Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema Pictures by Leo and Diane Dillon
Caldecott Award, 1976
Ages : 5 to 8
This would be an interesting question to ponder on, isn't it? And one that has a very interesting answer too, revealed by this very cute, award winning book!
The story starts with a mosquito telling the iguana who comes to the waterhole, a little something...about a farmer digging yams that were almost as big as the mosquito was!!! The iguana, for his part, is mighty annoyed at being told such tall tales and sticks a couple of sticks in his ears to avoid hearing such nonsense and walks off mek mek mek mek, looking pretty grumpy.
Calabash Cat and his Amazing Journey by James Rumford
Ages : 4 - 7
"Good children's literature appeals, not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child!" So goes a quote by an anonymous but obviously wise person, who has summed up the universal appeal that good kid literature has. And I can't help but second that. A book is completely about the shared enjoyment, and the little bits that everyone takes away from it. And Calabash Cat from the West African country of Chad, falls exactly into this genre!
Read the rest of this review over at Saffron Tree as part of CROCUS 2009! And don't forget to leave a comment! :)
Saffron Tree turns 3 today. And its been almost as long of my association with it. The beautiful thing about ST is that, we have all gotten together to go right deep into the heart of a world that we have all grazed the periphery of in our own lives with our children....the world of children's literature.
This world of children's literature is not to be taken lightly. Because it is not just for kids. Our kids are the pretext we can use to get ourselves a passport into a world that can delight and entertain the child within us. So if you've made the mistake of dismissing Saffron Tree because it has to do with only "children's books", then think again.
And take the opportunity of its 3rd birthday to pause by this space, and give it a hello. And while you're there, you can challenge yourself with a little crossword game based on the books that we have read at ST so far! Whatever your compulsions, do break your silence and give us all a pat on the back!
I've traveled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens, Old stars and hopeful beginners, I've been where no-one's been before, Learned secrets from writers and cooks All with one library ticket.
- Anonymous
And this is exactly what CROCUS 2009 is about. A sort of time travel Around the world in 7 days, touching upon the culture of every continent along the way, delving into its richness and complexity, and coming away, perhaps a little more wonderous about how truly diverse we are, and yet truly one, beneath it all. And all this, without even leaving our chairs! That is our hope, as we at Saffron Team mark our 3rd anniversary by beginning our official book festival called CROCUS...a Celebration of Reading Other Culturally Unique Stories!
Its going to be 7 days of back to back reviews, at every stop that we make along our route...our very own Silk Route, in addition to a fun crossword with an even more fun prize and personal author interviews. So mark your calendars and join us for this gala book festival. All relevant details are available on the flier. Click to view it large. And pass on the info to other children's book lovers. On my sidebar is a badge announcing this festival. Please do make use of it to display on your own sidebars to help spread the word over the next one week!
What would it be like, if a well known animation artist who has brought famous characters to life, such as The Little Mermaid, Alladin, The Lion King, Finding Nemoand The Incrediblescreated a picture book for children??? It makes you wonder, doesn't it??
It was entirely by accident that I came across this book, in my online search for multicultural titles at our library's website. The very title of it, that beautiful uplifting white background and those two very interesting looking characters on the front cover, just arrested my interest and I placed an immediate hold, not caring to read more into it.
When I went to the library to pick it up, among many others, I had a few minutes of wait, so I started thumbing through the pages...unable to contain my curiosity of what a book about 'nothing' could be all about! And it was all I could do to keep from guffawing out loud right there, right then. I am not exaggerating!! I literally had to clamp a hand over my mouth to stop the chortles from escaping. That is just what this book does to you...just from the pictures alone! I got in the car and fished out the book again to read it through before putting my key in the ignition. I haven't been **this** happy to read a children's book in a loooo...oong time. And I couldn't wait for Winkie to come back from school.
But I'm not going to wait that long to keep you in suspense either....so let me share a bit more. Concept wise, this story is brilliant. For here are two boys Frankie & Sal, who've done it all. Read books, done puzzles, finished colouring, played boardgames, played every sport invented (no kidding!) and just about every activity under the sun...you name it, they've done it. So now...what do they do???
