Book review : A Hat for Mrs.Goldman

Book: A hat for Mrs.goldman 

Author : Michelle Edwards

Illustrator : G.Brian Karas

Age : 4 plus 

“ Love is  when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own “ . 

A hat for Mrs.goldman written by Michelle Edwards is a simple and heartwarming story based on the quote above. 

Storyline : 

Little girl Sophia and mrs.goldman are neighbors. Mrs . Goldman loves knitting ,When sophia was a small  baby she knit her a  tiny hat to keep her warm . Now sophia is big and she helps Mrs . Goldman by making the Pom Poms for the hats she make for her friends and neighbors . 

Keeping keppies ( head in Yiddish ) warm is our mitzvah ( good deed in Hebrew) says Mrs goldman and she  had taught sophia to knit , since sophia found it hard , she thought making Pom poms were easier .

One day they both went for a walk with fifi , the dog of mrs Goldman , Sophia was wearing a sweater and a fuzzy hat and it was knitted by mrs .goldman . It was one of the early days of winter , and the wind was very cool , Mrs. goldman’s hair was blown left and right and her ears become pink , because she has given her hat to mrs . Chen and doesn’t have one for her . 

Sophia feels bad and decides that she has to do something and bring a hat for mrs Goldman . What mitzvah does Sophia do to keep mrs.goldmans keppie warm is the rest of the story . 

Review

The storyline is simple yet  it gives a beautiful message for not only kids but also adults .The illustrations are excellent and it is mentioned that the illustrator Brian karas has learnt knitting exclusively for illustrating this story . The bond between Sophia and Mrs.goldman is beautifully expressed in words . There was a guide at the end on how to knit a hat and make Pom poms . The story is not only about knitting and love but also about Sharing and kindness . 

Recommended for kids age four plus this for sure will be a warm read during cold winter nights . It’s time to think about the mitzvah we have done or going to do , so don’t wait let your good deeds be like rain , Drop a little everywhere . 

Link to buy the book

https://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/0553497103/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514531511&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX118_SY170_QL70&keywords=hat+for+mrs+goldman&dpPl=1&dpID=41gr2gQRpeL&ref=plSrch

Book Review : Esperanza Rising

Book : Esperanza rising 

Author :Pam Munoz Ryan

Genre : Fiction ( young adult ) 

Pura Belpré award winner(Medal )  for narrative in the year 2002 . 

 Based on the author’s own life events, this story revolves around a young immigrant from Mexico to the US . 

Esperanza ,was the daughter of a rich rancher Sixto Ortega . She lived in el Rancho de las Rosas , Aguascalientes, Mexico  along with her father , mother Ramona , grandma abuelita and the servant family Alfonso , Hortensia and their son Miguel .

She was an Happy go girl until her thirteenth birthday , it was the end of the harvest and she was all set for a feast the next day  since it was her birthday. But to her shock , her father who went with the farmers for some

Cattle work , didn’t return home till evening . Her  father’s step brothers Tio Louis and Tio Marco who hold a big post in their community ( whom she doesn’t like ) comes home just to say that her father and his men  were attacked by the bandits and they are no more . 

Life gets upside down , Her uncle Tio Louis , the bank president comes with a proposal to marry her mother ,reason being he wants to compete for the governor post  and Ramona by his side as a wife will help him to get more votes . Their house  and the ranch was set on fire since her mom refuses his proposal . Abuelita gets a fracture in her ankle and was sent to the convent where her sisters work.

Mama , Esperanza and the servant family escapes to Los Angeles with the help of their neighbour and abuelita’s sisters .abuelita was left back in el Rancho de las Rosas since she was injured, but she had promised to join them once she is cured . They get settled in a Mexican camp where Alfonso’s brother and his family lives . 

From a princess to an immigrant in a camp , they were forced to start the life again in a small wooden cabin . How she gets adjusted to the life as an immigrant , the tough times that followed her and whether abuelita has joined them is the rest of the story .

