By DAPHNE LEE
From Tots to Teens, StarMag
IT'S good to see more children's books being written and published by Malaysians. Last week I was introduced to an independent publisher who is dedicated to publishing Malaysian stories. Oyez! Books has a list of titles that are illustrated by Malaysian artists and is on the look-out for Malaysians who wish to write for children. More on this publishing company and its founder, Linda Tan, in another column.
This week, I'd like to highlight a new book published by Marshall Cavendish. Timeless Tales of Malaysia is a collection of 11 folktales, retold by Tutu Dutta. Born in India, Dutta grew up in Malaysia. However, she now spends much of her time away from the country as she's married to a Malaysian diplomat whose next posting is to Cuba!
Dutta has always been interested in folktales, legends and myths, which, she says are "little capsules of culture, history and also human nature". She read and researched a great many stories before selecting those that appear in Timeless Tales. Some of them were tales Dutta remembered from her childhood; others she had read on the Internet and discussion forums; a few were from travel articles and also from published collections. The final selection was based solely on what appealed to Dutta most. "First of all, they had to have an interesting plot and the possibility of character development," she explained to me via email, adding that she also favoured stories that end with twist. Most importantly, the stories had to "speak" to her.
Interestingly, the central characters in most of the 11 tales are female. Many are princesses; some are commoners who marry princes; there is a foolish young lady who turns into a mermaid as a result of her greed; a mother who is literally swallowed up by despair; and a young beauty whose arrogance causes the death of any man who marries her.
Although Dutta says that she did not deliberately select stories with female protagonists, "it's quite possible that I have an unconscious preference for female-centred stories. I think only The Kelumpang Shoot Child was selected intentionally as an advocate for the girl-child - definitely, the preference for the male-child in many Asian culture needs to be addressed."
Timeless Tales is a beautifully designed book - it has hardcovers, sepia-tinted paper, and coloured illustrations. The first letter of each tale is decorated with fine vines and flowers. Some very pretty and detailed patterns also appear in many of the illustrations, for example on the clothes of the characters and the depiction of lattice work, jewellery, vegetation and household items. Dutta actually drew all the pictures - she made pencil sketches, which were then inked in before each drawing was scanned. The colours were then added digitally by Lee Jin Jin of Marshall Cavendish, and I have to say the effect is quite impressive as the tones and textures of the colours are more varied than I have come to expect of digital work.
Dutta's drawings have the look of 1920s Art Deco illustrations, with symmetric patterns, geometric shapes and stylised figures. The rich, bright colours make Dutta's pictures of flowers, trees and shrubs particularly beautiful. However, her human heads lack expression and character.
As for Dutta's writing, on first sight, the large blocks of, often uninterrupted, text might put off a child, and even an adult who might be expected to read these tales to a child. However, once you get stuck in, you'll find the stories interesting. Still, I do think they could be improved upon by being more descriptive and also if more dialogue were used to break up the long narrative passages.
My personal favourite story is Split Stone, Hollow Stone, which is an unexpectedly dark tale of a woman who is consumed by bitterness and unfulfilled desire, brought about, partly, by her children. Here's a story that many mothers might (guiltily) relate to - I can imagine it as the topic of a paper on the hidden feminist imagery in children's literature! I'm glad that it's been included in Timeless Tales as I believe some might consider it too grim for children.
Dutta has two more books out this year - both will be published by MPH Publishing under the author's married name Tutu Dutta Yean. These are also story collections, but are not confined to Malaysian tales. Instead, they include stories from several countries from across the Pacific Rim. The books also contain pen illustrations by Dutta.
Full Interview with Tutu Dutta
I've always been interested in researching, reading and writing (retelling) folktales, legends & myths. They are little capsules of culture, history and also human nature. But I wrote this collection specifically for Marshall-Cavendish as I was given a publishing contract.
