EDITED TO ADD CLUES.

Long time since we played this. So we have two pics.

Pic1: There are five books. Guess the names of the books.
Clue1: All are children’s books. Target age group 3+ – 8.
Clue2: If you have been following book publishers blogs, it is easy to pick out the cover art.

Pic2: This is the book I am reading currently.
Clue1: Young adult book, but……I read it anyway. So deal with it.
Clue2: It is Newbery Medal award winner.

Rules:
Quiz closes by May 28, 5.30PM PST.
Results will be out May 31, 4.00AM PST
The first person to get all the 6 books right before May 28, 5.30PM PST wins.
The reward is a big round of applause. Currently very affordable

The books are as follows.

Pic1: Assuming I have sorted out my left-right confusion,

Top left: The Boy Who Drew Cats by Anushka Ravishankar, Illustrations Christine Kastl, Published by Karadi Tales

Top right: The Rumour by Anushka Ravishankar, Illustrations by Kanyiki Kini, Published by Karadi Tales

Bottom left: When The Earth Lost It’s Shapes by Shobha Viswanath, Illustrations Chistine Kastl, Published by Karadi Tales

Bottom right: The Lizard’s Tail by Shobha Viswanath, Illustrations by Christine Kastl, Published by Karadi Tales

Left middle: All About Nothing, Concept and Art by Nina Sabnani, Written by Deepa Nayar, Published by Tulika

Pic2: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Such a vision in 1962!! Amazing!! Planet Camazotz and IT reminded me of certain shades of 1984 by George Orwell. Considering that 1984 was published in 1949, it must have certainly influenced L’Engle. But Wrinkle In Time has a happy ending, unlike 1984(*shudder*), and sends a strong message that love is the ultimate messiah.

A big hand to Sandhya and Kaapi for getting pic 2: A wrinkle In Time right. Good job guys. Sandhya, keen eye, you picked out the Karadi Tales title from my bookshelf.

Mythological stories have always had a strong hold on me since childhood. No meal was complete without my chithi narrating a mythological story(because I begged and whined till she gave in). No story was complete without my chithi repeating, “Sapitunde kelu”(translates to: Eat as you listen) because I was so transfixed that I needed constant reminders to chew. But, I have my reservations when it comes to introducing mythological stories to my children. This dilemma of mine was the fodder for my first blog post. If I had written the same post today, I would have cut down on certain frills and made the post crisp, but the underlying issue would still be the same. The dilemma still continues.

I think, to some extent, I keep comparing the way I grew up with the way my children are growing up and I am afraid that my children might perceive the mythological story out of context. Since most of our mythological stories are religious, I am afraid that my children might extrapolate the inconsistencies in the story, the imperfections in the character as inconsistencies in religion. Adult perceptions and their role in child rearing is a full fledged research topic!

Amar Chitra Katha will always have a special place in my heart. When I see an ACK, I get mental images of summer holidays, burning sun, cool shade, tender coconut water, nungu (palm kernel), mangoes – ripe and raw and nothing can beat this nostalgia. But in the context of my children, I think ACK is still too much of he killed his brother, he made his wife walk in fire, she threw her children in the river and such. I wanted something beyond ACK.

So, I started looking for books on mythology that I am comfortable reading at home and given that this truly is the golden period for kids-lit in India, I am finding some good books on this subject.

Vyasa’s Mahabaratha Author: Chitra Krishnan. Illustration: Arun Kumar Translation: Aasai

Have you seen Jackie Chan movies?! After the movie, the rolling credits invariably show scenes from the making of the movie. It shows the bloopers. Silly, but always puts a smile on my face. That is the same effect this book had on me.

Tulika’s Vyasa Mahabaratha is not Mahabaratha, but the events leading to the writing of the epic. Vyasa’s search for a scribe and how Vyasa and Ganesha entered in to an agreement is the crux of this book.

