Books for All Babies

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

By DAPHNE LEE

ABOUT a month ago, I had the good fortune and pleasure of "meeting" a librarian by the name of Rashidah Begum. Like so many first-meetings in this day and age, it happened online when Rashidah emailed me about an exciting programme she is involved in.

"Every Baby a Book" was launched in July 2007 by the Penang Public Library. It brought together two ideas: to produce a durable children's book from cloth and to provide every new baby in Penang with a book, in the hope of nurturing a love for reading.

This programme reminds me of "Bookstart", a British project that aims to provide every baby in Britain with free packs of books in order "to inspire, stimulate and create in children a love of reading that will give them a flying start in life". "Bookstart" is run by Booktrust, a British charity funded by the Arts Council of England, and supported by British booksellers and publishers. The official website stresses the importance of showing that "books are fun!"

It's marvellous to think of a similar programme being launched in Malaysia. The Penang Public Library certainly has the right idea in targetting children from the word go and in involving parents in their efforts. Research shows not just the benefits of exposing children to books and reading from an early age, but also how children thrive if they are read to at home by their parents. I guess nothing beats sharing an activity with loved ones in a familiar and safe environment.

Unlike "Bookstart", "Every Baby a Book" is based on a single book that has been developed specifically for the programme. It is A4 in size, with a horizontal (or "landscape") layout. The material is a synthetic blend, silky and smooth in texture. There are all together 11 leaves (22 pages), inclusive of the books' covers.

Owing to the book's size and the thinness of the material, the reader has to rest the book on a flat surface to turn the floppy pages easily. Babies and toddlers would probably use the floor, although tiny fingers might lose their grip on the slippery fabric.

The book opens with a short introduction to the programme. This is followed by instructions on how to use the book. The actual content (that would be used by children) fills 10 pages and comprises "alphabets", "numbers", "colours and shapes", "I", "coconut tree", "fruits", "hibiscus", "fish", "animals" and "computer".

Each concept or subject is introduced without the use of text, only pictures. It is up to parents and care-givers to expand on the basics provided by the book. The "parents' guide" includes tips on how to do just that.

Rashidah mentioned to me how important it was, to those involved in producing the book, that it should feature Malaysian content. Hence, I suppose, the inclusion of "coconut tree" and "hibiscus", which otherwise might seem arbitrary.

Also, there are pictures of bananas and durians in the "fruits" section. Only bananas and durians. This, I feel, is going too far in the other direction, no matter how tired you are of reading about apples, oranges, peaches, pears and plums.

One of the things that worries me about this programme is how there is very little in the book that actually stimulates a child's imagination. If all we need are letters and numbers, arranged in a row, one might as well write them out oneself (on cardboard, if durability is an issue). As for the pictures, they are presented in an abstract manner, floating on the page, unrelated to a story, not even part of a scene that might be used as a basis of a story. The guide suggests what parents might say about the pictures, but would your child apreciate being told what the five petals of the hibiscus symbolise? Well, yes, if the hibiscus was part of a story, but not, I think, apropos of nothing at all.

I think the aims and objectives of� the "Every Baby a Book" programme are admirable. It really is an excellent idea to get parents actively involved by holding training sessions and workshops that show them how to read to children. I do, however, have reservations about the book produced specially for the programme and wonder if it could be replaced with a selection of books that are better suited to capturing the attention and interest of children.

Authors and illustrators whose lifework is writing and drawing for the amusement of children are the ones who are most qualified to produce books that will encourage a love for reading. While I am passionate about promoting reading, and I can see how sincere the Penang Public Library's intentions are, I feel we would fare better if we used the works of "experts" like Margaret Wise Brown and Rob Campbell, Eric Carle and Maurice Sendak to further the cause.

I wrote to Rashidah about my concerns and in her reply she said, "I would like to emphasise that the programme is the first of its kind here and I would like to consider it an evolving programme. This means that the approach, and even the content may change as we get feedback."

That a programme such a "Every Baby a Book" even exists in Malaysia is heartening and I applaud the Penang Public Library for its vision and effort.

Discovering the World

I never enjoyed geography lessons when I was in school. All those names! All those terms! They didn't seem to have anything to do with my life. If only I had had J. Patrick Lewis's A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme to bewitch and encourage me!