Review

An heart touching and inspiring story on perseverance , struggle , loss , hard work , hope etc. The character , Esperanza impresses us right from being a rich ranchers daughter who used to say to Miguel “ we stand on different sides of the river “ to Moving away with him as an immigrant ,facing lot of hardships in USA ,and feeling for the words she said every time when she came across Miguel . The story starts with a Spanish proverb which means “ He who falls today may rise tomorrow “ that typically conveys the theme of the book . Miguel’s character is very impressive , he reiterates to Esperanza every time that how important hard work  and perseverance is .Do not ever be afraid to start over is the concluding words of the novel by Esperanza , while she is waiting for a better tomorrow ,because Esperanza means Hope in Spanish . 

Check out the book to find out how Esperanza is trying to rise against all odds . 

MANGO, ABUELA and ME

Book Name  : Mango , Abuela and me 

Author : Meg Medina 

Illustrator : Angela Dominguez

Recommended age : 4 plus 

Mango Abuela and me was written by meg medina based on her own life experiences with her grandmother .It is a Pura Belpré honor award winner  for both the author and illustrator .With bright and expressive illustrations the story of this exceptional picture Book goes like this :

Mia belongs to a Latino  family and she lives with her papi ( father ) , Mami ( mother ) and Edmund her pet hamster . Her far-away  grandmother ( that’s how Mia calls her ) leaves her sunny house  with parrots and palm trees  to come live with Mia and her parents in the city . 

Mia shares her room with Abuela ( grandmother ) , that night Mia reads her favorite story book to Abuela , but she didn’t understand  , reason being Abuela understands and speaks only Espanol ( Spanish ) and not English . Day after day Mia finds it difficult to communicate  with Abuela . 

One day Mia decides to teach Abuela English and starts her lesson one by one , right from teaching simple words/names of things they come across everyday to  sticking word cards everywhere in the room , Mia tries to execute her work not only by teaching English but  at the same time learning Spanish from Abuela . 

But, one day her visit to a pet shop with mom to buy seeds for Edmund her hamster , gives her a better idea to make Abuela more comfortable in learning English . What idea did Mia got at the pet shop and how Abuela and Mia got along together without any barrier in communication is the rest of the story . 

Review : 

The story that tells  us the importance of a family . A story that connects well with our day to day life as a family . Grandparents  love is always special to each one of us , whatever our age is . The visual of myself teaching my grandmother how to operate a Tv remote came in every now and then while reading the story . It emphasizes the importance of communication and working together to  find a solution for the problem . 

With vivid illustrations the story conveys us a beautiful message “El amor no tiene lenguaje” ( love has no language ) .  A must have in everyone’s library. 

Tiny Insects - A picture book inspired art lesson

I have often designed an art lesson based on elements of art for most part of my teaching life , unless I came across this site called deep space sparkle(DSS) , DSS was a great inspiration for me to create lessons based on picture books . Even though i used to pick up most of my picture books only for illustration , drawing based on that was an idea which I inherited from them. 

Our first lesson is based on insects , those tiny little creatures , which used to frighten most of us in daily lives. This lesson was inspired from the book The Tickly Spider by Margaret Wise Brown , its about a little spider  and a small boy .

Supplies needed : 

A4 size ivory sheets 

Drawing tools ( Pencil, eraser, sharpener) 

Tempera paints / water colours 

Oil pastels

Some glitters 

After reading the lesson , the first thing we did is to take a list of insects which are simple to draw using lines and shapes .

We have taken 4  of them ( Ant, ladybug, butterfly, dragonfly, ) check the following link for step by step drawings .

http://theartandbookjunction.blogspot.in/2017/09/step-by-step-drawings-insects.html?m=1

Once this part is done , the next one is creating a scenery , as I don't have images of the work done by my students ( lost during shifting) have added  some prompts here to try with the kids . 

Prompt 1: On the river bank 

( image included) 

Prompt 2: In the field 

Draw a field full of grass , sand etc and include the insects there . 

Prompt 3 : A scenic morning from my window

Draw a view from the window how the world looks during early morning , include the colourful sun , trees, chirping birds ,blooming flowers ,  tiny insects . 

_____________________________________

Hope you all enjoy the lesson , please try the activities with kids and post their works in the comment section , also don't forget to drop your feedback. 

