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I’d never before read anything by Nancy Farmer (although as a former children’s bookseller, of course I knew about her) until I picked up A Girl Named Disaster to read as the first Tiger’s Choice. I was lucky to have found it–this book is an outstanding piece of fiction that can be read and enjoyed by a doddering fifty-nine-year-old like me or by people who are substantially younger.
In an earlier posting by Corinne on PaperTigers, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in the Philippines pointed out that children’s literature from different cultures is shaped by differing values. This is made intriguingly clear by the story of Nhamo, the girl who leaves her tribe in search of her one living parent and a family that will be truly hers. Her quest is an adventure, and a solitary one, that takes her into a world populated only by animals. Unlike similar stories written with a differing cultural perspective (Julie of the Wolves, My Side of the Mountain, Island of the Blue Dolphins), this book does not show an anthropomorphic relationship between Nhamo and the baboons who are her neighbors. A lonely and frightened child, Nhamo forges a relationship with a world of the spirits rather than with the animal kingdom. She sustains herself through stories that she knows and loves about beings of an unseen realm, and in her dreams and in her waking imagination, these are the figures that guide her, and who allow her to bring out menacing, and hitherto unexplored, parts of herself by cloaking them under different names and the persona of spirits.
Her three-part story begins with elements of Cinderella, sweeps into a Robinson Crusoe-like world, and ends with a modern-day transformation and the fulfillment of a quest. At almost 300 pages, it is longer than many pieces of fiction for children, and it contains an impressive body of information within its compelling story. Anyone who reads it will be given a sense of place that only someone who has lived in that part of Africa could provide.
It could be a problematic choice to read aloud to a classroom of boys and girls. Although Nhamo’s adventures, and her adventuresome spirit, will appeal to both genders, the author’s frankness when writing about menstruation and other physical functions could be difficult in a mixed-gender classroom if read aloud. It is, however, a dazzling choice for a parent-child book group, or to give to a reluctant reader, or to enjoy as a solitary pleasure when in need of something absorbing and magical to read.
0 Comments on The Tiger’s Bookshelf: Talk about a Good Book! as of 1/1/1900
Corinne said, on 3/4/2008 3:18:00 PM
Janet -
I just started reading this book on the weekend. Fabulous so far! Give me a few more days to finish it and then (hopefully) I can respond to some of the questions you raised on your Feb 12th post. FYI - the book was a 1997 Newbery Honor Book.
Janet Brown said, on 3/4/2008 3:45:00 PM
Yes, I know and wavered about whether to include that–I wanted people to approach it as a reading adventure without any weight from literary prizes.
Corinne said, on 3/4/2008 4:01:00 PM
Yes - sometimes expectations are high when you know a book has received an award!! There have been several times I have read an award winning book and thought to myself that I either missed something completely or the judges have completely different ideas than I do.
Corinne said, on 3/5/2008 3:10:00 PM
I received an electronic newsletter today from the editors of The Horn Book Magazine (www.hbook.com) in which the latest Newbery and Caldecott Award Winners are discussed. An interesting and timely quote: “just because a book has won an award does not mean it is the right book for any one particular child. Maurice Sendak tells a funny story about encountering a mother who proudly told him that she read his Where the Wild Things Are every night to her child despite the fact that the girl screamed in fear every time. When Sendak asked her why she didn’t choose a different book, she replied, “But this one won the Caldecott Medal.” Members of award committees read widely and well but, in the case of the Newbery and Caldecott awards, are charged with rewarding aesthetic achievement rather than predicting popular appeal. They also lack ESP and thus don’t know about your child’s interests, abilities, or idiosyncrasies…Prizes are designed to call attention to good books, but as the wise Nora Ephron once wrote, “Even if it is good you do not have to like it.” That’s a maxim to remember both for your own and your child’s reading.”
Now enough of getting myself off on a tangent, it’s time to sit down and relax in the sun and read your book selection until the kids arrive home from school.
Janet Brown said, on 3/5/2008 3:28:00 PM
Funny isn’t it, that parents can blithely ignore the current Booker winner, if it doesn’t appeal personally, but feed their children the Caldecott/Newbery winners as though those books are essential vitamin supplements.
“Wow, Hayashi doesn’t make announcements very often.”
“So listen up.”
“We’re going to try a new update schedule because we have two comics now. On Monday, we’re going to update the Varcarel Jade with a new page, and on Tuesday, we’re going to publish new chapters from our book series.”
“Solid.”
“On Wednesdays, we’re going to have Teko’s Magical Treasure of the Week from our Gift Shop and a Gamepowa update with Commander Acey and Z-bot, and on Thursday, a new color page from The Fury of the Venom Legion web comic. Then every Friday is…”
“Ten Update Friday.”
“Booya.”
“And on Saturday we will have previews from the next week’s comic pages.”
“That’s a good schedule, Talitha-chan. We should start today.”
“Stay tuned folks. There’s more on the way on Ten Update Friday!”
“Well see, Hayashi is super into planets and telescopes and stuff and when they said Pluto wasn’t a planet she got mad so Yorozu decided to try and cheer her up and it’s been a running joke ever since.”