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

A WORLD OF WONDERS: GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELS IN VERSE AND RHYME
By J. Patrick Lewis
Publisher: Dial Books, 40 pages (ISBN: 978-0803725799)

BROWSING at a recent booksale, I came across an excellent way to introduce children to geography. Hmm ... how dubious that sounds! Would any child be interested in the "study of the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity" (www.dictionary.com)? Put that way, probably not.

On the other hand, "So many places have fabulous names,/ Like Fried, North Dakota,/ The Court of St. James,/ Siberia, NIgeria, Elria, Peru,/ The White Nile, Black Sea,/ And Kalamazoo! The Great Wall of China, South Pole and Locj Ness,/ And 104 Fairview - that's my address!" is definitely intriguing.

"Thousands of spaces are places to be -/ Discover the World of GE-OG-RA-PHY!" writes J. Patrick Lewis, author of A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme. He continues, "Travel by boat or by car or by plane/ To visit East africa, Singapore, Spain./ Go by yourself or invite a good friend,/ But traveling by poem is what I recommend." Those who globe-trotters and jetsetters may turn up their snouts at it, but arm-chair travel is not to be scoffed at - especially considering the price of fuel ... and the ozone layer.

Lewis writes humorously about brave (and nosy) explorers like Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Tenzing Norgay (no Cheng Ho though); tackles, gleefully, geographical phenomena like the aurora borealis; explores the significance of place names; provides solutions for those who confuse longitude and latitude, and stalactites and stalagmites.

His creative rhymes ("equate her" with "'frigerator"!) certainly help fix facts in one's mind - this is a very helpful devise when mugging for exams. Memorising these poems also can help make you the life and soul of the party ... or brand you an insufferable show-off. My favourites "Sri Lank used to be Ceylon./ Ancient Persia? Now Iran./ Zaire was Congo way back when,/ Now it's Congo once again." (from New Names, Old Places) and "The Arctic is water all covered with ice./ Antartica? Land (frozen paradise)." (from The Arctic and Antartica: Which is Colder?)

I learnt some interesting facts from this book. Did you know, for example, that there's standing room on the island of Bali for Earth's population? Well, you do now!

A World of Wonders is illustrated by Alison Jay who uses oils overlaid by crackle varnish that gives her work an aged look. Jay has published many picture books using this technique. In this case, her pictures have the effect of an old map, perfect for a book about geography as it recalls an ancient atlas or globe. However, rather than the yellowed patina of age, Jay's colours are fresh and vibrant, dominated by shades of blues and greens, with touches of rich earth tones.

This is a beautiful book - a valuable addition to libraries public and private, it will gladden the hearts, minds and eyes of young and old alike.

Double the Fun

I remember being really upset that I didn't have double eyelids. My sisters (all three of them) had them and advised me to stick tape on my lids to produce the desired "fold". I seem to remember trying this method and others too, including applying baby oil to the lids and "encouraging" a fold by drawing it on with the blunt end of a toothpick!

This was when I was in primary school so I shall blame my shameful and ridiculous behaviour on ignorance and youth.

By the way, my efforts with toothpicks, tape etc did not pay off. However, I ended up with double-eyelids anyway. I can't remember when they appeared, but according to a character in An Na's The Fold, it sometimes happens when you grow older and the skin on your eyelids become thinner!

From StarMag, 13th July 2008

Review by DAPHNE LEE

SKIN DEEP
By E. M. Crane
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 273 pages
(ISBN: 978-0385734790)

THE FOLD
By An Na
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 280 pages
(ISBN: 978-0399242762)

IN the social hierachy of her high school, Andrea Anderson falls between "Too Lame to Invite to a Party" and "Too Ugly to Go Out With". She doesn't really mind. It's better not to be noticed than to make a bad impression or to be laughed at: "I AM plainish, boring, nervous," says Andrea. "Average student. No school activities. Andrea Anderson, a Nothing. I just am."

But Honora Menapace disagrees with Andrea's assessment of herself. Honora is Andrea's neighbour. Diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, she hires Andrea as an assistant. Honora remarks that the word "and" occurs twice in the name Andrea Anderson. To Honora this means that there is always more to come. Andrea is "not a surface person". ""You are continuing",' she says.