Step by step drawings - Insects

Try these step by step lessons to learn to draw tiny colourful insects .  #cachartprojects

You can find our lessons using the hashtag #cachartprojects 

Join the group cool and crazy hues in fb , for various art lesson plans 

https://m.facebook.com/groups/127247624666200

Book Review : Andrew Henry's meadow by Doris burn

Andrew Henry's meadow 

Author and illustrator : Doris Burn

In today's world where it is made compulsory to follow a set of rules , either in home , school , wherever you are , there live a group of children  who doesn't want or like to follow those ( defaulters or rule breakers as they say ) it doesn't mean they are breakers , they are creators who want to make their own set of rules . This classic written in 1965 is about one such child who is unique . 

Story:

Andrew Henry thatcher lives with his parents and siblings in stubbsville , being the middle child he had two older sisters and two younger brothers . 

His mom is always busy in the kitchen and his father with work , two older sisters are busy with new dress up or hair style and two younger brothers with toys and colouring books , he was always left with himself , but he never mind , because he had plenty of things to do . 

Andrew like to build things , from an helicopter in the kitchen  to an eagle nest in living room , but his parents doesn't like , so he has to remove them , when he builds a merry go round and hitches with his sisters sewing machine they shout on him to remove it right away , when he builds system of pulleys in his room which he shares with his brothers , they cry that " you are always spoiling our fun Andrew " . 

So one fine spring morning Andrew makes up his mind to build a house of his own and leaves the house with his tools . Faraway in the meadow Andrew builds up his house, not only for himself , also for eight more children .

The reason why all the other children left their home , how they get reunited with their parents and whether their uniqueness is accepted and appreciated is the rest of the story . 

Review

Every child is unique , they have their own qualities which may be different from other children . It has to be understood and should be appreciated especially by the parents . Fantastic Illustrations which are done with pen and ink ,add more value to the story . We liked the way Andrew's character has been portrayed , very courageous and a never give up attitude , he follows what his heart says irrespective of whether it makes others happy or not . The entire story reminds us the famous quote " why fit in when you were born to stand out " 

Book Review : The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles

Title : The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles 

Author: Michelle Cuevas

Illustrator : Erin E.Stead

Age : 5 plus

   Is there anyone who has held or holds such job ? was the first thing which came to mind when I came through the title of this book . 

But wiki says , during sixteenth century , queen Elizabeth I has created such a job profile , where navy people used to communicate important messages about enemy countries  offshore through a bottle . The uncorkers duty is to open them . 

 

STORY : 

The uncorker of ocean bottles is a stinky man with a drab personality, who lived  near the ocean with only one tree for shade . He had an important  duty of looking at the ocean for any bottles with messages , opening them and handing it over to the respective person . 

Either the place of delivery is nearby or far off , the uncorker did his duty without any hesitation . For him , the letter can hold the treasure of a clam hugged pearl , while he felt happy doing his duty , a part of him hoped that he would also receive a letter in his name one day in a bottle, but it won't happen , because he  neither had any name nor any friends or relatives to send any . 

One day he receives a letter without any name , it holds the message of "invitation to the party at seashore " , he starts the journey in search of the unknown person and ends up in disappointment as well as a surprise. 

Whether he was able to find out the receiver to whom letter belongs to ? What made him to feel disappointed and surprised at the same time ? is the rest of the story 

Review: 

Before Emails and smart phones took over there was a period where we used to wait for the postman to check whether we have received any letter , it gives a sense of excitement until the letter has been opened and read.The author  should be thanked for bringing back such memories through 

his simple  narration. Illustrations are excellent and apt for the story , oil pastel and pencil drawings clearly expresses the mood  of the characters . 

The uncorker of ocean bottles is a story with a message that why it is important to have a community , either in the form of a friend or a relative . a story  that helps the readers to understand the importance of a family , a story that teaches that why loneliness is considered as a terrible poverty , and last but not the least , it is a story that helps to understand  the true meaning of happiness , which is the one that comes from making others happy . 

Book Review : Diva and Flea - A Parisian Tale by Mo willems

Title : Diva and Flea - A Parisian Tale , Author : Mo Willems | illustrator : Tony Diterlizzi |  Age : 4 plus 

It is not necessary that one should be an animal lover to read stories about animals , Some books have the quality of attracting all categories  of readers by the cover page itself irrespective of the characters involved in the story  ,Books by Mo willems are one of those .

