The Places You Will Go

Editor: Kaye Webb

By DAPHNE LEE

 

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

 

WHEN I was a child growing up in the 70s and 80s in Segamat and Batu Pahat, Johore, I often received books as gifts. Many of them were Puffins, but I don’t think the publisher’s name was something I was really conscious of then. What I did notice, after a while, was the name Kaye Webb. It appeared on the synopsis page, above the book’s title – Editor: Kaye Webb.

 

I didn’t then know what an editor was or did, but I supposed she must be quite important to have her name appear even before the author’s own. Somehow, I decided that Kaye Webb was the name that guaranteed a good read – not Puffin Books, but Kaye Webb.

Five Get Updated

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

SO you must have heard by now that Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books will be revised in order to make them more accessible to 21^stcentury readers.

No, the five young detectives will not be carrying iPhones and Tweeting about their adventures: “Something fishy’s going on at the abandoned mill”, “High tea at Cherry Tree Farm was simply delicious and now I can’t button my jeans”; “I hate doing the dishes. I wish I were a boy L”; “Woof … wooooof .. grrr!”), but certain expressions will be updated because research has shown that phrases like “mercy me”, “awful swotter” and “very peculiar” are keeping children from truly understanding and enjoying the books. Those phrases will be changed to “oh no”, “bookworm” and “very strange” respectively.

Well, I don’t buy it for a moment. After all, Malaysians have enjoyed Blyton’s books for decades and had no problems with the “queer” language. If children can cope with specially and newly invented words like muggles and apparate (in Harry Potter), why shouldn’t they be able to make sense, from context, of terms like “school tunic” and “school mistress”?

  It’s all very peculiar … I mean, strange.

Not Your Typical Kid

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

THERE is a scene in The Mozart Season when the main character, Allegra, starts getting stressed about not being like other children her age. Her brother who is by no means your average teenager either, starts taking the piss, teasing her about the tragedy of not wanting to hang out at malls all day and obsess about boys and clothes.

 

Allegra does worry about her appearance and is starting to feel prickly about the opposite sex, but what she’s mostly concerned about is playing Mozart’s 4^th violin concerto just right.

 

If she did spend all her time doing her nails and styling her hair, Allegra would of course be in another book, perhaps by Cecily von Ziegesar or Zoey Dean. However, like most of the young protagonists in critically acclaimed, award-winning children’s and YA novels, Allegra is not a typical kid.

 

Usually, these characters so beloved of award committees are complex and eccentric individuals who think deeply and feel intensely, and are prone to bouts of melancholy. They also usually love to read.

 

Perhaps they are created in the image of the writers who remember only too well their youth, buried in books while their peers sunned themselves in barely-there bikinis. Perhaps the award committee members are wishful thinkers, wanting to believe that these kids do exist outside the pages of the books they are in. However, I doubt they reflect the reality of most American or British or (name any nationality) children.

 

That’s why I love them though. I love the quirky characters, the unusual love of words, the over-active imagination, the overwrought emotions. Thing is, these characters escape being and sounding like every melodramatic, emo teen you’ve ever known because they usually really do have something serious to deal with. (Note to emo teens: Please stop talking about and posting on Facebok and Twitter every minor detail in your life as though it’s a major catastrophe. It’s just embarrassing.)

 

A Relevant Read

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

 

I AM reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Not re-reading, but reading for the first time. I don’t know how I’ve managed to arrive at my 43^rd year without having read the book, especially when so many around me love it so much.

 

I am now two chapters into Part Two, and enjoying it thoroughly. I am loving Scout, the narrator, especially. She’s six years old at the start of the book, and there is nothing more insulting to her than to be told she behaves like a girl. “Scout sometimes you act so much like a girl, it’s mortifying,” is the sort of thing her beloved brother, Jem, says whenever Scout shows any inclination not to take part in his plans.

 

Jem is four years older than Scout and, as big brothers go, is actually a pretty good sort … most of the time.

 

By the way, I have not watched the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird either, but I’ve been told that it’s a very faithful dramatisation of the book. Harper Lee liked it and became close friends with Gregory Peck who plays Atticus Finch, the kids’ dad (Peck’s grandson was named Harper).

 

The children call their father Atticus, which would be unusual even in the 21^st century let alone in the deep south of the 1930s, where and when conventions, manners and appearances were everything. This is one of the first indications that Atticus is not like most fathers.

 

He is a widower (his wife died when Jem was six) and has raised his children himself, with only the help of a cook and cleaner, a black woman named Calpurnia. Atticus is that most rare breed of parent who actually listens to his children, not that he doesn’t ever lecture them. However, at least he practises what he preaches.

 

Scout mentions that she can’t remember her mother, but observes how Jem sometimes goes off by himself and recognises this as a sign that her brother misses their mother and leaves him alone on these occasions. Like most children, Jem and Scout are often acutely sensitive to and considerate of others’ feelings. They are also frequently tactless, selfish and indifferent.

