Published in Ceylon Today
It is in our childhood that so many of our tastes and sensitivities, our first impressions of the world, are formed.
Children's perspectives of human behaviour and the natural world are often fresh, and close-up: they are experiencing life and the world very directly through their five senses, and in vibrant colours; and they come to know things without pre-conceptions or judgments.
As adults, often shut away from both nature and colour in our working lives, we miss this tactile and vivid way of apprehending life. And this is where children's books even more than DVDs or virtual worlds created through technology win us over: we have to pick up a picture book, and read it, and turn the pages and trace the story.
Stories we read as children introduce us to the elements of the hero's and heroine's journey archetype: of the quest to discover hidden bounty, or recover lost or stolen treasure. We are introduced to the ideas that form our later beliefs about the way the world works, and life's paths unravel.
When children's stories are well written, they are both innocent and powerful. There is no need for mottos to be appended to them or for 'Cautionary Tale' labels to be affixed to them: they tell us their truths and wisdom through the actions of the characters, directly.
Fairy tales and their legendary heroes and heroines are particularly rich in this kind of intense suffused glamour.
Characters embody certain qualities. And children's clear-sighted and subtly clairvoyant way of seeing is shown in the instinctive way they name the animal friends and guardian spirits that people their imaginative landscape.
There is no need for the gimmicks and trappings of witchcraft and wizardry in the re-telling of tales of human enchantment and error. There is the effect of magic evoked in the cascade of cloud-like petals falling on an upturned face and an outstretched arm; of protective spells cast spiritedly in the energetic drawing of a circle around those the hero wants most to protect; the way friends rally to answer the call when the circle is shaken and the protective boundary breached. The spontaneity and freshness of the telling is reflected even in the cursive font in the opening pages of the layout, with its naive splashes, blots and sprays of ink looking as though the hand of the writer has just left the page.
It takes a wise mind to tell a story in a way a child can understand it. And a good listener to creatively imagine what s/he heard. And the 'kid lit' world, filled to the brim with jostling contenders, has just made room for a new collaboration.
Because this story book began from a story shared between two friends. And the characters in the book are also friends, and their behaviour makes them heroes in their own way, and their choices show us how we too can build bridges.
The first in an envisioned sequence of children's books was launched last Friday at Barefoot, in tandem with an exhibition of paintings from the illustrator of the story: 'How The Squirrel Got His Stripes'.
Sam Perera, of the PereraHussein publishing house, wrote the text of this re telling of a beloved tale from India's mythology, and this story as he told it to the painter Alex Stewart inspired the illustrations.
It is the story of the little ubiquitous squirrels that scamper and tumble about our homes, chirruping in the spring and causing havoc with our curtain tassels. Specifically, it is a re-telling of the legendary story of how these creatures, our well-known childhood friends, gained the distinctive dark stripe along their back and tail as a reward for industrious service to Rama himself, for coming to assist him when he most needed their help.
The text is simple, but not simplistic, and complemented by the intricacy of the miniature-like illustrations, which are delicate but not over-wrought. The colours are gentle, and the movements and gestures of the characters poetically evoked, a good counterpart to the telling prose.
In this book, the way the squirrels scamper through trees and bushes, looking for a safe place to nest in real life, is reflected in the way one or two squirrels in silhouette are included in each picture, often on the side of each illustrated image. When you read the story, and compare the pictures to the narrative, you realise that they counterpoint the way Rama and Sita, in exile, are also looking for a safe place in which to establish and secure their life together.
The story of the abduction of Rama's wife Sita, and the building of the bridge from India to Lanka, evokes some beautiful images: the drawing of Rama's magic circle of protection around Sita, and her subsequent temptation and her falling prey to Ravana's incitement to step out of her husband's protection, is visually created with clarity and tenderness by the artist.
The images both visual and verbal will remain in children's minds until they are old enough to really understand the implications of intrusion, abduction and the worthwhile effort of reclaiming what we most honour and value, which has been unjustly taken from us.
On a philosophical level, we see even heroic beings in trouble, invoking divine protection, and asking for assistance from the beings of the natural world, who are often perceived as 'lesser' or less sentient than humans. The way children see their own affiliation with all creatures both great and small as natural and instinctive, is honoured in this re telling and reflected in the lovely pictures of Rama's gratitude and his caressing gesture of appreciation, which confers the signature stripe on the squirrels.
After reading this dazzling little book, I confess that I wondered for the first time if the phrase 'earning one's stripes' actually derives from this legend! In the military, when a soldier has performed his or her duties faithfully and honourably, s/he is commended by being ceremonially given medals or other insignia in recognition of their loyalty and devotion. I will always think of these little squirrels when I hear anyone's efforts approvingly described as 'earning them their stripes'.
The book is released through PereraHussein's 'Popsicle' imprint, and is the first of several stories which Sam Perera will write and Alex Stewart will illustrate.
Sam Perera, of the PereraHussein publishing house, wrote the text of this re telling of a beloved tale from India's mythology, and this story as he told it to the painter Alex Stewart inspired the illustrations.
It is the story of the little ubiquitous squirrels that scamper and tumble about our homes, chirruping in the spring and causing havoc with our curtain tassels. Specifically, it is a re-telling of the legendary story of how these creatures, our well-known childhood friends, gained the distinctive dark stripe along their back and tail as a reward for industrious service to Rama himself, for coming to assist him when he most needed their help.
The text is simple, but not simplistic, and complemented by the intricacy of the miniature-like illustrations, which are delicate but not over-wrought. The colours are gentle, and the movements and gestures of the characters poetically evoked, a good counterpart to the telling prose.
In this book, the way the squirrels scamper through trees and bushes, looking for a safe place to nest in real life, is reflected in the way one or two squirrels in silhouette are included in each picture, often on the side of each illustrated image. When you read the story, and compare the pictures to the narrative, you realise that they counterpoint the way Rama and Sita, in exile, are also looking for a safe place in which to establish and secure their life together.
The story of the abduction of Rama's wife Sita, and the building of the bridge from India to Lanka, evokes some beautiful images: the drawing of Rama's magic circle of protection around Sita, and her subsequent temptation and her falling prey to Ravana's incitement to step out of her husband's protection, is visually created with clarity and tenderness by the artist.
The images both visual and verbal will remain in children's minds until they are old enough to really understand the implications of intrusion, abduction and the worthwhile effort of reclaiming what we most honour and value, which has been unjustly taken from us.
On a philosophical level, we see even heroic beings in trouble, invoking divine protection, and asking for assistance from the beings of the natural world, who are often perceived as 'lesser' or less sentient than humans. The way children see their own affiliation with all creatures both great and small as natural and instinctive, is honoured in this re telling and reflected in the lovely pictures of Rama's gratitude and his caressing gesture of appreciation, which confers the signature stripe on the squirrels.
After reading this dazzling little book, I confess that I wondered for the first time if the phrase 'earning one's stripes' actually derives from this legend! In the military, when a soldier has performed his or her duties faithfully and honourably, s/he is commended by being ceremonially given medals or other insignia in recognition of their loyalty and devotion. I will always think of these little squirrels when I hear anyone's efforts approvingly described as 'earning them their stripes'.
The book is released through PereraHussein's 'Popsicle' imprint, and is the first of several stories which Sam Perera will write and Alex Stewart will illustrate.
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