    An early chapter book for kids , diva and flea is about the friendship between a curious cat and a brave dog . 

 

Story: 

Diva is a cute little dog who lives in an apartment in 11th avenue , le play , Paris . She is the dog of the apartment's gardienne ( French word which means warden or caretaker) Eva. Along with Eva , diva took very good care of the building and its courtyard . If anything ever happens diva will yelp so loudly and run away . When she hears the sound of people walking she would shout FEET and run away. For her the apartment and the courtyard was the most wonderful place on earth , It was her world . 

Flea is a large cat , who doesn't have any particular place to live , he stays  wherever he finds a place everyday , he was a flaneur ( someone who roams the city to see what there is to see) .for him the world is unlimited , even though he has seen lot of places, he likes to discover more . 

One day they both meet each other , starting with lot of yelps and fights , how they become the best friends and how they both change each other's perspective about the world is the rest of the story . 

Review : 

Beautiful story on friendship with expressive illustrations . Sharing and caring is one of the important quality of friendship which is clearly explained in the story .For those who have not visited Paris , this book will give a feel that they are living there right in.Most  of the people have an impression that the world is always limited to the place where  they live , but this story gives a message that  always there are lot of new things to explore , discoveries to be made .

According to the author , "The biggest discoveries always start with the smallest steps" , this means not only for exploring and travelling , but in whatever work we do , so have you started thinking about your steps??

Read everything -LIBROS kids library

Being a non reader in my entire childhood , books were not in my to do list , until I had a kid who was a serious bookworm . My daughter was a an  avid reader who likes to read or go through  any genre of books , it was nearly 5 years before I have decided to enroll her in a library   so that she can get exposed to different books , we have visited different libraries , but unfortunately most of them had only limited collections , other than some specific authors and genres  , they didn't had the books by others , so we dropped out our decision and instead we started collecting books of various genres and by different authors. From pre loved to imported we have collected more than 1000 books now between ages 4 to 13 . 

 

 

During play dates the little ones of my friends used to browse our collection , and borrow books to read , but again they were restricted only to one or two authors and not others . Most of the kids aren't  exposed to different authors . 

 

For us books are always a magical treasure that helped us to visit far away places .And with an idea to share this treasure and magic with the other kids LIBROS - the kids library came in to existence . Library with books from all over the world is a long time dream for me , for which LIBROS is the first baby step . Since it is home based we don't know whether it matches the infrastructure and other facilities provided by other libraries , but one thing we can assure in LIBROS i.e. this is a library where "  BEST LITERATURE GUARANTEED" 

Starting our operations from 16th June 2017 , we expect to meet more and more little readers in this magical journey of reading

Book Review : Blackout

Book that delivers simple but yet useful/beautiful message , message that is more needed In today's tech savvy world.

 

The story : 

It was a busy summer night , the entire city was loud and noisy and there lives a small girl with her parents and sister and her little cat in a house . 

Everyone in the house was busy in different chores , cooking, surfing , chatting over phone , little girl wants to play board game but all are busy and no one has time to spend with her .She was upset.Suddenly the power goes off and everything stopped working , the entire family sat up in the candle light.

They go to roof top , enjoy the light of stars, and there was a block party happening between the residents . They come down to the road , and participate with others in the party. Suddenly the power restores and everyone was back to their work and busy again.

Little girl doesn't like , now what she does to bring back everyone together again is the story.

Review: 

The importance of spending time with the family together is beautifully explained with outstanding illustrations .

This Caldecott honor book will sure take us to our good old times where we used to gaze at moon and stars at the rooftop of our house, chit chat, eat and play with friends and relatives .

Book Review : Drum Dream Girl

Book : Drum Dream Girl

Author : Margarita Engle

Illustrator : Rafael Lopez

Books from the same author : The poet slave of Cuba, The surrender tree, The lightning dreamer .

Age : 3 plus 

Winner of the pura belpre award 2016 for best illustration , this book spreads the message of "Follow your dreams and They Know the way ". An historical fiction which is the true story of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga a Cuban drummer. 

 

Story

In An island of music a little girl dreams, her dream is to become a drummer . Always she imagines pounding conga drums ,tapping bongo drums and booming with long sticks on timbales.