Honora is unlike anyone Andrea knows and, thanks to her, Andrea starts to view the world and people differently. The fact that Honora herself turns out to be totally unlike what Andrea and the rest of the neighbourhood imagined, forces the teenager to re-think things. And as she gets to know Honora better and allows her employer into her life and her thoughts, Andrea finds herself looking more closely at her schoolmates, her teachers, even her own mother, and noticing things about them that she never stopped to consider before.

Honora's trust and belief in Andrea boosts her self-worth and -belief and gives her the courage to open up to others. Her newfound willingness to connect with another human being, something she'd always viewed with dread, makes her new friends that she would never have dreamt of connecting with. She realises that she has been judging her cute neighbour Roger, and Ashley, the pretty cheerleader, based on their looks and popularity in school. Their friendly overtures towards her are, at first, viewed with suspicion and apprehension, revealing not only prejudice on her part but also a lack of self-esteem that prevents her from seeing herself as worthy of their attention and friendship.

It turns out that Ashley is also going through change. For her, it is a more conscious one as she strives to break out of the seemingly perfect world that she inhabits.

'"It's not me,"' she tells Andrea at one point. '"I need a damn intermission from it all so I can take a break, My life just turned out this way, and this way is so incredibly boring and competitive and frivolous, I need a break."'

It seems that it's not just the "plain", "boring", "nothing" people who don't get a chance to reveal their hidden depths.

Skin Deep, like most young adult novels, is about self-realisation. Here it is portrayed through the experiences of Andrea and also, to a lesser degree, Ashley, as well as Andrea's mother who, although a grown-up, is also struggling to find her identity and role in life.

E. M. Crane has created a rich cast of characters, all of whom are vividly portrayed through their words and actions. Often, you get a powerful sense of what a character is like simply by Andrea's reaction to him or her. Mr Diego, Andrea's homeroom teacher, for example, leaves a deep impression although he is in just two short chapters. His suicide early in the novel makes every moment he spent on the page significant in hindsight. (I went back and re-read Mr Diego's scenes, searching for clues.) His death causes Andrea and the reader to think of him as more than just a bad-tempered, bitter man. It made me acutely aware of how easy it is to dismiss people, to simply take them at face value, never for a moment wondering or even caring what causes them to behave the way they do. Someone shouldn't have to die before they are noticed and their feelings considered, but, sadly, this is often the case and Andrea's reflections on the dead Mr Diego shed more light on the man, and the attitudes of those around him, than the few lines that portray him when he was alive and kicking.

Andrea, as the central character, is easy to sympathise and empathise with. Although at first thoroughly unremarkable, she is likeable - shy but curious and thoughtful, fearful yet brave, self-effacing and unsure yet open and eager. I very quickly started caring intensely about Andrea, wanting the best for her, hoping for triumphs and revelations that would leave her breathless and transformed.

Honora's friendship does change Andrea, and by the end of the book you believe that she is well on her way to being the sort of person who takes the road less travelled, touches lives, makes a difference and tries to see in others what is often missed. And you wish you were that sort of person too.

Joyce, in An Na's The Fold, is, on the other hand, someone you wouldn't really want to be like. In fact, she is someone I probably was a lot like ... once ... when I was a teenager - a time of life I would pay good money to not revisit.

Joyce is a American-born Korean who believes she is a failure because she is not as pretty as her older sister, and John Ford Kang, the half-Caucasian, half-Asian boy from school, doesn't know she exists. She wants so badly for JFK to notice her that she seriously considers going for an operation that will give her double-eyelids. Aigoo!

Joyce's insecurity, her envy, and depression are realistically portrayed, but she is really annoying and I wanted her to either get the operation and shut up already, or have her big moment of realising she's beautiful just as the good lord made her and ... well, shut up already too. I guess the difference between Andrea and Joyce is Andrea just gets on with things whereas Joyce whines constantly. The whining is quite off-putting. Whenever it got too much, I'd to stop reading so it took a while to finish the book. Luckily, Joyce has family and friends who are nicer and more patient than I am. They stick by her no matter how annoying she gets.

I badly want to spank Joyce and, unfortunately, I know several Malaysian teens whom she reminds me of. They would so totally relate to her dissatisfaction with her looks, her wish to have more Caucasian features and her partiality to boys who don't look totally Asian. I don't know if they would want to read about Joyce though. They are so into the whole idea of being white that the problems of an Asian girl, no matter how similar to their own, would probably not appeal to them. The average Malaysian teen would be more willing to scrape the surface of Skin Deep than to be part of The Fold.