Sing Song Books

Between the lines: how illustrators use lyrics to inspire

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 10:14am

UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 10:14am

Annie Holife@scmp.com

My husband and I recently spent some time listening to The Rolling Stones before attending their show in Macau. Our children did not come to the concert, but listening inspired us to expand their repertoire to songs beyond those about boys named Jack, girls named Mary, and farmyard animals.

I don't want to rely on YouTube music videos as the visual accompaniment to new songs, and I am grateful that the book industry agrees.

It's better to use picture books, as singing is a natural form of repeated reading which is highly effective for improving children's reading skills.

Like many young girls everywhere, they have been faithfully belting out Let it Go

In one study cited by Dr Timothy Rasinski, a professor of literacy education, children who were going to be repeating their grade level sang out written lyrics for 30 minutes, three times a week.

This programme continued for 12 weeks, and it yielded a year's worth of progress, meaning that they caught up to their peers.

My three-year-old has two favourites: Kadir Nelson's He's Got the Whole World in His Hands and Paul O. Zelinsky's Knick-Knack Paddywhack. Books like these are the result of award-winning illustrators envisioning and interpreting song lyrics, as well as the message therein.

A spiritual song, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands , the author of which is unknown, invokes a sense of community and togetherness. Both the tune and the lyrics are so upbeat they beg to be belted out and clapped en masse in church or in school.

Knick-Knack Paddywhack, a moving-parts book, is a great interpretation of a humorous song that I have been singing to my children since they were one month old.

I had never been able to conjure up my own images to the words of this song until I saw the book. I was never sure what it meant to be "playing knick-knack", or how the old man "came rolling home".

Zelinsky depicts a different way in which the old man rolled for each time the refrain is repeated. He is well known for The Wheels on the Bus, another sing-song masterpiece of paper engineering.

My six-year-old's favourite sing-song book is Over the Rainbow, illustrated by Eric Puybaret. It includes a CD of the song performed by Grammy award winner Judy Collins.

My daughter loves this rendition of the song, which was originally sung by Judy Garland in the classic film The Wizard of Oz. She always finds something new each time we flip through the pages as we sing, admiring the dream-like images.

We enjoy the illustrations so much that I've already put in a book order for Puybaret's Puff, the Magic Dragon.

My husband's favourite is Bob Dylan's Man Gave Names to All the Animals, illustrated by Jim Arnosky. The richly coloured scenes evoke the primeval world of this Eden-set song.

It includes a CD with the original recording. We never attempt the tune ourselves; we always listen to Bob Dylan's distinct voice as we "read" this book.

My chosen book is What a Wonderful World illustrated by Ashley Bryan, because it is one of my favourite songs. The bright rainbow-hued drawings of multicultural children putting on a puppet show pay homage to Louis Armstrong.

Satchmo's gentle and emotional recording of this song is considered one of the greatest jazz performances of all time.

Even though my daughters aren't quite ready for the Rolling Stones, at least I can proudly state that they've graduated from nursery rhymes to Oscar-winning songs.

Like many young girls everywhere, they have been faithfully belting out Let it Go, the theme song from the animated movie Frozen, at least half a dozen times a day.

Annie Ho is board chairwoman of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving children's literacy by reading aloud to them. Visit bringmeabook.org.hk

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Illustrators right on song for a lyrical awakening

Cinderella stories around the world

Between the lines: the Cinderella story is common to many different cultures

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 February, 2014, 11:01am

UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 February, 2014, 11:01am

Kind-hearted girl, oppressed by step-family, encounters magical guardian who transforms girl into the only one worthy of marrying the king. Does this plot sound familiar? Here's the big hint: king finds a wife by way of lost slipper of uncommon shoe size.

Yes, I am describing Cinderella. The elements of the Cinderella story are so universally appealing that variations exist in almost every culture around the globe. Let's begin with the most familiar, the Disney version. It is based on Cendrillon, a fairy tale written by Charles Perrault in the 17th-century.

Perrault retold this existing folk tale, together with other oral stories, and published the collection as Tales of Mother Goose. Some of the stories, including Cinderella, were then rewritten by the Brothers Grimm for their collection of fairy tales.

One thousand years before Perrault put pen to paper, a strikingly similar tale was being shared among families in China. Retold by Ai-Ling Louie, Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China is illustrated by Caldecott medalist Ed Young.

Instead of a fairy godmother, Yeh-Shen's guardian is a fish. When the fish is eaten by the evil stepmother, Yeh-Shen saves the bones, which turn out to have wish-granting properties.

There are two variations of the Cinderella story that don't mention footwear.

In Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, John Steptoe retells the well-known African tale and lends his artful illustrations to recreate a jungle setting in Zimbabwe.