But everyone in that island believed only boys should play drums and not girls., so her dream remains always a dream .

She is always busy watching the drums played by men in outdoor cafes and carnivals.Tables and chairs becomes drum in home for her . 

Her sisters invite her to play drums in their all girls band, but her father refuses and sends her to a teacher to find out whether she is really good in drums . With the help of the teacher how she makes people

tap for her beats is the rest of the story.

Review 

Filled with beautiful and poetic illustrations this book celebrates music , breaks gender stereotypes and inspires children to follow their dreams . 

Book Review : Aunt chip and the great triple creek dam affair

Book Title : Aunt chip and the great triple creek dam affair

Author : Patricia Polacco

Age : 6 plus 

 

Reasons why we picked this book: 

 When you are surrounded by a group of non readers , you are supposed to prove every now and then that why reading is important , Patricia Polacco's books does that work for us , she herself struggled to read due to dyslexia till the age of 14. So some  of her books are centered on reading and books and this is one such book which tells about the  power of reading .

Storyline : 

People in Triple creek loved their Television sets , every single person watches tv the entire day, while having food , while they work, play etc. Everyone keeps a photo of their tv too in living room along with other important family photos. Except Aunt charlotte , she never leaves her bed and always lies over  there and never came out , for more than 50 years , reason being unknown for most of the people in town, she had a nephew Eli , a little boy who loved his aunt more , he used to visit her everyday to hear the stories she say .

One fine day Eli finds out from aunt chip( this is how he calls her ) that from where do these stories come from ,and the answer was books and reading . Till that moment Eli never knew what does reading mean, since the only activity they does is to watch tv . Books , he know, the reason being , there is a library in the town which is being closed from a long time, in every house books are being used but not to read , some used it as chair , some as a cover to the potholes , and a big wall is built using books in the town since the original wall collapsed due to some reason .

Aunt chip , for the first time after 50 years gets out of bed and along with Eli brings a change in the town, How they divert people

From the idiot box? What made her not to come out of house for so many years ? Why the library has been closed?Is the rest of story.

Review : 

Expressive illustrations., one of the best by author , Story is quiet lengthy for the younger group , everyone has the power to change the world around us and this book gives us a insight of how it can be done through reading . Courage , confidence, hope , aunt chip's character is crafted with full of positivity. Librarians are the most important asset of libraries is a strong message conveyed  by the author . 

Do you love books ? ...then this book is a treasure for you and 

don't like books ?.....then this book is definitely for you , to start loving them for life . 

Book Review : Something Beautiful

Book: Something Beautiful 

Author : Sharon Dennis Wyeth 

Illustrator : Chris k sonetpiet

Age : 4 plus 

 

It's a sunny morning , little girl gets ready to school . She glances through her window , lot of trash and broken glass in her courtyard . 

Out of her building , the building door is scribbled with words DIE, while passing through the road she sight  a lady whose house is a cardboard box and she is sleeping by covering herself with a plastic sheet.

She runs  through a lane which is dark , as her mama said not to stop there, next a garden with no flowers...Little girl remembers that her mama said "Everyone should have something beautiful in their life"

So where is my something beautiful ??? Her journey of search starts.

In school teacher teaches the word BEAUTIFUL , and little girl thinks  Beautiful means  ""Something when you have it ,your heart is happy "".So starting from school she keeps on asking everyone whether they have something beautiful ??

Right from the diner, her friends, fruit vendor, her aunt , old man in her society and her mom ,everyone has an answer  , what they said? What is their something beautiful? Is the rest of the story .

Beauty doesn't mean the outer looks , something that is from inside , different from one 's  skin color , it is not from wherever we live , anywhere we are there is something beautiful around us, it is our attitude towards others .With outstanding illustrations this book also teaches social consciousness ,as how to keep our surroundings clean and neat.  

Book Review : Dev and Ollie ( colour carnival ) by Shweta Aggarwal

Book : Dev and Ollie ( colour carnival ) 

Author : Shweta Aggarwal

Illustrator : Somnath Chatterjee

Age: 3 plus

This is the second book from the author and it's about Holi a festival of colours.Celebrated all over India , this festival signifies the victory of good over evil . A festival that helps in repairing broken relationships where , people express their love by way of colours .

