Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins illustrated by Jamie Hogan

I am always so pleased when my friend - who is a wonderful Teacher-Librarian - asks me to read one of the books from her extensive collection. This is especially exciting when she wants my opinion about a book. You can see from my four stars that this book is terrific.

Blurb from the back cover: "Naima loves to create the traditional alpana patterns Bangladeshi women and girls paint in their homes for special celebrations. Her designs are always the best in the village. But Naima wishes she could help earn money for her family. Her friend Saleem can drive his father's rickshaw. 'If only I had been born a boy,' Naima thinks."

The burb is a good jumping off point to explain this story:

• Naima is one of two daughters in this family - there are no sons.
• The roles of boys and girls are strictly defined in this Bangladesh village.
• Alpana patterns look like this. Creating art is Niama's happy place but she often so busy with household chores there is little time for art and the family are so poor that even sheets of paper are scarce.

• Naima is so worried about her father. He drives his rickshaw for over 15 hours a day and he is constantly exhausted. The family have gone into debt to buy this new rickshaw which means the family are desperate to repay the loan. So desperate, that Naima's sister Rashida will soon have to leave school as they cannot afford the fee.
• Saleen is Naima's best friend. Watching him help his family gives Naima an idea. If she disguised herself as a boy she could take over part of her father's shift but when she tries out the rickshaw without permission it crashes and is badly damaged. 
• There is a new repair place in the next village. Naima is good at art. Can she stay disguised as a boy and offer to work painting rickshaws? When Naima arrives at Hassan's Rickshaw Repair Shop she makes an amazing discovery about the owner.

All of this happens (and more) in just 79 pages. At the back of the book there is a glossary of terms and an author note which explains, in simple terms, microfinance and the way this is used by women in developing nations. Rickshaw Girl was first published in 2008 but I am pleased to see it is still available in paperback. I think this book should be an essential purchase for any Primary school library. It is ideal to use as an Asian focus text which is part of our Australian syllabus but this story also provides an excellent insight into cultural differences and the role of girls in other countries. In 2016 The Bay Area Children's Theatre in Oakland, California presented this story as a theatre production. Here is the web site for Mitali Perkins.

A child-eye’s view of Bangladesh that makes a strong and accessible statement about heritage, tradition and the changing role of women, Naima’s story will be relished by students and teachers alike. Kirkus

I would pair this book with The Paper House.

Another book about working children is this one Silk Umbrellas by Carolyn Marsden. 

You might also read this picture book about microfinance:

Jam by Margaret Mahy

Tuesday Treasure

Mr and Mrs Castle live in a little house with their three children - Clement, Clarissa and Carlo.

"Three little Castles ... but very small ones - more like Cottages really."

Mrs Castle is a scientist and she has been asked to help with the development of an electronic medicine to cure sunspots.  This means Mr Castle will now look after the three children. He adopts a new 'househusband' routine.

He washed the dishes and then pegged them out to dry.
Not only did he sweep the floors he swept the ceilings too.
He vacuumed the carpets and put the dough to rise in a warm place ...
Planted a row of cabbages, folded the washing, baked the bread and a cake ...
Prepared dinner (and) read the paper so we to be well-informed.

One day there is a thump on the roof. The plums are ripe. Mr Castle sees this as a challenge. Not a single plum will go to waste. He makes pots and pots of jam and when the pots run out he fills their cups and glasses. Of course then they all need to eat this jam and so Mr Castle (his talents know no bounds) makes scones, roly poly, sponge cakes, pancakes and jam sandwiches. Some tiles lift in the bathroom so he uses jam to stick them down. Eventually all the jam is eaten. The kids and Mrs Castle have become quite sick of jam. It has filled their dreams and nightmares so they happily imagine all the delicious foods (without jam) that they can now enjoy. After all the jam eating the family are looking quite fat so Mr Castle suggests they enjoy a game of cricket outside before eating lunch.

"While they were playing on the lawn, Mr Castle heard a soft thud on the roof. He looked up at the plum tree enthusiastically. A year of jam eating had gone by. The plums were ripe again."

Margaret Mahy was a master storyteller. There are so many delightful little details in her stories. One of my favourites is  this book Jam illustrated by Helen Craig. I have read this book to library groups every year since it was first published in 1985. That means I have read this book aloud well over 100 times and yes it delights me every time.

Mahy and Craig make a smashing team. The colorful, detailed drawings convey the same humor and high spirits as the text. Kirkus

When you look at Margaret Mahy's books you will see many different illustrators - Steven Kellogg, Jonathan Allen, Polly Dunbar, Margaret Chamberlain, Sarah Garland, Shirley Hughes, and Helen Craig.  Helen Craig also illustrated The Pumpkin Man and the Crafty Creeper.

Margaret Mahy received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006. The jury president said:

"In awarding the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Writing to Margaret Mahy, the jury has recognized one of the world's most original re-inventors of language. Mahy's language is rich in poetic imagery, magic, and supernatural elements. Her oeuvre provides a vast, numinous, but intensely personal metaphorical arena for the expression and experience of childhood and adolescence. Equally important, however, are her rhymes and poems for children. Mahy's works are known to children and young adults all over the world."

Here are some things I talk about when we read Jam:

What do you notice about the children's names?
Why were the children worried when Mrs Castle tells the family she is heading away to work?
Why did Mr Castle peg the dishes out to dry?
Compare the illustration on the first page with the illustration on the final page - what do you see?
What do you notice about the 'shape' of this story?
Let's make a list of the funny little details in the story that made you smile e.g. filling egg cups with jam.

Here is a video of jam making which we watch after taking time to explore some recipes using jam

The birthday ball by Lois Lowry illustrated by Jules Feiffer

I picked up this book, The Birthday Ball,  last week because it was written by the talented Lois Lowry.  Sadly I would not have picked this book up from the hundreds of new titles we have ready for our library based on the cover which I do not like.  Do you?

Luckily the cover did not sway me.  This is a terrific read for a middle primary student and could be useful for teachers looking for detailed, if somewhat vile, character descriptions.  There are three or perhaps four suitors all vying for the hand of Princess Patricia Priscilla.  The Princess, meanwhile, is bored with life at court and so she decides to dress as a peasant girl and attend the local school.

Duke Desmond of Dyspepsia had "huge, crooked, brown-spotted teeth, and a tuft of coarse copper-coloured hair."  You can see the illustration of him below.

Prince Percival of Pustula "dressed entirely in black, always.  Even his underclothing was black. His hair had once been a nondescript brown, but he kept it dyed jet black and thickly oiled.  His mustache, as well."

Count Colin and Count Cuthbert the Counts of Coagulatia wore clothing "specially made, with four arms and four legs and two neck-holes, and a very wide waist." They are conjoint twins who are determined to annoy each other.

Lois Lowry uses a rich vocabulary in this fairy tale style romp.  The Princess has a cat called Delicious.

"It's nutritious, Delicious."
"Stop looking avaricious, Delicious"
"Your size is ambitious, Delicious"
"The size of your tummy was suspicious, Delicious!"

Here is a review from the New York Times and another with quite a detailed description of the plot and characters I mentioned previously.  I highly recommend reading any book by Lois Lowry - you will not be disappointed.  Back to that cover.  I think it makes the Princess look ugly and perhaps frivolous and she is neither of these things.  She is a special girl.  This is especially borne out in the care an attention she gives to a little orphan girl who is also attending the school in the village. The ugly repulsive prince suitors on the other hand are perfectly depicted.  Jules Feiffer is the illustrator of the classic book The Phantom Tollbooth.

Lowry transforms the traditional princess into a refreshingly egalitarian heroine with a mind of her own.