Read the rest of this review over at Saffron Tree!
The world can whirl around in its crazy orbit. People can rush and race much like that view on fast forward mode, like little pigeons taking tiny steps at a blurry speed. And I might just be a part of it, for a better part of time. But for at least one hour every Monday and Thursday evening and 2 more days of the week thrown in for practice, if we're lucky, I soak in the treat of completely stopping time in its tracks, dropping anchor at just that spot, letting down my sails and just mooring. And along with the sound of the waves gently lapping at the boat, at an hour when the stars are getting ready to come out for the night....you will also hear the earnest but shy voice of a little boy, as he diligently follows the voice of his Guru, as she takes him through the beginning nuances of the Sarali Varisai.
Rewind back in time a little bit...and there is an an old house located in a quiet lane of suburban Abhiramipuram, just minutes from bustling Mylapore. And while all other older homes in the area have given in and gotten that typical facelift into modern style apartment buildings, this one still remains intact, weathered and sorely needing a lick of paint among many other repairs, thanks to an ongoing dispute among all the members of the family who own it. And in a manner that directly negates all the energy of conflict that surrounds it, it has become the home of music, and a school to the few 100 odd children that have enrolled in its curriculum faithfully.I speak of my father-in-law's music school, the one he began when he moved back to desh after a long NRI life, the one where I enrolled in too, to take up my love and learning of the veena.
Every afternoon at 4:30 PM, I would accompany him to the school, the strains of a chorus of young kids belting out the basic lessons, often greeting us from the front room. I would take off my slippers, depositing them in a small, dusty courtyard, before walking inside past 2 rooms filled with the various notes, at different stages of progress, smiling broadly at the teachers who acknowledge my presence with a certain warmth, before turning sideways into a narrow stairway and ascending it to the terrace above. There, adjoining it was a room, long in length, a perfect size for housing all the veenas that the school owned, some 5-6 of them. Violins and keyboards were the more popular instruments, and there were fewer takers for the veena, and that suited me just fine, for it meant leisurely leisurely chats and long sessions with my veena teacher whom I adored! And there, for the next 1 hour, she took me through the nuances of a music I had never known before in such an exquisite intimacy, my fingers striving to keep up with her more fluid ones, befriending the raagas that she deemed were within my reach. I have never known a more happier time or a better escape from the less musical realities of a more real world.
Winkie does not have the benefit of this same exact learning atmosphere yet, but it should be of no surprise that I chose to enroll him into carnatic music the minute I was back on my feet. A few days just shy of the official Vijayadasami, he joined his new Guru as her first student after her Indian vacation. She prefers a one on one teaching setup, and he thus, has the benefit of her undivided attention. Which I think is just what he needs to emerge from that slightly reticent public exterior he displays in situations like these. And once he is home, he has me. I am more than capable of teaching him the basics myself, but I guess someone with more experience at actual teaching is a better teacher for him and I am a good practice and substitute Guru. Its not always been easy to get him to practice sincerely, because singing is hard work and applied work. And we've had our good days and our bad days. Yesterday however, was a wonderful breakthrough where he mastered some of the more challenging notes in the Sarali Varisai, the ones you sing towards the end, and he was hopping about delightedly singing it to whoever would lend him an obliging ear. And we had a small recording session of it too, and he enjoyed hearing his voice in playback mode.
And in addition to all the many obvious benefits that this has brought into our lives....the best of them all has to be our shared time together. I sit in with him on his classes. We sing on the way to it. We sing on the way back, if we're in the mood. We sing at home when we formally sit down to practice, and both our voices strengthen and open up. And two voices unified in song, locked in on the same notes and swaras, enraptured in the same mood....well that has to be the most companionable thing of all!
There have been many a times when I have peeped into the room, caught the neatly stacked line of cars and the figure reclining next to it, driving them all soundlessly...wordlessly...and felt a fleeting sense of admiration for how perfect that line was and independent and peaceful that reclining figure was, and then gone my way to do whatever it is that I have deemed more important to do, than to linger to watch him.
