The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:43 PM PST Fly Guy vs Flyswatter Author & Illustrator: Tedd Arnold Publisher: Scholastic Press, 30 pages BUZZ has a pet – not a dog or a cat, a rabbit or a hamster, but a fly, called Fly Guy! When Buzz's class goes on a field trip, Fly Guy goes to. To his horror, he finds himself at a fly swatter factory. Things get really bad when it's time to demonstrate the fly-swatter of the future: the Super Swatter 6000! Will Fly Guy survive this field trip? Lost In The Toy Museum Author & Illustrator: David Lucas Publisher: Walker & Company, 32 pages ONE night, when the lights go out at the toy museum, everyone runs and hides. Bunting, the strait-laced old toy cat, seems to be the only one not in on the joke. He goes in search of his fellow exhibits and discovers something precious – the ability to have fun. Down The Mysterly River Author: Bill Willingham Illustrator: Mark Buckingham Publisher: Starscape, 336 pages Despite being a first class boy scout, Max "the Wolf" finds himself lost in a strange wood, with no memory of his recent past. Presently, Max meets a badger, a black bear and an old barn cat, all of whom talk! Max and his new animal friends find themselves being pursued by a band of hunters whose aim is to capture and change the essence of their prey. Max must figure out this world he's landed in before he finds himself changed beyond recognition and lost forever. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making Author: Catherynne M. Valente Illustrator: Ana Juan Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, 256 pages SEPTEMBER'S ordinary life changes drastically when she is invited to journey to Fairyland with a gentleman dressed in green. He is really a Green Wind and just one of the many strange individuals September meets on her travels. It seems that she is the only one who can retrieve a talisman hidden in an enchanted wood. Failing to do so will not result in the end of the world – but the new Marquess of Fairyland will throw a very hissy fit. Ana Juan's illustrations alone are worth the price of this book. The Space Between Author: Brenna Yovanoff Publisher: Razorbill, 360 pages DAPHNE is the result of the union of Lucifer and Lilith, which makes her the coolest half-blood that ever lived. When her Obie is kidnapped, the half-demon, half-angel girl must venture out of the safety of her home in Pandemonium, and search for him on Earth. With the help of a human boy, Daphne learns to use her demonic powers, navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels, and discovers what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be. The Future Of Us Author: Jay Asher Publisher: Razorbill, 356 pages IN 1996, less than half of all American high school students had ever used the Internet. Emma is one of those who hadn't. When she gets her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM, Emma invites her best friend Josh to power up and log on with her. When they do, they find themselves ... on something called ... Facebook, and it's 15 years in the future. So who said time travel was impossible? The House Baba Built Author & Illustrator: Ed Young Author: Libby Koponen Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 48 pages IN Ed Young's childhood home in Shanghai, all was not as it seemed: a rocking chair became a horse; a roof became a roller rink; an empty swimming pool became a place for riding scooters and bikes. The house his father built transformed as needed into a place to play hide-and-seek, to eat bamboo shoots, and to be safe. For outside the home's walls, China was at war. Soon the house held not only Ed and his four siblings but also friends, relatives, and even strangers who became family. The war came closer, and Ed watched as planes flew overhead and friends joined the Chinese air force. But through it all, Ed's childhood remained full of joy and imagination. This powerful, poignant, and exquisitely illustrated memoir is the story of one of our most beloved children's illustrators and the house his baba (father) built. Over And Under The Snow Author: Kate Messner Illustrator: Christopher Silas Neal Publisher: Chronicle Books, 44 pages THE snow makes the world white and smooth, and still. Under its thick blanket, there is a secret world, teeming with small creatures, all hidden, safe and warm from the cold. Go on a cross-country ski trip to discover the white world, over snow, and the cosy, dark one, under it. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:38 PM PST Our Chinese entertainment writer uncovers a gem of a book that anyone with a love of film should have. The River Of Shadow And Light: 100 Greatest Chinese Language Films Authors: Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee Publisher: Garden City Publishers, 440 pages A BOOK of the 100 greatest Chinese language films! How could I resist it? It's a keeper for film aficionados. Especially if you're a fan of Chinese cinema but find it too stressful to read in Chinese or can't read Chinese at all – because this bilingual gem features outstanding translation work by Isabella Ho and Yihsuan Chen that makes for easy reading. It would be such a shame if English readers miss out on a beautiful book like this because it's hidden in the Chinese section of the bookstore. Published in Taiwan, the book retains that delicate look so typical of Chinese books. Even the fonts chosen are gentle on the eye. Add to that gorgeous images – most in full colour – of all the movies from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China ... so, not only easy reading but beautiful reading, too. I wouldn't say that this is the definitive guide to Chinese-language cinema but it comes close. This book is also significant in that 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan. Just reading about how this book came about impressed me; it was a massive project planned by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival executive committee, which invited hundreds of film professionals and cinema experts from around the world to send what they felt were the best Chinese-language films made before August 2010. However, only 122 of those contacted agreed to submit entries while the rest said they doubted their knowledge of Chinese-language cinema sufficed to come up with a list. Once all entries were in, members of the executive committee then used a combination of votes and discussion to narrow down the hundreds of titles to the final 100. Apart from the 100 greatest Chinese-language films, the book also lists the 50 greatest Chinese-language film directors and compiles the selections of each of the 122 members of the panel. Also, 22 writers were invited to pen comments about each of the 100 films. Taiwan's prestigious Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-language version of Hollywood's Academy Awards, was only founded in 1962 but the movies in this book date back to the 1930s with the oldest being 1933's Little Toys; the newest is 2009's No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Spanish for I Cannot Live Without You; director and co-screenwriter Leon Dai has said he decided on a Spanish title because the English translation of the Chinese title sounded just like the title of a love song, and that didn't fit with the idea of the film). The movie with the most votes was A City Of Sadness (1989); it was directed by Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-Hsien and stars Hong Kong's Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. Made during a time of political unrest that eventually sparked the Tianamen Square incident in China in 1989, the film was a box office success, raking in NT$1bil (RM105mil) before becoming the first Chinese-language film to win the Venice Film Festival's top award, the Golden Lion, in 1989. This I have yet to watch, as Taiwanese films rarely come to Malaysian shores, particularly since they are usually far from commercial. Also in the top 10 are A Brighter Summer Day (1991), The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985), Days Of Being Wild (1990), Spring In A Small Town (1948), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Dust In The Wind (1986), Yi Yi: A One And A Two (2000), Dragon Inn (1967) and In The Mood For Love (2000). Oh my, what have I been missing out on! I haven't seen even half of these. The films in the book are divided into five sections according to the decade of original release, with a third of the movies from the 1990s alone. It's good that half of these top 1990s movies as well as those from the late 1980s enjoy repeated screenings on our local TV stations, though not all are commercial flicks. Scanning the titles of films in the book, I realised that I've probably watched only a third of them so I guess it is about time I went hunting for the rest with this handy guide to the best. Perhaps I shall begin with the oldest films in the book. If anybody has any idea how I can get my hands on these classics, please let me know! Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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