When I Feel Angry - Cornelia Maude Spelman

[Guest review by Fabida]

Book Review: ‘When I Feel Angry’

Anger is an emotion that affects everyone, across continents, male and female, young and old, making it pretty much a universal feeling.

But like Cornelia Maude Spelman shows us in her book ‘When I Feel Angry’, it is how we respond to that emotion that makes us the person we are. This is an excellent book to help young children understand this anger and learn to deal with it.

Title: When I Feel Angry (Part of the ‘The Way I Feel’ series)

Author: Cornelia Maude Spelman

Illustrator: Nancy Cote

Plot: A little bunny finds that a lot of things make her angry, and when she feels angry she wants to do and say hurtful things. But she also learns that feeling something and doing those things are completely different and that she should take care not to hurt others in the process.

Review: This is a lovely little book, perfect for preschoolers. I would go so far as to say that even adults like us could gain quite a bit from reading this!!

Little Bunny first learns to identify the emotion called anger and she finds that many different events can trigger anger in her. All sorts of scenarios are covered – things that are out of our control can make us angry, as can something someone does or says to us, or sometimes even we can make ourselves angry when we get frustrated!

Nancy Cote has done a brilliant job of expressing Little Bunny’s facial expressions, especially since pictures are what’ll get to the child more than words. The text is in first person and in simple English, which will help children to express their feelings clearly, for example: ‘I feel angry when I have to stop my game’. This will be especially useful for children prone to tantrums, who can’t seem to use words to say exactly what they want.

The book also provides positive ways to control anger, and to curb violent impulses like wanting to hit someone. In the kind of world we have today, these lessons can’t be underestimated. My son gets angry quite frequently, but when I remind him of the book, he does make an effort to calm down (though some explosions are inevitable!!).

I would whole heartedly recommend this book to all mothers, however old your child is, and whether they have an anger problem or not. Learning to control your anger and express your feelings are skills that everyone needs and your child will be grateful to you long after the bedtime book reading sessions are done.

This review first appeared as a guest post on The Mom Views.

[This review is a part of the Children's Day Celebration Challenge hosted at ALOP]

- Fabida

Theodore Boone : The Accused - John Grisham

THEODORE BOONE : THE ACCUSED

A "Theodore Boone" novel

ISBN - 978-1-444-75719-4
FIRST PUBLISHED - May 2012
PAGES - 288
PUBLISHER - Hachette
BINDING - Paperback
GENRE - Legal Thriller/Under-18
SOURCE - Publishers

AUTHOR - John Grisham

BEST-SELLERS - The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

Theodore Boone is the thirteen-year-old who knows more about the law than most adult lawyers. He certainly never expected to be a victim of crime himself. But then his bike is vandalized, he's attacked while doing his homework. and, worst of all, framed for robbery.

When stolen computer equipment turns up in Theo's school locker, the police start leaning on him hard. And he is the only suspect. What if he's found guilty? What about his dreams of becoming a lawyer?

In a race against time, aided by his renegade uncle, Ike, Theo must find the rel felon and reveal the true motivation behind the crimes of which he stands accused.

FL Speak - Oh my God! If I read another one of this "Theodore Boone" series, I'll kill myself!! Absolutely NOT what I expected from John Grisham, but lets be clear, this series is meant for those kids who haven't met Hardy Boys yet. I mean yes, its a legal thriller (it says it is), but actually, its more of a mystery novel that your friendly neighborhood Famous Five can solve in a couple of days.

Theodore Boone or Theo or even "cute Teddy" is a exceptionally bright kid who has lawyers as parents. And at 13, he already knows most of the law. So its no great secret that he dreams of becoming a lawyer himself. The book begins well, we have Theo in a court room where he is watching the trial of a murderer. The accused doesn't appear in court and is presumed to flee the cops.

Now normally, when you read such a beginning, you tend to get excited, knowing you are reading Grisham. Sadly, all hopes are dashed as you proceed. Suddenly Theo's bike is vandalized, someone throws a rock at his window, and stolen computer goods are found in his school locker. The police get an anonymous call and boom! Theo is suspect number 1. Okay, still good, I was waiting for classic Grisham to combine the court room drama and Theo's situation together. What I got instead was an immense headache!

The pages are filled with Theo worrying and having nightmares of being in jail to people calling him "jailbird" to losing respect in front of his friends. And the torture never ends. We find Theo asking his friends to do a bit of snooping, which turned to be completely crap. Nevertheless, they find the thieves, thanks to his uncle Ike.

John Grisham. I have immense respect for that guy. Few of his books are one of my all time favorites. But this, this is like reading a story to a 7-year old to put them to sleep. There is nothing legal in this so called legal thriller. The court room scenario made me wonder if I would be reading a child genius doing some J.A.G style lawyering. But sadly, a big NO. Also, it turns out the courtroom scene is just added to fill a couple of pages. There is no story there and there is no big twist that we all were waiting for. I get that this is meant for a newbie teenager, but how many 12 year olds would want to read this rather than Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew?

