The Cloud Spinner - A Review

 

                                                             Michael Catchpool 

                                                             Allison Jay (illus.)

A warm snuggly book, that you can read over a cup of hot chocolate and curled up in a blanket 

One day, when the King of this magical kingdom is on a tour of his kingdom, his attention is drawn towards a scarf a little boy is wearing. The scarf is made of "gold and white and crimson".

The King demands (after all he is the King), that the little boy weave him a "longer one, much longer" scarf.

The little boys has no choice and sets about his task as he captures the "gold", the "white" and the "crimson" clouds floating above him and weaves them into threads of "gold", "white" and "crimson" and then spins and spins and spins...till he has made a "longer" scarf for the King.

The scarf is as "soft as a mouse's touch and warm as roasted chestnuts".

Not to be dismissed as a selfish husband and father, the greedy King then demands that the boy make him a "cloak" and "dresses" for his wife and daughter.

The poor boy, dispirited...sets about his task and captures all the clouds of "gold", "white" and "crimson" leaving not a single one in the sky.

The "cloak" and the "dresses" are presented to the royalty. While the King and the Queen are ecstatic at their new-found treasure, the little princess is silent.

When the villagers bewail the lack of rain and its effects on their lives, the little princess requests the little boy to unweave their clothes and return the threads to the sky and thus return the clouds back to wear they belong.

Soon, mother earth is awash with rain and the villagers are happy.

Written by Michael Catchpool and illustrated by Alison Jay this book captures, in a nut-shell, the consequences of our avarice. It's a perfect rendition of the effects our greed has on our planet. 

The illustrations are warm and snuggly, the clouds have shapes in the form of animals, the hills are dotted with plump animals that give the hills faces, the hills are dome-shaped:) Lovely.

I read this book several years ago, when my daughter was a toddler. The book never left my mind and I always wanted to read the book. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found this book at my work place.

I bought this book home and read it cover-to-cover. And as you guessed it, I started the review process.

I hope you enjoyed the review.

Image Source: www.amazon.com | Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water - A Review

 

Nicole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

Nikkolas Smith (illus)

This review will take a while, I will come back and revise it as it is too deep to be written in one sitting.

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water is a striking story of uprootment, slavery and hope.

It's a story of pain, brutality and survival.

It's a story of the truth. It's a story of finding meaning in life...

Written by award winning journalist Nicole Hannah-Jones and Newberry honor awardee Renee Watson, and brilliantly illustrated by author-Hollywood film-illustrator Nikkolas Smith, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water sketches the uprootment of African-Americans and weaves together a tapestry of truth, of hope and of survival.

Poetically written with luminous illustrations that touch the core of one's heart, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water is poignant and haunting.

The story is seen through the eyes of a child, when a class assignment leads her grandma to recount the story of her ancestors, 400 years ago, when they set sail on the White Lion, enslaved by the Europeans.

Image source: www.amazon.com | Publisher: Kokila (an imprint of Penguin Random House L.L.C, NY)

No, David! - A Review

 

David Shannon

All aboard...the No, David! train, as David Shannon, takes us on a wild, wicked and wacky ride through his adventures as a five-year old.

David's mom chides him repeatedly for breaching her boundaries.

David is unfazed at being repeatedly admonished by his mother, and leaves no stone unturned in pushing her buttons when he decides to teeter precariously on a chair reaching for a banned cookie from the top shelf of his mom's pantry, or when he decides to weave muddy footprints on the spotlessly clean living room carpet or when he decides to bolt from the house, completely unabashed by circumstances.

Let us leave no stone unturned in reaching for No, David! and celebrate the hilarious-little-David adventures.

Part-autobiographical, and written in sparse text, the maximum number of words is five, No, David! is a hilarious take on children's mischievous behavior and a mother's tough and unconditional love, that forgets everything her child does and ultimately smothers her child with love.

Based on the author's life when he was a little kid, David Shannon does a fantastic depiction of what a household with mischievous kids go through! 

I read this book with my daughter several years ago and I wanted to write about this book. I put it away and then one fine day I found it at my work place and decided to bring it home to do a review.

Image source: www.amazon.com | Scholastic 

Boy: Tales of Childhood Book - A Review

 

Roald Dahl

Absolutely unputdownable Roald Dahl.

Boy: Tales of Childhood is a phantasmagoria of skin-crawling events from the writer's own life. 

Roald Dahl writes about how his Norwegian parents started life in Great Britain and made it their home and how he ended up going to the English boarding school where extreme punishment was quite the norm of the day. 

How he loved to travel with his family to Norway to visit his grandparents and the amazing delicacies that he would love to eat. 

Roald Dahl uses enormous wit and candor to reveal how life was in Great Britain during the early twentieth century.

His unparalleled courage is singular. His humor and wit are next to one. This book had me on the edge of my seat. 

When I first read this book, I was in a state of shock. It took a while for the shock to disappear, but the memory did not.

The second time I read this book was during summer. The book was so gripping that I managed to read it with utmost concentration surrounded by a pack of unruly, rumbunctious kids!

Image source: www.amazon.com | Publisher: Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Pecan Pie Baby - A Review

Jacqueline Woodson

Sophie Blackall (illus.)

Written by my favorite children's author Newberry award winner, Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by one of my favorite author/illustrator, Caldecott award winner, Sophie Blackall, Pecan Pie Baby explores the anguish an older sibling goes through in anticipation of her altered new life once a new-baby-sibling arrives in the family.

Gia is tortured when she sees and feels that her world seems to be dominated by thoughts, words, and actions of the new-born baby.

Mama is holding on to Gia's old clothes so that the new baby can wear them.

 

Her school friends keep teasing Gia and playing new-born baby games.

Her aunties are so full of new-baby talk...

Poor Gia! She feels more and more and more lonely...

Her uncles help out in putting together a new crib. 

Gias' grandma is fussing over Mama to ensure she is resting and eating healthy.

Gia is pretty miserable. 

She recalls her moments with Mama when she was the cynosure of Mama's attention. When she and her Mama would be "drinking hot chocolate and telling silly stories."

"Now that baby was going to change everything".

When Gia gives vent to her pent-up emotion, she is admonished by being sent away from the Thanksgiving family dinner. However, when Mama comes to console Gia, and admits that she will miss those days when it was only her and Gia, Gia finally feels at peace. 

Gia finally has a beautiful moment when she and her Mama share their much-loved pecan pie along with the soon-to-be-born baby.

It's a heart-warming story of how family dynamics can change with a new addition, in this case a new-born sibling. It's especially difficult and maybe traumatic also, if the older child has been the only child in the family and has been getting all the love and attention. 

All of a sudden with the arrival of a new-born baby the entire attention is riveted on the new arrival. If the older sibling is at an emotionally mature age, then the new-born baby can really upset the older sibling's world.

I remember, when my brother was born, I would often times feel left out and unloved and that feeling continued way up to my adult years, so I could relate to this story very well.

Jacqueline Woodson's emotional language and Sophie Blackall's vibrant illustrations capture the nuances beautifully and it's a book I would love to read over and over again.

Image source: www.amazon.com | Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons - An imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.