A new year is the time for new changes. With hospitality and kindness, the Chang family is in for a positive changes.
A new year to enjoy nian-gao
After a year of drought and scarcity of food, the Chang family is celebrating the Chinese new year. As they are about to eat the only nian-gao(steamed rice cake) they have, it starts to run suddenly. It reaches a old woman soon, who had not eaten properly for the past few days. The Chang family offers the whole rice cake to the old woman and returns home.
The myth: On Groundhog Day, people look out for groundhogs. If it comes out along with its shadow, there would be six more weeks of winter. If the groundhog appears alone, it indicates early arrival of spring.
A Warm and Cozy Story
Gregory Groundhog and his Shadow are friends and are always together. Because their company keeps them both brave and neither are bold without the other. But, a day before the Groundhog Day, the friends got separated.
Have you ever wondered why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears? Maybe, this story can help with an answer.
A charming tale about annoying mosquitoes
It was an endless night in a forest, as the owl (Oh, it's the owl's responsibility) did not wake up the sun. She slipped from her duty. as she was moaning over the loss of one of her owlets. But how did it happen?
Everyone makes bad decisions at times. A tortoise is no exception. The tortoise in this story hates being always slow and takes off his shell to move fast. But before the end of the day, he learns that his shell protects him from various dangers and harsh weather. Finally reaching the shell, he feels safe once again.
Illustrator : Eric Carle
Publisher : Little Simon
Classification : Moral, Science (Shells)
Age : Preschooler, Kindergartener, Grades 1 - 3
My Comment:
I have always felt certain messages are hard to tell in a kid-friendly way. But this book broke my opinion. It comes with a high level message of "understanding the consequences", in a way even kids can get it. The poetic narration makes it a pleasure to read again and again.
Eric Carle's illustrations should be noted separately, as they carry the entire background of the story in bright colors.(Obviously, the reason why small kids get attached to Eric Carle's books much. They love to go through the pictures repeatedly.) I am also happy that I can explain to my younger son why tortoises and turtles need shells. So, a lot is packed in this simple book - moral story, poem, bright and meaningful pictures, science. Whichever angle you read this book, you can interpret good things from here.
When the cloud of greed is cleared away, there will be always a sunshine of sharing in every heart. And, this French folktale enunciates that point. A tale of sharing and caring
Three hungry soldiers enter a French village, in the hope of getting some food and shelter for the night, as they were on a long journey and had not eaten in two days. But the villagers, fearing strangers, hide all their food and inform the soldiers that they too are making through a poor harvest.
Babies explore their environment by seeing and touching. And, that's why a book with touch sensin can be a great material for their growing brain.
That's what a baby needs
Touchy Feely series of books works best with babies and toddlers. Each book centers about an animal or a vehicle and describes its features. For example, the kitten book goes like this.
Emberley has brilliantly shown in this book, that various patterns, birds, animals can be formed using the basic shapes. A circle cut in half, quarter and so on, called as pies, are arranged in various ways to form the objects (The book cover gives more clue).
Utilize your time. Work hard. Save your money. I know, no kid would lend an ear to this kind of advice. But what could we do? Maybe, use this book next time.
I wish advising is always this fun and easy
The seven stories in this book branch about seven kids in the '7 Oaks' to emphasize the seven life morals. One kid gets bored. One wants to buy a toy but has no money. One has to study for test, instead he plays. All the seven kids has problems that a typical normal kid can face. Each of the seven morals sets the record straight for each kid.
Not only kids, even grown-ups would get mesmerized with the fantasy stories of the famous author and illustrator, Chris Van Allsburg. With a dazzling start, as his first book 'Garden of Abdul Gasazi' is a Caldecott Honor Winner, each book created by this author is a clean winner in the field of Children's literature.
His books are filled with the elements of mystery, built upon supernatural elements. Not only the story-telling, it is the illustrations that strike first in his books and make the book more magical. The dreamy illustrations of 'The Polar Express', the subtle gray dominated illustrations of 'Jumanji' & 'The Garden of Abdul Gasazi' and there is a whole lot to be expressed in this way. No wonder, he bagged two Caldecott awards for 'The Polar Express' and 'Jumanji'. Also he received Caldecott Honor award for 'The Garden of Abdul Gasazi'.
He has written about twenty books, among which three are successfully transformed into motion pictures.
Jumanji (1995)
The Polar Express(2004)
Zathura (2005)
Apart from this, he illustrated the following books.
Swan Lake - Mark Helprin(1989)
A city in Winter - Mark Helprin(1996)
The veil of Snows -Mark Helprin(1997)
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S.Lewis(1994 - The cover art of re-jacketed edition)
Titles about Chris Van Allsburg and his works, in this blog:
(Click titles to get more details)
This book is a follow up of Oliver Jeffers' 'Lost and Found'. The same pair of friends, the boy and the penguin, occur in this story again. Friend Or Flying? The two friends, the boy and the penguin, almost spend every moment together. But one day when the penguin wants to fly, everything changes. Though the boy helps the penguin to get the experience of flying in various ways, the penguin is not satisfied.