But, I repeat again, this may still be a good book for your child. No violence and justice prevails. Isn't that what we all want to teach our children?
 

My Rating - 2 stars [just for the sake that I like Grisham]

PRICE - INR 250/-

P.S| I should have researched more about this book before reading. The website says, it is for kids between ages 9-12. Now I feel like a moron as I'm double the age of the maximum recommended reading age limit.

So, if you're planning to buy this for your kid or anyone else's for that matter, you can. Although I still recommend Famous Five and the Five Find Outers.

Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism

AUTHOR: Georgia Byng

ISBN: 0-330-39985-3

1st PUBLISHED: 2002 by MacMillan Children’s Books

GENRE: Under 18/ Kids’ Stuff

SYNOPSIS:

Orphan Molly Moon was found as a baby in a box marked ‘Moon’s Marshmallows.’ For ten miserable years she’s lived under the cruel rule of Miss Adderstone in grim Hardwick House. But her life changes overnight when she finds a mysterious book on hypnotism and discovers an amazing talent- the power to make people do anything she wants them to. Escaping from the orphanage, Molly flies to New York in search of fame and fortune. But her adventures in hypnotism lead her into the clutches of a dangerous enemy…

EXCERPT:

Sometimes, when bad luck comes your way, you think it will never end. Molly Moon often felt this way about her luck, which wasn’t surprising since she was so often in trouble. If only she’d known that her luck was about to change, she might have enjoyed the following day, for at the end of it Molly would feel that all sorts of wonderful things were going to happen to her. But that morning, from the moment she opened her eyes after a sound sleep on her lumpy orphanage mattress, Molly’s day started to go wrong…

ARPITA SPEAKS:

With Christmas just round the corner, this is the book that matches perfectly the spirit of the season. Very subtly, such that you might not even notice it initially, Georgia Byng brings to light the miracle of kindness in the story of a little girl who hated her life, and dared to change it.

Molly Moon’s life at the orphanage is as pathetic as one can imagine, with Miss Adderstone’s pet Hazel and her gang bullying her at every possible opportunity. Of course, things are not always so bad when kind Mrs. Trinklebury comes to visit, or when Molly and her best friend Rocky find a few stolen moments of joy with the adorable younger children. It is when Rocky gets adopted by an American family that Molly decides to break her ties with the inhabitants of Hardwick House, for the only person she could call family left her forever.

Molly’s emotions, not just at this point but throughout the novel, are wonderfully easy to relate to; her search for an identity, her craving for a family, her sense of insecurity and bouts of jealousy, her dreams of making it big and the delight at actually making it big, as well as the impact that fame and fortune have on little Molly are incredibly realistic. The twist in the story comes with the entry of the formidable Professor Nockman:

He smiled. Perhaps it was a good thing that this girl had found the hypnotism book. Maybe she was better at it than he could ever hope to be. So when he found this M. Moon, all he need do was control her. After all, she was only a child. She could give him a ride to the top…

The narrative of this book- originally meant for children- is elementary, but the storyline is engaging enough to interest readers from all age groups. The novel is full of unexpected surprises and the little nuggets of humor make it three hundred and thirty pages of pure pleasure.

RATING: 4 on 5

PRICE: Rs.238/- (Flipkart)

You against Me by Jenny Downham

Synopsis :
If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? 


If your brother's been accused of a terrible crime and you're the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him. Isn't that what families do?


When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart. 


When Ellie's brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn't do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. 


When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide.


Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for one's family and for another.


Words from the book: 


“It was strange how words meant something when they came out of your mouth. Inside your head they were safe and silent, but once they were outside, people grabbed hold of them.” 


“I like you," he said. 
He made it sound as if she was bound to disagree with him. She nodded. His face said he was telling her something very important. 
He said, "I mean it. Whatever happens, you have to believe that.” 


“He felt perfectly happy as he walked side by side with Ellie, their fingers occasionally brushing, electricity building between them. It was the first time in days, maybe the first time in all his life, that he didn’t want to change anything.” 

Nimue Says : 
I chose this book from a looong list of teen fiction for adding it to under 18 genre for the challenge on ALOP. and after finishing, I think this is one of the top 5 books I read in year 2011.

This is not the story of  Tom the accused or Karyn the supposed victim; nor of Mikey , the elder brother and caretaker of his family of two sisters and a troubled mother , nor of little Ellie , the young sister whose words only can save Tom from going to jail. So what does Ellie says ? and does she really has it in her to stick to her statement ?

Mikey meets Ellie by chance and thinking it as an opportunity to seek information about Tom, meets her again and again , each time failing to ask whatever he intended and instead falling for her beauty , her knowledge and all that he ever wanted in a perfect girl for himself.