Mufaro has two beautiful daughters. One is selfish and conceited, while the other is kind and sensitive. Both travel to the city upon hearing that the king is seeking a wife, but their journeys and destiny diverge as a result of their character.

Steptoe is African-American, and all of his works deal with African history and culture. Yeh-Shen's illustrator Young is Chinese, and like Steptoe, is among a small group of ethnic minority artists who have made a career in children's literature.

The other variation tells of a disfigured Algonquin girl who beats out the competition - two beautiful but spoiled girls from the same village - to win the coveted role of new bride to the powerful Invisible Being.

Rafe Martin adapts this Native American folk tale in The Rough-Face Girl, with some remarkable portraiture by illustrator David Shannon.

For those who are interested in comparative studies, Judy Sierra'sCinderella presents 24 different versions in one anthology, complete with plot summary and cultural background for each story.

Marian Roalfe Cox collected even more versions in Cinderella: Three Hundred and Forty-Five Variants of Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap 0' Rushes, Abstracted and Tabulated, with a Discussion of Mediaeval Analogues and Notes.

The interest in collecting Cinderella stories is not a recent phenomenon, as Cox's tome was first published in 1891 by The Folklore Society in London.

Two questions to ponder during a candle-lit Valentine's Day dinner: Is magical assistance the only way a nice girl can expect to make a good marriage? And, if Cinderella's shoe fitted so perfectly, why did it fall off in the first place?


Annie Ho is board chairwoman of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving children's literacy by reading aloud to them. Visit bringmeabook.org.hk

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Cinderella also spent time in the jungle, and among the fishes

Grimms vs Hans

Grimm tales told the old-fashioned way

Tuesday, 13 August, 2013, 9:25am

Annie Holife@scmp.com

I was filled with glee the moment I got my hands on a back-ordered copy of Philip Pullman's Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version. Glee turned to euphoria as I devoured this recently published collection of 50 stories retold by Pullman, a celebrated writer for young adults.

Pullman's source was Children's and Household Tales, written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm two centuries ago.

Through their study of philology and comparative linguistics - they worked on the first German dictionary - the Grimm brothers became preoccupied with German folklore. They collected fairy tales from oral and literary sources, and were careful to treat their material authentically.

Authenticity is a tricky proposition. I don't enjoy the Disney versions of fairy tales because they are mere caricatures of the originals.

Yet, I may not appreciate the antiquated oral stories shared in the 1800s among peasants sitting by the hearth in their family cottage. That's why I want to read Pullman's version. I love his writing, and I know that he will "tell it like it is", free of personal interpretations or modern influences.

Adults are constantly shielding children from anything deemed inappropriate or too damaging to their psyches. By contrast, it seems that worrying about causing psychological distress on children ranked low in agrarian families of the past, when there were famines, wars and epidemics to contend with.

Pullman's straightforward and authentic retelling reveals how scare tactics were employed in the original stories to teach moral lessons. Children in the Grimm tales get eaten by wild animals, abandoned by impoverished parents, and trapped by cannibalistic witches.

Parents can judge at what age to share the original Grimm tales with their children. Meanwhile, the versions reinterpreted for toddlers in Mary Englebreit's Fairy Tales are a wonderful introduction to these stories.

We also have Englebreit's Nursery Tales, much loved in our home for the stories, as well as Englebreit's vintage-style illustrations.

Many of the stories from Nursery Tales are gentle versions of Hans Christian Andersen's originals.

Unlike the Grimm brothers, who collected folklore, Andersen created all the characters and plots for more than 150 fairy tales. For a faithful English translation, older children will enjoy The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen: a New Translation from the Danish by Jeffrey Crone Frank and Diana Crone Frank.

These are timeless tales which are intended for children and adults alike.

Annie Ho is board chairwoman of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving children's literacy by reading aloud to them bringmeabook.org.hk

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Grimm tales told the old-fashioned way

Best Mother Goose

Between the Lines: Mother Goose picture books that top the pecking order

Tuesday, 16 July, 2013, 9:56am

Annie Ho

Among her dozens of picture books, my younger daughter often makes a beeline for our tattered book of nursery rhymes and asks me to read it to her at least once a day.

While a two year-old tottering back to our cosy reading spot with a two-pound book in her arms is an adorable sight, whenever she asks, "Mama, can you read Mother Goose?", I always reply, " Mother Goose again?!" It has become such a recurring event that she now refers to this book as "Mother Goose Again".

In fact, the book's title is Mother Goose's Story Time Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler with stories by Alison Green, it begins with a story introducing Mother Goose and her three goslings.