But not tonight.
Tonight, as he lay there, a little after dinner, my legs, for a change ignored my super jumpy mind and its directions and danced to the tune of my heart that was playing the song of sweet sentiment...go to him...go to him...it seemed to croon, and that's what I did. And when he sensed me draw near...he patted the ground next to him and said daadaa...which is his weird lingo for...sit next to me.I diddaadaa, and soon found myself in the same flat position at him, at the exact eye level that he was, trying to understand what all this fascination with cars was about. He pulled out a sky blue sedan and rolled it over to me in invitation, choosing a red for himself. And I wheeled it up and down, around and around, just like him. He did the same and we lay there in a quiet companionable silence.
A few minutes later, I tired of the blue car and asked permission for the green sports one, and after some seconds of consideration, he backed it out and gave it to me. And our game continued. After the green, I drove the red fire car and then the blue Home Depot truck, and the luxury of so many choices for change was exhilarating. As was the quiet deliciousness of knowing how ridiculously simple life was at that moment....
And I realise, that this is exactly the moment I live for when I go through all the other motions of life. This one deep luxurious breath I can take in all the shallow breathing that I allow myself to endure. Its not about the highs or the lows....its about this subliminal peace...where my mind rests with my heart, the very same way a mother lays down to rest with her blissful son...
You know how sometimes, there are moments in life, when you see things pretty darn clearly. And what was already known in a vague, cotton ball fuzzy sort of way, suddenly becomes evident and clear in a way that leaves no room for doubt and seems like the most obvious thing in the world and yet retains its novelty as a fresh new sparkle of thought....
I had one such moment just now....an epiphany of a kind. A disturbing dream last night woke me up very early this morning, driving me to my meditation in a way it hasn't done so in a long while. No, I don't wish to talk about it...but let's just say its the kind of thought that need not be fed with more energy (the way I am doing even right now), but has to be accepted and prayed away with a practical sort of calm. I've even found many moments today in which to laugh whole heartedly and to be joyful, taking pleasure in the fun stuff of life. And that's when it happened....that crystal clear clarity of a thought that I've always known and yet it presented itself with the intimacy of direct experience...what life is all about.
And so, with certainty, I can say this....Life is about being joyful. Its about laughing as much as you can, and crying when you absolutely cannot. And its about keeping up a smile for all the times in between. Sometimes, a polite one, sometimes an amused one, sometimes a patient one, and sometimes a sweet one that comes on with no effort at all.
One of the first things I had wanted to do when I could stand on my own two feet, was to pick up Thambi from the ground, lift him and hold him tight, standing the whole time. It was the one thing I couldn't do with crutches. And true to me wish, that's the first thing I did. And he was the one who prompted me by holding out his arms when he saw me standing. It was deeply satisfying. Little did I realise at the time, that I would be setting him down very soon thereafter, to take his first steps to his first school.
Thambi joined Uma's school on the auspicious Vijayadasami day. He went for 2 hours as a start, his real start having already been made in those 2 weeks that she took care of him during my immobilisation period. So there was no jitters on my part, no anxieties as to how he would do. Only the sweet sentiment of change, and a feeling of pride at him, and a vague sort of sadness that he was leaving the nest. That first day, he was very excited at home and got ready quickly and looked super smart, only to shed a few parting tears at her place. And today, which was his first full day, he walked in on his own, took his shoes off on his own, put them in place on his own, and then I lifted him again, off the ground, and with a quick hug and a kiss, handed him over to her waiting arms, and the minute he reached it, he held on to her tight and buried his face in her shoulder, and that was that. That one gesture spoke volumes of his grace under the pressure and the trust that he had already placed on her.
When I picked him up yesterday, he was trying to get into his shoes and yelping excitedly when he saw me. He looked so happy. And when I bent down to stick on the velcro of his shoes...that's when it hit me...the surreality of that moment...some 100's of times when I had bent down for the very same thing with Winkie and now it was my sweet little Thambi. I couldn't believe he was finally with Uma. How simply all of life's greatest moments happen!
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
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