 Story :

Dev is a neat freak , he doesn't want to get into mess.So he doesn't like either painting class or sand play and obviously the Holi festival . His favourite toy owl Ollie , decides to change his mind and makes a plan  to take him to a place where Holi is celebrated , they both take off and land in Agra . 

Dev meets some kids out there and also gets into a trouble , how he overcomes the same and whether the colourful mess makes him delighted is the rest of the story .

Review : 

Again the author strikes with an excellent  storyline which is easily understandable by kids . The story reminds me our first holi in north India where even we adults were  afraid of mess and hesitated to get out of home . Like it is said that all is fair in love and war , anyone and everyone is a fair game in the festival of Holi . Along with beautiful illustrations , the author also conveys the message of A friend in need is a friend indeed .

Simple storyline , beautiful illustrations , and the useful informations at the end of the book, not only about the festival but also about colours and the important monument of our country ,makes it a worthy read .Strongly recommended for those parents whose kids are going to explore about Holi for the first time . 

Book review : The boy on Fairfield street( How Ted Geisel Grew up to become Dr.Suess) by Kathleen Krull

    This book is a biography of the most famous children's author Dr.Suess . 

    Unless and until we read the book "The School Story" by Andrew Clements , we never knew that Ted giesel is the actual name of Dr.Suess, thanks to Clements for provoking our anxiety to learn more about Dr. Suess.

 

 

 Story:

Born in 1904, Theodor Suess Geisel ( his full name) lived in Springfield Massachusetts, with his parents and sister ,his house is the beautiful place of all , because three blocks from his house was a public library and six blocks was a Zoo. His father being the superintendent of parks ran the zoo.

    Ted's daily routines include read aloud of a story by his mom everyday on bedtime , and discussion about animals in the zoo with his father during dinner.These things made him more attached to books and animals, the two things to which we relate him till now.

     The boy who always roamed happily with his friends in the neighbourhood , who liked doodling, drawing apart from books and animals had a dark side too .He has always been bullied in school since he is a German immigrant , always considered as a failure as he is not good at shooting ( in which his parents excelled)and has weak muscles  .

     

    Even though he wins in art competitions , his art teacher considered him as a loser , since his drawings are always exaggerated , his view about a particular thing or animal is always different ,flying cows , plant like animals , cat with nine ears etc.

  Of all these odds how he managed to become Dr.Suess, the favourite author for not only kids but also adults is the rest of the story.

 

   The story that teaches courage determination  and working towards ones own passion . Also included at the end of the book a beautiful summary about Dr Suess and details about his books.

Book review : Mama I'll give you the world by Roni Schotter

Book: Mama I'll give you the world 

Author : Roni Schotter 

Age : 4 plus 

A book with expressive illustrations and a beautiful storyline .

         

Everyday after school Luisa's  school bus drops her at Walters world of beauty, the place where her mom works . Being a single parent her mom  works hard to make Luisa's  future secure and bright.

Mom makes a place for Luisa  to sit and do her work as according to her "First things first", Luisa does her homework and patiently watches the way her mom colors the customers hair .She loves the way mama curls.Mama keeps all the tips she receive in a secure cover which she collects for Luisa's college.

Every day mama says to Luisa " the world is too big and lot of things to learn and explore , if possible one day I will give the world to you".Mama loves to dance when Luisa's  father was there, but now she doesn't and never smiles too, according to Luisa if mama smiles she looks like the prettiest flower in the world  

   

But Luisa has a different plan , tomorrow is mama's birthday , so she plans to give the world to mama and how she does is the rest of the story .

Being brought up by a single mom this book holds a special place in our library, a book to honour the hardworking parents.       

Book Review : Willow

Book : Willow | Author :Denise Brennan nelson , Rosemarie Brennan | Illustrator : Cyd Moore | Genre : PictureBook | Age : 3 plus ..

An excellent book to be read by all the parents who are the natural teachers to their kids.

 

StoryLine :

These are the first lines "Even on the sunniest days Miss Hawthorn's art room 

was cold and dark" and it says all.