I ordered the tamil version of the book. The tamil used in this book is certainly not the spoken tamil, but what my tamil class students will call as, ‘news reader’ tamil. I read it for my children and have to make sure that I translate. When what they hear is different from what they read, it is tough for children to understand. So it was up to me to make it interesting.

The story is narrated in a fun, lively manner. The illustrations are cartoonish with a Dumbledore looking Vyasa and a ‘thinni pandaram’(translates to: glutton ) Ganesha. I loved it. My children are getting used to it.

Hanuman’s Ramayana Author: Devdutt Pattanaik Illustrator: Nancy Raj Translation: Shankarramasubramaniyan

Mythology is considered as a symbolism. Myths were originally passed on through the tradition of oral story telling. In the days of yore, story telling was a form of entertainment. Story telling, I am sure, was cause of much excitement, celebration and was often associated with a religious occasion. Tulika’s Sweet And Salty talks about how the people in the village of Narasannapeta get excited when the story teller Gorannagaru visits to tell the story of Ramayana.

Hanuman’s Ramayana is not the story of Rama, but tells the readers that mythological stories might have different versions and the possibility of stories getting lost over time. I have personally heard two versions of Ramayana, one in which Ravana is the cruel villain and one in which he is Sita’s original father and took Sita captive for the good of the divine couple.

Basic things that I took away from this book is that a story can be molded to suit the ideas of the story teller. It changes and flows with the interpretation of the narrater. The story is bigger than the teller. It is not the who but the how and what that matters.

Nancy Raj’s illustrations are in Madhubani style. Lovely, intricate and in beautiful colors. We have three Tulika books illustrated by Nancy Raj(Village Fair, A-vil Yirundhu Ak-varai and Hanuman’s Ramayana) and each has its own style to suit the nature of the story. The concept of Hanuman’s Ramayana – ‘what is important is the story, not the story teller’. Nancy’s concept seems to be, ‘what is important is the art that compliments the story, not the artist’ and as a result the illustrations shine through.

Ramayana The Divine Loophole Author/Illustrator: Sanjay Patel

How can I talk about Ramayana and not talk about this book?! The key attraction for our family in this book are the illustrations. Sanjay Patel has used vector point illustrations to translate his sketches in to digital format using adobe illustrator. Four years of hard work, each page taking approximately seven days to finish and the result is this vibrant 185 page eye candy. I literally drooled. I have never see Ramyana illustrated like this before. Considering that this book came at the time, I was struggling to translate some of my sketches in to digital format using illustrator and photoshop and was throughly frustrated with the result, my respect for the book doubled. And of course, Sanjay Patel saying that Rama kneeled before Sita’s feet asking her forgiveness for having suspected her faithfulness and the authors note that ‘Times have changed, as have customs, but love has always been complicated’ agreed well with me

The tone of the book is very casual and the target audience is definitely the ‘non-hindu but is curious about the monkey god and such’ category. So if you are seeking deep spiritual advice and an insight in to hinduism then you are barking up the wrong tree.

Both my daughters love looking at the pictures in this book. They can sit for a good hour, just turning the glossy pages, absorbing the pictures.

My only gripe is about the illustration of Ravana. In order to make him symmetrical Sanjay Patel took poetic license and shows only nine heads. Like Maniratnam’s Ravan would say, he is ‘Das sir wale’ and not ‘Nao sir wale’

Technorati Tags: Aasai, Arun Kumar, Chitra Krishnan, Devdutt Pattanaik, Hanuman’s Ramayana, Nancy Raj, Ramayana the Divine Loophole, Sanjay Patel, Shankarramasubramaniyan, Tulika, Vyasa’s Mahabaratha

Dear Mieja:

I have never written public blog letters to you and your sister. I had my reasons. Now, Mieja, this is my letter to you. My first public, blog letter to you. I have my reasons.

