BOOK REVIEW: Quest by Aaron Becker

Wordless books are boundless.  They have no text and hence are in no particular language, besides, of course, the language of art.  The illustrations say it all.  And that’s the beauty of wordless picture books!  There are no words laying out the story to the audience.  The story is purely guided by the reader’s interpretation of the illustrations.

When I read Aaron Becker's picture book, ‘Journey’, I was amazed that an adventure story had been visualized and rendered so beautifully as a wordless picture book!

So imagine my joy when I learned that it was part of a trilogy!  When I laid my hands on the second book, at first I excitedly sifted through a few pages, then shut it.  I decided that to do justice to the book, I must look through it in a relaxed manner, relishing and drinking in each detail of every illustration, in order to truly experience the adventure.

In ‘Quest’, Mr. Becker takes us on yet another thrilling ride.  The story continues where it left off in the end of the first book – the lonely girl with her red marker befriends a boy with a purple marker!  The two embark on an adventure filled with mystery and excitement. 

A king appears suddenly and hands them a mysterious map before getting captured by enemy soliders.  It is up to the twosome to work together to unravel the mystery of the map and rescue the king.  

And as they do, they are pursued in their ‘quest’ by the king’s enemies who try to stop them to seize the magical treasure they have discovered.

The story ends with a clue about where the next adventure will lead us (the last book of the trilogy).  I am already looking forward to it!

Appropriate for children ages 6+ as well as adventure loving grown-ups!

KID LIT at the Singapore Writers Festival 2014

The Singapore Writers Festival was held from Oct 31-Nov 9, 2014.  Unlike previous years, this time it was packed with several events for children.

                             

The Little Lit! events were held at the National Museum of Singapore.  Writing workshops, storytelling sessions, children's book launches, panel discussions and crafts were some of the highlights of Little Lit!.

I attended a few of them, some as a parent and others as a volunteer.

Writers from Epigram Books talked about the latest titles in their chapter books series. Participating were AJ Low (Sherlock Sam series), Lesley-Anne and Monica Lee (Danger Dan series) and Maranna Chan (Triple Nine Sleuths).  Also discussed was the brand new Girl Overboard series by Sheri Tan and Fernando Hierro.





The storytelling session by professional storyteller Chuah Ai Lin, which was received with lots of smiles and giggles from the little ones.

  

At the panel discussion on children's books based on Singapore's history, authors talked about their book's journey from concept to print.  The panel included authors Fanny Lai, ('Nini in Changi Village'), Ho Lee Ling ('Samsui Girl'), and Erwin Chan ('Zack Lee and the Legend of Yamashita's Gold').  The session was moderated by Sangeetha Madhavan, author of 'The Blue Cat's Tale'.  

                                  

 Another interesting discussion was panelled by Patrick Yee, illustrator of  'A boy named Harry' and Lawrence Koh, author of 'Growing up with Lee Kuan Yew'.  Both are authors of books about Singapore's first Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.  

                                      


My daughter enjoyed writing workshops with Jacqueline Harvey (Author: Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose series) and Hemang Yadav (writer and storyteller) while my son enjoyed making crafts, a writing session conducted by Radhika Puri (Author: 'Mountain of fire') and storytelling sessions by representatives of the Roger Jenkins company.


                                     

My son's art on the Doodle Wall

                                     

Storytelling session by Hemang Yadav and Kong Yit Sim

                                      Storytelling by students of Kent Ridge Sec. School

                                       

Author Radhika Puri ('Mountain of Fire') shares her writing tips with children

We stopped at the Popular Bookstore to grab some exciting new reads before heading home.

Some of the children's books at Popular

BOOK REVIEW: Journey by Aaron Becker

Aaron Becker’s Journey is a remarkably illustrated ‘wordless’ picture book that sweeps you off on an exciting adventure.

A lonely girl finds a red marker and draws a door on her bedroom wall.  The door turns out to be magical and opens up, leading her into a mysterious forest.  

And that is the beginning of her adventures filled with excitement and danger.

                 

Realizing that her marker is magical, the girl draws her way into and out of all kinds of situations – by drawing a boat, a hot-air balloon, and even a magic carpet! 

But then she loses her magic red marker and gets captured by an evil emperor's men.

Will she ever get her marker back?  How will she escape?  Will she get back home safely?  To find out, please read the book.

I haven't seen many 'wordless' picture books before.  They sure do test your observation skills.  This book, with its detailed illustrations and exciting story, did just that!  I couldn't help marvelling at the detailed illustrations, and had to flip back and forth to look at things I had missed earlier.  But no complaints - I love this book and really enjoyed the adventurous 'Journey' I was being taken on. 

Exciting for all ages 6+.

This book has a sequel – 'Quest'.  Look out for the book review in the near future!

BOOK REVIEW: Bun Bun Button by Patricia Polacco

Writer and illustrator Patricia Polacco beautifully depicts the loving relationship of a grandmother and her granddaughter in this book.

Gramma’s house is always full of fun things to do – feed the cats and dogs, bake cookies, cuddle up and read, discover what’s in an old chest.  And that’s what Paige does when she visits her Gramma who lives with five cats, two dogs, a squirrel and a goldfish.  They all cuddle up together on Gramma’s Old Blue Chair to read.

                                                      

One day, Gramma makes Bun Bun Button, a button-nosed bunny for Paige who pleads for something of her own to cuddle with.  Paige loves Bun Bun and takes him everywhere with her. 

When Grandma gets Paige a helium balloon, she plays with it indoors.  She ties it to Bun Bun’s arm and lets it go, watching Bun Bun float up to the ceiling.  Then Paige wants to go outdoors and play with the balloon, but Grandma warns her that the balloon could float far away.  Paige pleads with her and gets the balloon tied to her own wrist.  But somehow the balloon string comes loose and it floats away up to the sky, taking Bun Bun with it.  Paige is miserable. 

What happens to Bun Bun?  Does Paige ever get him back?

I discovered some of Patricia Polacco’s works recently.  She has made some fantastic picture books even for middle-graders with themes like bullying, self-expression through art and so on.  Each one is a delight to read and admire.

Appropriate for ages 4-8.

BOOK REVIEW: Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief by Arundhati Venkatesh, Shilpa Ranade

A school story set in Grade 3, this book is about Pushkin, who is always hungry.  That's why his friends call him Petu or 'one who is always eating', Pumpkin describing his shape and size!

Pushkin's mother gives him several tiffin boxes for school, each with a different snack and meal. He eats up most of the things on the bus-ride to school and then in the classroom, even when the teacher is teaching.  By lunchtime, all his food is over.  Unfortunately, he is still hungry!

Desperate for more food, he turns to his friends' tiffin boxes. Though his friends like to share, they are annoyed when he doesn't leave anything for them.  They decide that something must be done to keep him from hogging other people's lunches.  

So they form a secret society to find a solution. A secret society is exciting with secret meetings, passwords, codes and hideouts.  The friends try out different ways to discourage Pushkin from eating from their tiffin boxes.  But it's only when they come up with a nasty one that their plan really works.  What do they do that pushes Pushkin away from their tiffin boxes?  Do they remain his friends?

Written in simple language perfect for early chapter book readers, the story is filled with humorous situations that make reading it very enjoyable.  The similar sounding names of Pushkin's friends do get a little confusing though (Jatin, Sachin, Nitin). 

But overall, a hilarious read for young children (ages 6+)!

When my eight-year old didn't want to get away from his favourite series to pick up this book, I read him two chapters at one night.  That was enough to get him to pick up the book! Now, even though he has read the book all by himself, he still wants me to read two chapters from it each night!

I look forward to reading the next book, "Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles".