals that might make a meal out of us, Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart have finally published Mega Beasts (Candlewick Press, 12 pages, ISBN: 978-076-362-2305), the third (and last) book in their Encyclopedia Prehistorica pop-up series.   

The first two books featured dinosaurs and sea monsters, respectively, and this one showcases gigantic mammals, strange birds and fearsome-looking flying lizards.   

Sabuda and Reinhart’s pop-ups are as intricate and beautiful as ever, and although this book comprises just 12 pages, each of the six two-page spreads features a large centre pop-up plus four smaller ones.   

The text delivers the bare facts of the animals featured but words are obviously not the main reason why anyone would buy this great book. 

If you’re looking for a unique gift for a child who enjoys drawing and colouring, The Big Book for Little Hands (Tate Publishing, 58 pages, ISBN: 978-185-437-7531) is the perfect choice.   

Marie-Pascale Cocagne and Brigget Strevens-Marzo’s ring-bound volume is full of lovely illustrations (of animals, nature scene, toys and more) that have been left purposely incomplete.   

The idea is to get the little owner of the book to put his own finishing touch to the pictures. What you’ll end up with is a book that will provide many moments of laughter and joy when you look at it in future years, when your tiny ones are all grown-up.   

I’m getting a stack to give away as presents to all my favourite kiddies. I even know a few adults (myself included) who would enjoy completing the unfinished drawings! 

Finally, one of my favourite graphic novels, from way back when I hadn’t even heard of the term! My mum had a strange aversion to comics except for anything by Lat and she loved Kampung Boy (First Second, 144 pages, ISBN: 978-159-643-1218), the cartoonist’s fond look at his childhood in a village in Perak.   

The book was recently chosen by the American Library Association as one of the Top 10 graphic novels for teens and it has received rave reviews in the States where it’s been published in a smaller format (very handy for your handbag) than our local edition, and with a front-cover blurb by Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons!   

For modern Malaysian children and teens (especially those living in the city), Lat’s story offers a very real, personal and humorous look at rural life more than 40 years ago.   

Yes, it was possible to have fun without a PlayStation. And no, one didn’t shrivel up and die of boredom without satellite TV!   

Happy Reading!