If I ever write your biography, the chapter that covers 3.5 years – 4 years of your life will certainly be titled HEART ACHE. To call the past six months as turbulent will be an understatement.

Your motto has always been Vini Vidi Vici – you came, you saw us all and you conquered us all with your laugh, love, expression and attitude. You make me laugh like there is no tomorrow. When I hug you, I feel this sense of contentment swell inside of me. You have multiple facets, all of which I enjoy. Heck, I enjoy even your ‘padagamani’( adamant and aggressive ) side. You have always gone by ‘naan oru mudivu pannital, appuram nane yen pechai ketka maten’ (Translates to: If I decide something, then I will not listen to me convincing myself to change my decision.) and in the past I have found it awfully cute. The thought that this child is my last child softens parents in many ways. It is an abstract feeling that  can only be experienced and cannot be explained.

Any thing goes is definitely not what flies in our house. Your appa and I believe that discipline is not a dirty word. We view it more as setting safe limits within which you and your akka can explore. It will be false to say that we do not have any expectations on you and your akka. Though the two of you are young, we do have expectations, age appropriate expectations on you both. We are not new, inexperienced parents any more. Tantrums neither scare us nor embarrass us. We are level headed to view it as mismatched expectations and  are willing to work through it.

Now, something happened. Or may be many things happened….. I am not sure, but I can only make educated guesses. May be you moved from what Dr.Montessori would call ‘just existing’ to ‘conscious existence’. May be you are trying to learn your limits by pushing our limits. May be you delicate digestive system is still in the process of maturing and you are suffering from the same lactose intolerance and acid reflux that made you scream in pain 24X7 the first two weeks after you were born. May be you are trying to define your niche in house and in school. May be you are trying to run with the top dogs too soon. May be you are competing with your sister. May be you are competing with your self. May be you found that by screaming you get my attention sooner that anything else and decided to take that short cut. May be you are feeling insecure…..

As a result of this, the past six months have been non stop crying and plain unhappiness – mostly for you. What shocked me was the rage, the anger that emanated from you and that you blamed me for your unhappiness. It was not just me, but your teachers also noticed it. What started as hugging my legs and refusing to say goodbye to me when I drop you off in your classroom, only worsened over the past three months. You regressed in certain areas I thought you had already mastered. Your teachers were surprised that you were having separation anxiety after being in same classroom, with the same teachers for the past two years.

We had a conference and discussed certain things that have been sending red flags right, left and center in my mind. Most of the red flags, your teachers said, were ‘preferences’. Strong, rigid and to some extent eccentric, but they did put my mind to ease by saying that there is no cognitive dissonance.

The real slap in the face came to me, when the head teacher of your classroom, the director of your school, a very patient, kind and nurturing soul called me aside and gave me ‘the note’. After an unhappy good bye in the morning, you were sitting with your teacher and she made conversation with you. After long probing you told her that you were MAD at me. Your teacher suggested that you write a letter to me. You dictated. She wrote. And I am holding the note that says, “To mommy, Mommy, I am having fights with you. That makes me sad.” Slap. End of story.

Since then, I have been trying to get a break. One thing I strongly believe is that, when you are desperate for something, the universe conspires to give you exactly what you ask for. It may not be packaged in the way we want it. But you get it. The challenge is to recognize it and make the most of it.

The break I have been asking for came as a real break…. in my tail bone. I fell on the stairs and broke my tail bone. The positive aspect of it is that I get to stay at home and spend some time with you. Real, quality time that is not measure in minutes but in love. I am able to slow down and give you the focus you need without cutting down on the time I spend with your sister.

You will be four in a week. Hoping that the chapter about your fourth year will be titled CONTENTMENT.

More love than you can ever imagine

Amma

Technorati Tags: Mieja-isms, Parenting, struggles of a parent, tantrums

The Tulika kaka flew tirelessly over the Pacific Ocean, all the way from Chennai, India to San Jose, CA with one mission. The mission is not migration, but to deliver to me my copy of Tulika’s The Snow King’s Daughter in appreciation of my participation in the Tulika blogathon. Thanks Tulika. Please find my review of the book at Saffron Tree.