There are 90 nursery rhymes, interspersed with stories about the goose family. I know the music to about half of these nursery rhymes, so we usually sing rather than recite them.

There are conflicting reports of the origin of Mother Goose, the imaginary author of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, but references to her can be found as early as the 17th century.

In 1951, husband and wife team Iona and Peter Opie published The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.

Iona Opie is an authority on children's rhymes and playground games, and author of the bestseller My Very First Mother Goose, illustrated by Rosemary Wells.

Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever is another well-loved version that has been in print for almost 50 years. The large illustrations, with most of the nursery rhymes on a two-page spread, depict animals dressed as humans.

Both Wells and Scarry are illustrators who create vibrant and joyful anthropomorphic characters: bunnies and cats for Wells; pigs and bears for Scarry.

Blanche Fisher Wright's The Real Mother Goose was first published in 1916. Evoking old-fashioned Victorian children at play, this keepsake has sold five million copies in the United States and makes a wonderful first book for any child's library.

Although Scott Gustafson is a contemporary artist, the illustrations in hisFavourite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose are reminiscent of those from Fisher Wright's era.

His interpretation of nursery rhymes is fanciful and old-fashioned, but also depicts modern culture by including illustrations of children of different ethnicities.

The rhymes are not printed in full; Gustafson selects a few lines to complement his illustrations. This book with large illustrations but sparse text will be treasured by art lovers.

Any grimace I may make quickly vanishes at the joy of cuddling for story time, as I gamely accept my children's book choices: my elder daughter eyesPinkalicious and my younger daughter asks for Mother Goose … again.

Annie Ho is board chairwoman of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation dedicate to improving children's literacy by reading aloud to them bringmeabook.org.hk

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Mother Goose books top the pecking order

Book Gift Ideas for Children's Book Lovers - Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book (Anita Silvey)

Picture books that speak volumes

Sunday, 09 December, 2012, 12:00am

Annie Hofamilypost@scmp.com

I always enjoy the challenge of finding the right book gift for my friends. This year, I think food aficionados will enjoy Melanie Dunea's My Last Supper,which comprises interviews with 50 great chefs about their choices for a last meal on earth.

For fashionista friends, there's Andrew Bolton's Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. The cover was created with lenticular printing, so that the image changes from a haunting headshot of the clothing designer to his signature skull motif when viewed from different angles.

I have a cache of staples for lovers of children's books, and I am always delighted to discover new works. Here is a selection of anthologies.Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book is a collection edited by former children's book publisher Anita Silvey and is subtitled Life Lessons from Notable People from All Walks of Life.

Each double page comprises the notable person's own written account of the book that deeply influenced their life, plus an image of the cover with a description of the book and its author, and a 500-word excerpt from that book. Contributors include actor Kirk Douglas and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Leonard Marcus, a professor of children's literature who has written extensively about children's books and their illustrations, compiled and edited Show Me a Story: Why Picture Books Matter. I picked up a copy as soon as I saw that my beloved Mo Willems provided the illustration for the cover.

In this book, Marcus presents a question-and-answer format for his extensive and in-depth interviews with "21 of the world's most celebrated illustrators". The conversations are entertaining because they delve into the childhoods, creative processes, and personalities of these artists.

The big bonus is the rare display of full-colour plates in the middle of the book that reproduce the illustrators' sketches and drafts. The plates show how much attention and effort goes into each drawing.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art's Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art also features the perspective and sketches of children's book illustrators. There is some overlap between the artists featured here and those found in Marcus's Show Me A Story.

The difference is that, in Artist to Artist, the illustrators give advice to aspiring illustrators in the form of a letter to the reader. In addition to the letter, each artist also provides a photograph of himself as a child, as well as a photograph of his art studio. The most amusing contribution is each artist's self-portrait. Eric Carle, best known for The Hungry Caterpillar, conceived the idea for this anthology. It is a wonderful resource for aspiring artists.

One of the tips that I learned from read-aloud workshops is to read out the title and author of books. That helps children make the connection to other books by the same author.

When I became more diligent about reading aloud the names of authors and illustrators, I discovered how many of my children's favourite books, fromMother Goose Nursery Rhymes to Tiddler, are illustrated by Axel Scheffler. How could I have not noticed that the bulbous noses of Scheffler's characters are common to all these books?

The great joy of giving prominence to an author's name in a read-aloud session is to hear it repeated by toddlers.

My two-year-old generally only sings out the monosyllabic rhymes of a storybook. So it's endearing to hear her proclaim the words, "written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko".

Annie Ho is board chairwoman of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation devoted to improving children's literacy through reading aloud to them and providing easy access to the best children's books for underserved communities across Hong Kong.bringmeabook.org.hk