The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:47 AM PDT IF you remember, I was going to write about the illustrators featured in Leonard Marcus' Show Me A Story! Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations With 21 Of The World's Most Celebrated Illustrators. I've been a little behind in my reading and not made much progress with the book, but today I read the conversation with Eric Carle. I don't know Carle's work well, not even The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but I do like the seeming simplicity of it, and the colours, which are always very strong, very bright and very expressive. They really make a statement – they shout, but not angrily, definitely joyfully, sometimes a little manically, but usually just with a wonderful energy and exuberance. Carle tells some wonderful stories to Marcus. My favourite is of the time he was a college student in Germany and the teacher who taught, inspired and shaped him as an artist. This teacher was Ernst Schneidler, who is known in the graphic arts world as the designer of a number of famous typefaces. Carle talks about how Schneidler "discovered each student's talent and nurtured it", how he would "channel" the different talents. Just reading that gives me goose bumps. How rare and precious good teachers are, but a teacher, whether good or bad, leaves her mark. I still remember all my favourite teachers – their faces, their gestures, the things they said. The thing is, I also remember the ones I disliked – like Mrs Raj, my Standard Five class teacher, who threw my Maths exercise book across the classroom because I couldn't get a sum right. Carle says of Schneidler: " ... with his guidance a great many of us became strong and capable at one specialty or another." Apparently, the teacher saw that he was bad at calligraphy, but instead of making him work at it, he said, "Don't do that anymore, we don't need more calligraphers." (I wish someone had told me to stop doing sums: "We don't need more mathematicians.") I know so many people who love The Very Hungry Caterpillar (including my daughter), which Carle talks about at length. He says the holes in the book are there because he approached the book as a designer. "I didn't want just a plain sheet of paper," says Carle, who likes the idea of creating books that are also toys. But of course! Have you seen the way babies approach books? It's not like, at six months or even 18 months, they sit quietly, turning the pages and paying attention to the words on the page. Books are stacked, knocked down, chewed, thrown, sat on. Carle tries to make them toys "you can read", books "you can touch". Even as an adult, the solid weight of a book is comforting to me. I love the story of how Bill Martin Jr, whose book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (amongst others) Carle illustrated, thinks of the rhythm of his books first, before he comes up with the words. I also love the stories about his school visits. And I find interesting what Carle says about Goodnight Moon appealing to children, and how he himself did not "understand (its) appeal". So many adults tell me they can't fathom why that book is so popular. Someone even told me that she found it creepy! (I love it although I do think it has a melancholy feel.) Carle doesn't know why children are drawn to Goodnight Moon, but he says that when he first started making books, it was children who liked them, not adults. "That's what Margaret Wise Brown and I have in common ... children have chosen us, not the professionals, not the librarians, or the teachers, or the grandmothers," he says. Still, if you're an aspiring children's book author/illustrator, I don't think you can rely solely on the opinion of the dozen children of neighbours and relatives who you've been using as your beta readers. After all, Carle and Brown's books were published by big publishing houses with savvy editors, so no, it's not entirely true that it was the children who chose those books. As some of you know, Carle has a museum in the United States, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, in Amherst, Massachusetts. One day I might make it there. One day, there may be a similar establishment in Malaysia. Well, there is no harm in dreaming, is there? |
| Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:47 AM PDT INDEPENDENT Malaysian publisher Silverfish Books has come up with a new series called Silverfish Malaysian Classics. Four titles have been released so far: Marong Mahawangsa, Sejarah Melayu, The Epic Of Bidasari and Malaysian Fables, Folk Tales & Legends. The books are in English and are targeted at the collector who is also a serious reader, and libraries, colleges and universities. They are priced at an affordable RM30 each. Silverfish Books is at No.28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur (03-2284 4837 / info@silverfish books.com / silverfishbooks.com). |
| Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:47 AM PDT The Time Keeper ONCE again, Mitch Albom is out to hit readers with a tonne of bricks, (metaphorically, of course) with The Time Keeper. Since his first international hit, Tuesdays With Morrie, in 1997, Albom has been inspiring readers around the world with simple yet invaluable lessons on life and the afterlife. Much of his success can be attributed to his ability to use clear and direct prose to deliver answers to some of life's most complex questions. But in his latest fiction work, Albom ambitiously switches things up by taking on a new topic – time. The Time Keeper is about Father Time – yes, the old, bearded guy often used to embellish New Year cards and ornaments – and his role as the first man to discover time. Readers are transported thousands of years back to mankind's earliest days on Earth, when a much younger version of the timekeeper lived. Father Time is an ordinary boy known only as Dor. But unlike other boys, he does not enjoy roughhousing with his peers nor is he particularly adept at physical activities. Instead, the boy develops a special interest in numbers, and an eye for detail. One day, while sitting in the afternoon sun, Dor drives a twig into the ground and notices the position where its shadow falls. He places a stone to mark the tip of the shadow but realises moments later that it has moved. The day after, he returns to the same spot and finds that the shadow of the twig meets the stone at precisely the same moment as the day before. From then on, Man becomes obsessed with the idea of time and having more of it. As such, the mysterious appearance of an old man (presumably God) sends Dor to a cave – leaving behind the love of his life Alli – where he serves his punishment for discovering time. There, Dor is haunted by the voices of people pleading for more time during his stay. Thousands of years later, Dor is set free and finds himself caught up in the hustle and bustle of today's world. Here, he is tasked to teach two people the true meaning of time. Dying millionaire Victor wants to prolong his time on Earth to expand his business, whereas high school oddball Sarah is contemplating suicide after being rejected by her love interest. As an Albom fan, I sincerely wanted to like The Time Keeper the way I did his other books. Don't get me wrong; this novel is a beguiling read, but it isn't the author at his finest. First, the storyline is far more complicated than what his fans are used to. Albom whisks readers back to ancient times to tell the story of Father Time and simultaneously catches up with Victor and Sarah in the present. From a writing point of view, for these stories to run parallel, he must be able to masterfully tie them together. In this respect, Albom misses the mark at times. I also find his decision to include the supernatural and realistically impossible slightly off-putting. Later in the story, readers will find a mysterious apparatus (I won't spoil the book for you) that will help Father Time in his mission. Of course, one may argue that his books have always revolved around the supernatural but the idea of heaven (The Five People You Meet In Heaven) or visiting souls on Earth (For One More Day) is widely accepted among readers. Also, he strikes me as one-sided in his viewpoint on time. The writer unequivocally deems Dor's discovery of time as the cause of the downfall of the human race, thus the God-like character's decision to banish Dor to the cave. Albom fails to explore – or at the very least, recognise – the good the invention of time may have brought, and renders his argument a bit too simplistically. But ultimately, what's most important is whether he succeeds in what he has always set out to do in all his writing – inspire readers. In this regard, I'm glad to say he does. If there's anyone who can weave together a story using simple, everyday occurrences and still deliver compelling, life-changing messages, it's Albom. Readers, whether or not they agree with his views, will gain precious insights into the meaning and value of time. I can already imagine the many troubled youths who will see their struggles in Sarah's suffering and draw strength from her. As to whether The Time Keeper will fly off the shelves like Albom's previous releases or go straight into the bargain bin instead, I suppose only time will tell. Related Stories: |
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