Miss hawthorn is an art teacher and she is very strict, she wants everything in her class to be perfect, neat ..no broken crayons , children's should sit still in rows like eggs in carton . Everyone followed it blindly , except Willow . 

Willow doesn't like or want to be  a robot , she broke crayons , her eyes were always out of window.Miss hawthorn tells the students to make pictures of tree , all trees were having straight brown trunks and round green tops , except willow's her tree was all pink. Anyone have heard of a pink tree ? the teacher asks angrily, that is what I see when I close my eyes , willow replies with confidence .

Continues a sequence of events where in every class the art teacher gets irritated because of willow's creativity . 

During a winter break everything changes , miss hawthorn art room was bright and kids were allowed to be themselves , all because of willow. 

What she did and how she changed the thinking and approach of the teacher is the 

rest of  the story.

Review :

As said Teachers are those who plants the seeds of knowledge in kids and it becomes the responsibility of us parents who have been  the natural teachers for  them , to plant the seed of belief in our kids .

If they are not able to replicate the things as such in art or other medium of learning ,then it doesn't mean they are lacking something or lagging behind , it means they have the ability to see things from different angles .

Let the kids be creative , don't kill their imagination is the strong message ,  conveyed by the author with beautiful illustrations.

Book Review : Where the mountain meets the moon

Book : Where the Mountain meets the Moon | Author : Grace Lin | Genre : Fiction , fairy tale , adventure |. Age : 9 plus . 

 

Grace Lin helps the readers to bring back their childhood memories through  an adventurous fairytale . This story is based on Chinese folktales which she used to read from her childhood . 

Do you Remember , growing a money plant with a belief that it will bring lot of money , some people say it will bring wealth to the family , but irrespective of all the beliefs and sayings , it gives us a power , a power of hope , which is required for an healthy life .

Story : 

Minli lives with her parents in a village located in the corner ,where the fruitless mountain meets the jade river . The village always looked grey and the land  remained brown .The land on the village was tough for farming . People struggled day and night in the stubborn lands  to survive . 

Minli's father ( Ba) always fascinates her by his stories and her mother ( Ma) is a person who always sighs, thinking of their poor fortune . 

Fruitless mountain was just a brown land , without any trees and animals . On the other hand Jade river is full of dark water . Based on Ba's stories reason  for the same is the sad spirit of a dragon named Jade who lived long years ago . There is a possibility to make jade's spirit happy but it can be done only by the old man of the moon who lives in a never ending mountain . 

With a hope to change their fortune minli gets  a goldfish with one of the two copper coins in the house which is the only money that is left in the house  since minli was born  , when her mother gets disappointed minli leaves the fish in the jade river . Being relieved from the bowl , the goldfish shows its  gratitude to minli, by revealing her the way to find the old man of the moon . 

Minli starts her journey , the series of interlinked events and whether she was able to change their fortune by meeting old man of the moon is the rest of the story. 

Review : 

Apart from fantasy , adventure , fairy tale etc, this story also brings in lot of good qualities  that one should try to possess . Minli the protagonist in the story always follows her intuition, her power of hope , positivity and determination helps her to leave the house in search of something impossible . The characters that she meets on her way gives her the strength to overcome the obstacles that she faces on her journey .

Her fathers stories helps her to gain some nice traits such as helping others and compassion , which in turn helps us to realize the power of storytelling .

Friendly dragon, juicy peaches , the DA A FU kids , old man of the moon , all these characters emphasize the symbol or traditions of China . While the dragon is a symbol of power and good luck , old man of the moon is characterized based on yue Lao the Chinese god of marriages . 

The story mostly  revolves around Minli and the selfish magistrate , all other characters and events are purely interwoven which sometimes tests the knowledge and patience of the reader to understand . 

Thankfulness  is the only word that binds the entire story .  Throughout her journey minli learns some valuable lessons. There  is nothing in the name of good fortune , and everyone should be happy and gifted for whatever they have . Fortune doesn't mean having money and gold , it means the happiness one should have in life , and to be happy we should be thankful for whatever we have . 

The words of the king still echoes in ears even after completing the book . "You only lose what you cling to " -- Most of us think holding on makes us strong, no it's wrong ,sometimes letting go makes us even more stronger , so don't wait let go the past and welcome the bright future .