“Around here, it’s a planet, so it gets its own category. The Professor will tell you all about it. She knows like the whole history of how it was discovered and everything.”
“Check it out! That’s a contra-bass! There’s only like ten of them in the whole world or something.”
“Where’s Goofy? She’s the saxophone expert.”
“She ran off with that ring, I don’t know where she went though.”
“I’ll go find her!”
“That thing is seriously frightening.”
“That guy can play, though. That’s the Aadams family theme from television.”
“I found Jessie!”
“Hiii everybody oooh looky a contra-bass saxophone. Super cool!”
“Okay what’s the deal with this thing?”
“Well, there’s a whole bunch of saxophones. I play soprano and alto. Those are the highest pitched ones. Soprano is B-flat a major second below concert pitch. Alto is E-flat a major sixth below concert pitch.”
“But this one is double E-flat.”
“Yeah, it’s two octaves lower than my alto. You transpose music for it up two octaves and a major sixth.”
“That’s all pedal range stuff about an octave or more below the bass clef.”
“How do you know all that?”
“It’s music! It’s easy! There’s four E-flat saxophones and three B-flat. Sopranino, Alto, Baritone and Contra-bass are the E-flat ones and soprano, tenor and bass are the B-flat ones. I played a bass sax one time at the music shop and it had an ‘A’ key so I could make it sound like a big truck horn!”
*giggle* “Jessie’s funny.”
“I wish she was that good at her other classes.”
“Well there you have it, folks. The giant saxophone attack from the land of Goofy. We out.”
“Hi everyone! Shannon here. You probably already noticed I opened a New Gift Shop, and Hayashi really went all out with a really cool new design. I’d be really happy if you would all come visit us because this is the best Gift Shop we’ve ever had, and we’re starting a new thing on our site today.”
“Teko likes to explore, so he’s going to fly through our shop to find a new item each week that will be ‘Teko’s Magical Treasure.’ We’ll announce it here along with a link.”
“This way we can announce our best Gift Shop gifts with our best designs.”
“And you know we’ve got the best designs!”
“This week’s Magical Treasure is the Warrior of the Night Tote Bag with our brand new Starlight Huntress design.”
Teko’s Magical Treasure of the Week
“Yay for Teko-chan! Don’t forget, minna! Shannon-sama donates some of what the Gift Shop makes to benefit the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls which is a super-neat camp every year that’s all about music! Have fun! Ja ne!”
“Well now we know why Miss Shannon had that big silly grin on her face a couple days ago. She’s got herself a brand new warrior page!”
“Ooh, it’s got everything! Let’s see, there’s Kishi and her ring, and her cape and arrows and it’s even got three different kinds of earrings!”
“It is a pretty nice page, huh?”
“Okay ladies, me and hunter girl over here have got our warrior stuff together. Let’s get with it! Where’s your new pages?! We’ve got four to go!”
“Oh my goodness”
“Heheee.. Ooh, if you wanna read one of the stories from Shannon-sama’s book when she’s the Huntress and fights monsters with her magical cat named Kishi, you should go see the Call of the Huntress page, ’cause we gots lots of neat stories! Have fun minna!”
“And don’t forget to jump back and check page four for a nice introduction to our official charity. Rock Camp is win.”
“We’re going to have articles to go with all of our comic pages soon. Don’t miss the next page. I hear it’s going to be super cool! Have fun everyone!”
Janet -
I just started reading this book on the weekend. Fabulous so far! Give me a few more days to finish it and then (hopefully) I can respond to some of the questions you raised on your Feb 12th post. FYI - the book was a 1997 Newbery Honor Book.
Yes, I know and wavered about whether to include that–I wanted people to approach it as a reading adventure without any weight from literary prizes.
Yes - sometimes expectations are high when you know a book has received an award!! There have been several times I have read an award winning book and thought to myself that I either missed something completely or the judges have completely different ideas than I do.
I received an electronic newsletter today from the editors of The Horn Book Magazine (www.hbook.com) in which the latest Newbery and Caldecott Award Winners are discussed. An interesting and timely quote: “just because a book has won an award does not mean it is the right book for any one particular child. Maurice Sendak tells a funny story about encountering a mother who proudly told him that she read his Where the Wild Things Are every night to her child despite the fact that the girl screamed in fear every time. When Sendak asked her why she didn’t choose a different book, she replied, “But this one won the Caldecott Medal.” Members of award committees read widely and well but, in the case of the Newbery and Caldecott awards, are charged with rewarding aesthetic achievement rather than predicting popular appeal. They also lack ESP and thus don’t know about your child’s interests, abilities, or idiosyncrasies…Prizes are designed to call attention to good books, but as the wise Nora Ephron once wrote, “Even if it is good you do not have to like it.” That’s a maxim to remember both for your own and your child’s reading.”
Now enough of getting myself off on a tangent, it’s time to sit down and relax in the sun and read your book selection until the kids arrive home from school.
Funny isn’t it, that parents can blithely ignore the current Booker winner, if it doesn’t appeal personally, but feed their children the Caldecott/Newbery winners as though those books are essential vitamin supplements.