The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 24 Nov 2012 11:10 PM PST Why should children who read BM story books be deprived of well-written reading material? I THINK we should translate more children's books into Bahasa Malaysia and (heck, why not?) English. By "we" I mean Malaysian publishers and, as I am not one, I guess I should say "they". However, I also mean "we" in the sense that they (translated books) are something that we (Malaysians) need, and when I say "we should" I mean we should expect and demand more good BM translations of good books originally written in English and other languages. My children's school often has these mini book fairs and the titles on offer never fail to induce a paroxysm of eye-rolling and wincing in me. The books – usually folk tales, ghost stories or moralistic fables – are obviously mass produced on cheap paper. They are badly and gaudily illustrated, and the texts read like compositions from school workbooks. We need good books in BM. Why should children who read BM story books be deprived of enjoyable and well-written reading material? Students are encouraged to read BM and English fiction. At my kids' school, there are two reading periods a week – one for BM books and the other for English books. It's a shame that for the BM book period, kids have to make do with ugly editions of cerita dongeng and cerita ngeri. So, until we start producing good, original BM children's fiction, please, PTS and Karangkraf and all the other local publishers of children's books, do consider the translation option. And it needn't just be English language books into BM. As hard as it may be to imagine, Britain and the United States aren't the only countries that publish good children's books. We have the whole of Europe to choose from, as well as Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Epigram Books, a Singapore publisher, has started translating and publishing books originally published in various European countries, plus one title (so far) from Korea. At present there are seven titles. These are my three favourites: Why Cats Don't Wear Hats? is written by Victoria Perez Escriva and illustrated by Ester Garcia. I love cats, so naturally I love this book, which reminds me a little of Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi and Ron Barrett. The concept is similar. Escriva and Garcia show us why cats don't wear hats or other pieces of clothing. It's not quite because they would look as ridiculous as the beasts in the Barretts' book … cats could never look quite that silly (the feline in this book is a sleek and sophisticated male, or perhaps a female who likes challenging gender stereotypes); instead, Escriva presents hat- and clothes-wearing as all very well for some, but quite unnecessary for cats who are splendid just the way they are. Plus, who would pay for the top hat and the sharp suit and shiny shoes? Can you imagine a cat working? No, neither could a cat! Blanket Travel, written and illustrated by Kim Da Jeong, is a lovely bedtime story that many children will be able to relate to. Three siblings share a room, a sleeping mat and a blanket (rendered in muted colours to create the ambience of a dimly-lit bedroom). They have problems going to sleep for all the usual reasons – they need a drink of water, they need to go to the loo, they've left their favourite soft toy in another room – and so they have adventures instead, with the blanket as a magical prop (submarine, igloo and kangaroo's pouch) as well as, obviously, some kind of portal to alternate realities and worlds. For adults, it makes you wish you were three again, when your imagination could turn a bunk bed into a sailing ship in a storm, and a sandpit into the Sahara. The King and the Frog is written by Alain Chiche, and illustrated (in brilliant colours) by Sylvain Diez. It's a variation of the classic fairytale in which a princess' kiss turns a frog back into the handsome prince he was before he was bewitched. The royal personage in this book is a king (a lion). As in The Frog Prince, he meets a frog who claims to be human and begs for a kiss to break the spell it's under. The amphibian promises him various rewards (beautiful princesses, desserts galore, a magic crown), but the king is steadfast in his refusal. I won't say what happens next – let's just say it's not a Hollywood or Disney ending – but an even nicer one. These books and four others, The Run of the Snail, The Nightingale Who Couldn't Sing, I Love Chocolate and Tim's Moving Day are published by Epigram Books and available at selected Malaysian bookstores; call ahead to check! Now that they have been translated into English by Epigram, the next step seems to be to get them translated into BM. PTS? Karangkraf? Anyone? |
| Posted: 24 Nov 2012 11:09 PM PST FOR the month of November, 2012: Non-fiction 1. Syed Mokhtar Albukhary: A Biography by Premilla Mohanlall 2. Unstoppable: The Incredible Power Of Faith In Action by Nick Vujicic 3. Dare To Dream: Life As One Direction by One Direction 4. Another Forgotten Child by Cathy Glass 5. Guinness World Records 2013 by Guinness World Records Ltd 6. A World Without Islam by Graham E. Fuller 7. Justin Bieber: Just Getting Started (100% Official) by Justin Bieber 8. Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo & Lynn Vincent 9. I Declare by Joel Osteen 10. Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story by Steven Gerrard Fiction 1. Fifty Shades Of Grey by E. L. James 2. The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling 3. The Hobbit (MTI) by J. R. R. Tolkien 4. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 5. The Sins Of The Father by Jeffrey Archer 6. The Charm Bracelet by Melissa Hill 7. Life Of Pi by Yann Martel 8. One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern 9. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire 10. The Garden Of Evening Mist by Tan Twan Eng This month's list compiled by MPH Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur; mphonline.com. |
| Posted: 24 Nov 2012 10:55 PM PST 11th Hour JAMES Patterson has always been one of those writers who could spin the most absurd tales, and yet tie everything up nicely by the end. That has always been one of his strong suits, and also maybe the reason why most of his fans are still drawn to his work despite him churning out a few duds in the past few years. Perhaps fans hoped that the thriller genre genius, whose fine past works include Along Came A Spider, Cat And Mouse and When The Wind Blows, would return to his full glory and give them the one mind-blowing novel they have craved for years. Sorry to disappoint, but 11th Hour is not that masterpiece. However, The Women's Murder Club is back in business, and this time the ladies get not one, but two absolutely thrilling cases to work on. San Francisco Police Department homicide detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends Cindy Thomas (crime desk reporter), Claire Washburn (chief medical examiner) and Yuki Castellano (district attorney) are gal pals who don't just bond over Mexican cuisine and drinks, but also over some of the city's most gruesome crimes. Boxer, who is now pregnant with her first child with FBI consultant husband Joseph Molinari, finds herself facing one of the city's toughest and sleekest vigilantes. When millionaire drug dealer Chaz Smith is gunned down in his daughter's school, Boxer learns that the weapon used in the crime was taken from her department's evidence locker. Unable to accept that one of her own is behind the murder of some of the dirtiest drug dealers in town, Boxer and her partner Richard Conklin (with the help of the other Women's Murder Club members) try to track down the killer before he or she brings the department down with their vigilante justice. But before Boxer can fully sink her teeth into the cop-gone-wild case, she is rushed to another crime scene where two human heads are elaborately displayed in the backyard of a famous actor, who's already been acquitted for the murder of his wife years ago. As more human remains are unearthed in the garden, Boxer realises that there could be far more victims than they initially estimated. Making Boxer's already difficult period tougher is a rookie journalist who is hell-bent on being the first person to break the news, and isn't above fabricating stories just to get his name on the front page. He also makes a few discoveries about Boxer's husband that threaten to break down their marriage. Can a pregnant Boxer handle all this pressure? While 11th Hour has everything that fans have come to love about a Patterson/Paetro novel (drama, suspense, believable characters and comedy), it lacks several crucial elements, such as a solid storyline and jaw-dropping revelations. This is definitely not one of Patterson and Paetro's finest works, but it is thankfully not as bad as some of their other books. Fans may be left a little disappointed, but hey, don't stop believing in Patterson's magic. He may just come back with a gem of a novel and when that happens, we can proudly say we've been with him through thick and thin. That's what a true Patterson fan is all about. |
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