Ellie , even after realizing who Mikey , trusts him a lot more than she should. Questioning herself and her family is no easy task ut she is willing to do that for Mikey's sake even if she says she wants to help Karyn.

I strongly felt sad for Tom and Ellie's mother. She who can not desert her daughter as she tries to free from the silent sadness creeping  in her life , nor can go against her son. You feel for Mikey as he struggles to keep his house together and for his sisters who have long back learned their roles in the house -  a house that can fall apart anytime even with no court case hanging in their life.

This book has a simple plot but the way it unfolds, its sensitive , it feels accurate and it touches you the way it should. It is simple yet engaging ; emotional yet logical, fiction yet not. It talks of so many issues and ideas that we do not wish to explore or accept. It does not give a closing , ut details the journey well. Totally loved Jenny's way of writing in this one. All willing to try her other books too.

Rating: 4.5/5

Other details: 

Price : 230 @ flipkart

Pages : 390

Totto chan - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.

Author- Tetsuko Kuroyanagi 
Translated in English by Dorothy Britton.


Synopsis:
Totto chan, a lively young girl is expelled from her first school. Her mother, worried about her daughter's future, takes her to a new school called "Tomoe Gakuen" which has an unconventional method of teaching started by the principal Mr Kobayashi. 
The school had made use of six abandoned railroad cars as classrooms! The principal was a kind man who treated children seriously and understood them well. On the very first meeting a friendship is formed between the headmaster and his pupil. He listened to her for straight four hours as she answered his question, "Tell me more about yourself".
Set in the times of world war II in Japan, this book is the true account of the author about her childhood, her elementary school and the novel ways in which she was taught.


Excerpts:

Now it was time for "something from the ocean and something from the hills," the 
lunch hour Totto-chan had looked forward to so eagerly. 
The headmaster had adopted the phrase to describe a balanced meal--the kind of food 
he expected you to bring for lunch in addition to your rice. Instead of the usual 
"Train your children to eat everything," and "Please see that they bring a nutritiously 
balanced lunch," this headmaster asked parents to include in their children's 
lunchboxes "something from the ocean and something from the hills." 
"Something from the ocean" meant sea food-- things such as fish and tsukuda-ni 
(tiny crustaceans and the like boiled in soy sauce and sweet sake), while "something 
from the hills" meant food from the land--like vegetables, beef, pork, and chicken. 

Sometimes a mother had been too busy and her child had only something from the 
hills, or only something from the ocean. But never mind. As the headmaster made his 
round of inspection, his wife followed him, wearing a cook's white apron and holding 
a pan in each hand. If the headmaster stopped in front of a pupil saying, "Ocean," she 
would dole out a couple of boiled chikuwa (fish rolls) from the "Ocean" saucepan, 
and if the headmaster said, "Hills," out would come some chunks of soy-simmered 
potato from the "Hills" saucepan. 
No one would have dreamed of saying, "I don't like fish rolls," any more than 
thinking what a fine lunch so-and-so has or what a miserable lunch poor so-and-so 
always brings. The children's only concern was whether they had satisfied the two 
requirements - the ocean and the hills--and if so their joy was complete and they 
were all in good spirits. 




Maithili Speak:
I first came to know about this book while I was in school. We had a small chapter from this book describing the episodes which led to Totto chan's expulsion from school and her entry into the new one.  It was comical to read about the naughtiness of this enthusiastic girl and I adored her. When I read this book last week I came to know why this book has been such a classic book ! It explores the innocence, the thoughts of the young and how the principal made use of this energy to build the characters of these students. 


During the course of reading, there were several times I wanted to be in Tomoe , the elementary school.


Don't we all remember our childhood when we were so fascinated by the chalks and wanted to scribble everywhere? When we drew patterns on the wall and got chided by our elder?
Imagine the principal giving 2 days a week, a period for students to scribble!! They could scribble to their heart content, but he made sure that they would clean it up. This not only checked the urge of the students to scribble but also made them realise the pain that went behind to clean if they scribbled on anybody's property! How cool is that!


The walks that the children took , when teachers taught them effectively about pollination, rivers etc, the library that was built in a car, the swimming lessons, the camps and the freedom to start with whatever subject the student wants all these things just fill your heart with joy and make you feel, "Why was there no Tomoe when I went to school?" 


The book has a universal appeal. To the young it gives out values and to the grown ups a chance to go back to childhood, to enjoy the simplicity of life, to understand the psychology of a kid.


Life would have been so much better if each one of us could have attended a Tomoe!


The last part of the book where the writer, herself a famous television personality, traces the success of all the 10 students in her class (there were only 50 students in Tomoe given the unconventional methods) and shows how the novel ways and values inculcated in them by the Principal was of prime importance in making them what they are. 




Rating: This has to be 5 on 5 from me.


Price: I read it online so I give you the link. :) 
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/Tottochan.pdf


P.S Does this count as under 18 stuff or classic?? I m confused :(