I read tons of stories before selecting the eleven in the book. The stories come from various sources - a few I heard about or read in childhood, some from Internet discussion forums, a few from newspaper articles (travel writers) and some from published books. I try to re-research all of them. Sometimes the story is just a fragment and I piece it together from a few sources.
I made the selection based purely on the fact that the stories appealed to me. First of all, they must have an interesting plot and the possibility of character development and perhaps a surprise or twist at the end. But more importantly they have to 'speak' to me. It's hard to explain - I just prefer some stories over others.
No, it was not a conscious decision to select stories with female protagonists. I just found these particular stories more interesting. But it's quite possible that I have an unconscious preference for female-centered stories. I think only 'The Kelumpang Shoot Child' was selected intentionally as an advocate for the girl-child (Definitely, the preference for the male-child in many Asian culture needs to be addressed).
MPH is publishing two of my books. No surprise here as they are both collections of folktales & legends. But the stories come from several countries from across the Pacific Rim (including Malaysia & Borneo) and is perhaps wider in scope. The other difference is that the MPH books are positioned as 'young adults' books i.e. aimed at a 14+ readership. At the moment, they are referred to as 'The Qilin Book' and 'The Phoenix Book'.
I decided to illustrate my own book because I had a definite idea about the style of the drawings/illustrations I wanted for the book (the publisher also requested that I do the illustrations myself). However, I am not an artist and I don't have any particular favourite medium. All the drawings were drawn by hand using pencils first and then inked in later and finally scanned and edited by computer. Then the drawings were coloured using photoshop -refer to the Acknowledgements on the last page.
My favourite illustrations were generally the outdoor scenes with lots of nature & foliage e.g. Princess Hidden Moon in her moon garden (pg 19), which I thought was languid and melancholic; the seven princesses in the forest grove on pg 24 & 25 for the vibrant colours (thanks to Lee Jin Jin), the mother and child on pg 41 is quite serene, the illustration on pg 60 is rather dark and sinister, conveyed by the cave and the sinister looking trees (and Jin Jin managed to covey the mood very well with her colours) and of course the illustrations on pages 89, 90 & 91 have a sense of drama!
I enjoyed writing and illustrating the 'Gift of the Winter Melon' because of the upbeat story and the element of humour.
More of the same, (also refer to Q5). I would also like to write an original chapter book for young adults. It's also possible that I might collaborate with an illustrator instead of drawing my own illustrations!
My favourite children's writers are: Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton, J.K. Rawlings, C.S. Lewis, Citra Banerjee Divakaruni, Chris Wooding, Jonathan Stroud, Alan Garner and many more (mostly sans illustrations). I also enjoy reading manga by Rumiko Takahasi and the Japanese mangaka group CLAMP.
The state of Malaysian Children's Literature? I feel there are many locally-produced children's book out there but the quality in terms of research, writing, illustrations and production is poor. Perhaps publishers are not investing enough to develop children's literature in the country? But one can't always blame publishers if the public i.e. parents do not support local writers, illustrators and publishers. Parents do not give enough importance to buying good quality books for their children but are willing to splurge large sums of money on computer games, CDs etc. Teachers could also play a part in promoting reading among their students. The only way to go forward is a paradigm shift on the part of both parents, teachers, publishers and children!
it's a lovely movie. actress is the girl who played Lyra in the film adaptation of His Dark Materials (also good book that I really enjoyed!) - and she's really engaging on screen.
Posted by: buddhaphish | Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 16:30
Hello! No haven't watched it yet. I adore all Elizabeth Goudges's books - she writes for adults and children.
Posted by: Daphne | Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 11:35
From the cover of the book, the illustration looks beautiful and she doesn't consider herself as an artist? It just makes people like me with really no talent in art (but are secret wannabe artists) feel very bad. :)
By the way, Daphne, have you seen the movie Secret of the Moonacre? It's a film adaptation of The White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. I read this book as a kid and loved it, and it was surreal watching the movie and realizing that it was a book I once loved! I need to find it again and reread it...
Posted by: buddhaphish | Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 11:29