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.

A Real Princess

From StarMag

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
Written, illustrated and constructed by Lauren Child
Captured by Polly Borland
Publisher: Puffin Books
(ISBN: 978-0141381381)

EVERYONE knows the story of The Princess and the Pea. It’s a silly, absurd, snobbish story about a wishy-washy prince, his overbred parents and a dimwit of a girl who should have died of pneumonia but, unfortunately, probably married the said prince and bore many unassertive, indecisive, rather idiotic haemophiliac children.

OK, so you’ve guessed that it’s not one of my favourite fairytales. When I was in primary school, this older girl whom I hero-worshipped won a storytelling contest with it and it made me think less of her. Like, couldn’t she have chosen something less dumb? A real princess? Gimme a break! Boy, it really bothered my blossoming socialist sentiments ...

You see, in most versions of the story, there’s never any explanation as to what is meant by “real” princess. The queen and king are simply determined that their precious (paunchy and balding) son should marry a “real” princess. As opposed to a ... social upstart? A divorced princess-by-marriage? A foreign and not-so-real princess? A pop star whose first name happens to be Princess?

Whatever the case, the king and queen just sound totally, typically royal and stuck-up and fuddy-duddy! And their son seems like a spineless chap, happy to go along with their wishes so long as he can hunt and shoot and play billiards till the cows come home.

In the latest version of the fairytale, by Lauren Child, the prince doesn’t argue either, but at least it’s made clear that he doesn’t actually care about whether or not his wife is a real princess. This prince just agrees because he knows he will never get any peace unless he does. Ahhh! A man who knows how to compromise. He is also, writes Child, handsome (but “not too handsome, just handsome enough”), nice and romantic.

And his parents, the king and queen, are more reasonable than they usually are. This royal couple attempts to explain what it means to be a “real” princess. Above all, a “real” princess must have ? not beauty or wealth or status, but ? manners. “‘No one should ever travel without them,’ said the King.”

Oh, is that what being a real princess is all about? Well, that’s all right then.

Another mark of a true princess, according to the king, is that they never read their post (not so terribly well-mannered then).

Child’s princess lives in a tree house, has beautiful black hair and is fond of moonlight. Her home looks enchanting, a hollowed-out tree, with window all lit up and golden, cut in the bark. In her thank you note, Child mentions finding the piece of wood that serves as the princess’s house. The author/illustrator, whose picture books are usually a mixture of drawings and paintings, photographs and collages, goes 3-D in The Princess and the Pea.

Every picture in the book was painstakingly reconstructed using cereal boxes, paint and dollhouse furniture and accessories, some of which she made herself.

The characters are paper dolls, dressed in layers of paper and posed in the 3-D interiors. Each scene was then photographed by Polly Borland. The results are beautiful and awe-inspiring. And if you have always wanted a dollhouse, you will wish doubly hard for one after reading this book.

So I will be sexist and say that Child’s The Princess and the Pea will appeal especially to little girls – because of the dollhouse look of it, because of the paper doll characters; because it’s about a mesmerising princess. However, if you have raised your sons with open, curious minds, they will enjoy it too. My nine-year-old boy does. He thinks it’s jolly funny and insists that the pea must be enchanted since it manages to cause so much pain even through all those mattresses!

As for me, I am converted. From now on, this is the only version of the fairytale I’m allowing on my bookshelf!

P.S. 2nd August 2008 I have just one thing to add. I lent this book to two talented illustrators, both in their very-early 20s and both of them noticed that it's implied in the book that girls who read are boring. I never noticed, but now I do and I think that this is the one flaw of Lauren Child's version of this classic fairytale.