Technorati Tags: China occupation of Tibet, Free Tibet, Proiti Roy, sowmya rajendran, tibet, Tulika, world awareness

I reckon that national poetry month just got over. I had been meaning to add my two cents….but better late than never. So here it goes.

Let us play word association. What comes to your mind when you say poetry? This is what comes to my mind:

Glum. Melancholy. Daffodils. Sad. Rote. Wordsworth. Memorize. Exams. Marks. Simile. Metaphor. Hate. Struggle. Depth. Inadequacy. Puzzled. With-reference-to-context. Robert Frost. Complex. Forgetting-and-leaving-a-space-hoping-that-the-word-would-come-to-mind-before-the-exam-bell-rings. Mnemonic.

I know I am not doing justice to the genre of poetry. Especially when early childhood education has nothing but good things to say about poetry and its benefits in language development in young children. I feel that my poetry learning was associated with probing to check for understanding rather than focusing on exposing the beauty of the language and it soured my experience.

I am reading some poetry with my children and at school. From my observations, I feel that poems with a strong cadence are a huge hit with all children. So far I am yet to come across anything that beats Mother Goose in its strong rhythm and cadence. Some of the content in Mother Goose, I feel, is culturally irrelevant, sexist and makes my eyes roll, but I must also say that it is the adult perspective. Children are oblivious to it and are mesmerized. Also from my observations, at around four years children start enjoying nonsense verses. The next in the natural progression is enjoying poems with clever word play. At home we are heavily in to nonsense verses and considering that it the highest level I will ever reach in poetry, we shall remain at that stage for a long time

I am sharing some poems that we like at home

My Name Is… By Pauline Clarke
Book: The 20-th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury
Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by Meilo So
Additional Information: I sing it to the tune of “My name is Madhavi, I am from Allepey” (Karadi Tales)

My name is Sluggery-wuggery
My name is Worms-for-tea
My name is Swallow-the-table-leg
My name is Drink-the-Sea.

My name is I-eat-saucepans
My name is I-like-snails
My name is Grand-piano-George
My name is I-ride-whales.

My name is Jump-the-chimney
My name is Bite-my-knee
My name is Jiggery-pokery
And Riddle-me-ree, and ME.

Eletelephony by Laura E.Richards
Book: The 20-th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury
Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by Meilo So
Additional Information: It so happened that Chula and Mieja’s teacher also read this poem at school. Need I say how thrilled they were?!

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use a telephant-
No! no! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone-
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)

Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee-
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

From school: The primary teachers do a cool circle time game in which they sing, “Willaby Wallaby BAY, an elephant sat on JAY. Willaby wallaby BACK, an elephant sat on JACK”. The idea is to rhyme a nonsense word with a child’s name. Once the kids are familiar with this routine, they sing, “Willaby wallaby MALICE, an elephant sat on______”, they pause and the children chorus “ALICE” – they pick a child’s name that rhymes with ‘malice”. If the children are rained in, they are sure to play this game, it keeps them engaged for a long time.

Book: Gasa Gasa Para Para Author: Jeeva Ragunath. Illustrator: Ashok Rajagopalan
Book: A-vil yirundhu Ak varai Author: Jeeva Ragunath. Illustrator: Nancy Raj
Publisher: Tulika

Alliterations, onomatopoeia, funny alphabet pictures, nonsense verses. What is not to like in these books?!
A-vil yirudnhu is about the vowels.
Gasa Gasa Para Para focuses on the consonants and the letters emerging when combined with the vowels. My children like to look at the books and identify the tamil alphabets.

Technorati Tags: alliteration, Mother Goose, national poetry month, onomatopoeia, poetry appreciation, poetry for children, poetry nonsense verse, Tulika books