Wednesday 11 July 2012

Princess Poppy

If you are a parent like me who cringes at anything related to Barbie but your kid is so into princesses and fairies and ends up looking at all sorts of books with a Barbie image on them then Princess Poppy is your answer!

These are a series of attractive books with great stories designed for a little girl reader and their Barbie hating moms!;))

Everything about the book will appeal to the 4-5 year old princesses who would love the dainty flowers, tiny golden stars, the little envelope with a note right in front, the colour scheme , the map of Honeypot Hill featuring in every book - everything!

All the characters have such kind faces and the focus is on the story and less on the dress/ hair/makeup or looks of  'Poppy' and her friends and Family. The stories are about friendship,  sharing, feelings, standing up for yourself -such lovely themes!
However, my favourite part is their tag line, "Every Little Girl is a Princess".

Here's a nice interview with the author, Janey Louise Jones : http://clubs-kids.scholastic.co.uk/clubs_content/2170
Veronica Vasylenko does  a fabulous job of illustrating the stories but seems to have got little mention of her work on the web.
Ah! Also! The Random House group has developed a nice website for your kid to tinker around after she is done with the reading. http://www.princesspoppy.com/


Friday 22 June 2012

Today Was a Terrible Day-Patricia Reilly Giff

Absolutely delighted reading this book!

On first glance it does seem it is in line with Judith V's book, 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day' but it differs with a twist in the tale and its classroom setting.
Susanna Natti has done a wonderful job of illustrating those frustrating emotions and feelings as well as school life. I loved the hand written note-it looked so real with the blue ball point ink!
In my internet search about Patricia I came across her blog and understood the book better. Patricia was a teacher for 20 years. As part of a write up on her here, she says,
"All of my books are based in some way on my personal experiences, or the experiences of members of my family, or the stories kids would tell me in school."
I liked this book even better when I read this as well in the write up: "I want the children to bubble up with laughter, or to cry over my books. I want to picture them under a cherry tree or at the library with my book in their hands. But more, I want to see them reading in the classroom. I want to see children in solitude at their desks, reading, absorbing, lost in a book."

Worth recommending for talking to your kid about having a sense of humour. My kid laughs loudly every time we go over the , "Hello Michael? This is Snakey." bit in the end.
Worth recommending also for narrating how school life really is-being called names, being laughed at, feeling left out , and then happy times because I really do believe children live in the moment.
But most of all worth recommending for the delicate teacher-student bond that shines through in this book.

Friday 10 February 2012

A Very Unusual Dog- Dorothy Joan Harris and Kim Lafave

Such a tender tale of a child with an imaginary dog,an elder sister pooh poohing his claims, an understanding mother, and a sensitive grandmother.Dorothy Joan Harris, its author is a fairly well know children's author. From the back cover I learnt that she is also a grandmother and that  really shines out in this story.

Published by North Winds Press, a division of Scholastic Cananda Ltd , it is sold by Scholastic India at Rs. 175/-

An adorable book and a very heart warming story line. Absolutely loved the warm illustrations and the colours Kim Lafave has created for the book.
Look out for it!