 

Asian Content for Asia's Children

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

THE Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore proved to be a truly inspiring experience for me.

Held from May 6-9 at the beautiful Arts House at the Old Parliament, the festival brought together professionals from various publishing industries – from print to film to software. What these people had in common, of course, was a passion and interest in creating content specifically for children and young adults.

 As you can guess, my interest was particularly in connecting with editors, publishers, writers and illustrators from near and far, many of whose work I have admired for many years, and some of whom I have had contact with through email and their blogs.

And the Moral of the Story is ….

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

Parents and teachers love stories with lessons or morals. Or at least, many of those I’ve spoken to about children’s books will ask anxiously if a particular story has a moral. Because, they say, a good children’s book will always teach children something good and useful. It’s even better if it has a short, snappy preachy message at the end: “Slow and steady wins the race!” Or “Make hay while the sun shines”, “One good turn deserves another”, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

Aesop’s fables end with these little “lessons”. When I read them I imagine someone shaking their finger at me. Of course, no one expects an adult to enjoy being preached to, but adults love preaching to children. Perhaps some see it as payback. Or, they fancy themselves older and wiser, and feel the burning need to share their wisdom and experience with the young and foolish.

Angels are People Too?

By DAPHNE LEE
Tots to Teens

IN a Publishers Weekly article (tinyurl.com/yjn7yme) about this year's Bologna Children's Book Fair (March 23–26), Japanese publisher Rei Uemura said, "There are too many zombies, vampires, werewolves. I can't tell them apart anymore. I'm looking for something uplifting and positive, but I haven't seen many of those."

Would angels meet his requirements? I'm told that they are the next big thing in teen fiction.

According to a recent piece in The Observer (tinyurl.com/ykgkxzs), "at least seven new literary series about angels targeted at young adults" have been published in Britain and the States this spring, and more are are scheduled for release over the next year. Some focus on romantic relationships between angels and humans.

For example, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (published late in 2009) is about a fallen angel and the girl who has a crush on him.

Tulika Goes Malay

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I WAS browsing at a bookstore for Bahasa Melayu storybooks when I came across some gems -- translations of books written (in English) by Indian authors and published by Tulika Publishers, an small independent press based in Chennai.

The BM versions have been translated and published by Malaysian Book Centre and comprise a wide range of titles, including foltales and picture books.

There is even a selection of bilingual books (English and Tamil; and English and BM) that I am eager to try using with my language students.

One of these books is Priya's Day (Sehari Dalam Hidup Priya), written and illustrated by Cathy Spagnoli (translated by Hj. Abu Bakar Surin, who seems to be the translator of all the Tulika books ). The book is about the day in the life of Priya, a little girl who lives in a small village "near Kuala Lumpur". Priya has to help her mother pound rice with a mortar and pestle and this makes me think that the story is set in the past. However, as a reward, she is given RM2 and she uses it to buy some roasted peanuts. Two ringgit for a small coneful of roasted peanuts? I think that places the story firmly in the 21st century!

They've Got the Looks, But Will They Make Us Want to Read?

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

MALAYSIA has once again put the cart before the horse by appointing two celebriities as the country's reading ambassadors.

OK, in the first place, it's wrong to base the decision solely on how well-known the candidates are, their good looks, or how many people flock to the cinema when their movies are playing. I think the celebs selected have been chosen because they are popular and recognisable, and glamorous. Michelle Yeoh and Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor have certainly never before been associated with reading -- I certainly would not take into account the latter's books!

The Whole Package

By DAPHNE LEE 

From Tots to Teens, StarMag
 

I HAVE just spent a pleasurable couple of weeks reading five collections of folktales, three of them locally published works. 

At a recent colloquim on children's literature, held at University Malaya, several speakers lamented the fact that Malaysian children are unfamiliar with local folktales and legends, Instead, fairytales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are often named as favourites -- and Disney's sanitised, saccharine versions at that! 

I had a Eurocentric upbringing, in terms of literature, and I remember my father reading to me tales by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. There was a book that I particularly loved -- small and fat, with dark crimson clothbound covers, miniscule font, and no pictures. I remember especially loving the story of Snow White and Rose Red, and so it must have been a Grimm collection. I can remember how the book felt in my hands, and how it smelt deliciously dusty. 

Although I recall being introduced to Sang Kanchil when I started school, I don't remember what form the stories took - whether I was told about the mousedeer or if I read about him in a book. 

Their look, feel and smell are a big part of my memories of a great many books I read and loved as a child. This is why I think it's important that publishers of local children's literature pay attention to the way a book is packaged. 

The text is important of course, but so are the illustrations. Why include pictures at all unless they are of the best quality and best suited for the stories they are illustrating? The three local collections I recently enjoyed comprise well-written versions of local and Asian folktales, but the illustrations could be a lot better.