Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All

Children's books come in all shapes, sizes, and styles, which is one of the things I love about them.

Sometimes, it dawns on an editor that a well-known verse or literary piece, traditionally 
meant for adults, could make an equally appropriate choice for young readers.

"Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All," Maya Angelou's reknown poem, is both powerful and 
playful and makes a wonderful introduction to poetry for kids. Many children's stories 
already have a lot of rhythm and rhyme but to present the cadence, symbolism, art and beauty of words strung together specifically into a POEM by a bona fide POET can lay a nice foundation for poetry appreciation in the future. 

It takes a certain state of mind to listen to, absorb, and understand poetry. It is a very sophisticated style of writing that has its own rules and breaking of the rules. From traditionalists (John Keats) to modernists (e.e. cummings), poems in all their variations present a view of the world in a swift and succinct way. One can even view reading a poem as a skill to be learned, so for me, I believe earlier the better (Alright, I was an English major; admittedly, I may be biased). 

What's nice about Angelou's poem, which makes it a perfect first choice for a child, is that it can be taken quite literally and still be fun and accessible to children.

Paired with the bold yet childlike paintings of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, her words
and his images provoke the imagination into fanciful flights of glory where anyone—big
or small—is able to overcome their greatest fears and challenges.

Here is an except:

Shadows on the wall

Noises down the hall

Life doesn't frighten me at all

Bad dogs barking loud

Big ghosts in a cloud

Life doesn't frighten me at all

Mean old Mother Goose

Lions on the loose

They don't frighten me at all

Dragons breathing flame

On my counterpane

That doesn't frighten me at all.

I go boo

Make them shoo

I make fun

way they run

I won't cry

so they fly

I just smile

They go wild

Life doesn't frighten me at all...

Not at all

Not at all.

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All 

words by Maya Angelou 

pictures by Jean-Michel Basquiat
compilation © 1993 Sara Jane Boyers

published by Stewart Tabori and Chang 

Pulelehua and Mamaki

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday marks the end of a long week and is the day to relax, take it easy, and embrace the promised leisure of the weekend. As fun as it is to hit the waves at the beach, sometimes curling up with a nice book can be just as pleasurable, if not an easier way, to fill up a lazy afternoon, especially when you have one or more toddlers in tow.

Surprisingly, in Honolulu alone, there are more than a dozen or so locally owned publishing houses that produce everything from tourist publications to local fiction. To acknowledge these brave efforts of regional publishing, Little Paper Hen will feature a Hawaii children's book every week.

Our first Aloha Friday book comes from an imprint of Bishop Museum Press, the publisher that is indeed linked to that famous museum. True to their mission, they specialize in books about Hawaiian culture, literature, history, and all things Hawaiiana.

Pulelehua and Mamaki is at once many things: a story, a lesson, a gentle message that mother nature is intertwined harmoniously and perfectly.

Though it tells the familiar tale of a caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, this book goes deeper by starring the Kamehameha Butterfly and the Mamaki tree, two species that are endemic to Hawaii. Because they are found nowhere else on earth, the account of Pulelehua the caterpillar's journey from egg to butterfly, and the role Mamaki the tree takes as his protector, is all the more metaphorical of the larger story about mother nature's challenge to thrive.

Janice Crowl, local writer and resident, who shares her passion for gardening and botany with children through her story books, captures the sentimentality we should all feel towards nature and her kingdom. It is marvelous and complex, but also very fragile. Books like hers inspire us to take a mindful look at the natural world that surrounds us.

The illustrations are beautifully done by local native Hawaiian artist, Harinani Orme, whose signature style has always been her portraiture of Hawaiian aumakua (family gods) and folklore characters. Here, she creates a microcosmic world that seems magical but is indeed very real, and can continue to survive, if we as humans do our part to be good stewards of mother nature.

This wonderful book offers a little bit of fable, culture, and natural science, making it a very valuable addition to your child's collection. At the end, there is a short section that presents a Hawaiian glossary, a gardening tutorial, botanical facts as well as an exquisite diagram of the Kamehameha Butterfly's life cycle.

Pulelehua and Mamaki rightly won the 2010 Hawai'i Book Publishers Association Award for Excellence in Children's Literature at the Ka Palapala Po'okela Awards, which means many others love this book too.

Pelelehua and Mamaki
words by Janice Crowl
pictures by Harinani Orme
© 2009 Kamahoi Press

A Long Piece of String

One of the most fun types of children's books are ABC books. They can be as common as a basic primer or as special as sought-after collectibles. While getting your hands on vintage alphabet books can be difficult and expensive, fortunately, there are plenty of wonderful contemporary editions around.

A Long Piece of String is a stunning example of making the old new again. Thanks to a recent reprinting of this 1963 classic, this wordless picture book will have you and your little one eagerly turning the page in anticipation of the next letter's surprise.

William Wondriska expresses his graphic designer's touch through bold, playful icons of an animal, place, or thing, that are all connected by a continous string (hence the book's title). The string gets longer and longer then tangled, twisted, and tied up as each symbolic letter of the alphabet are successively threaded together.

Remember how pictures are worth a thousand words? This book is an exceptional example. The deliberate absence of words only adds to its literary delight as it will peak curiosity and opportunity for interactive reading. I have found this book a great way for teaching new words to my Wa-wa because of Mr. Wondriska's eclectic choice of objects in representing each letter of the alphabet.

  

















A Long Piece of String is definitely one of the most unique, creative, and beautiful alphabet books around and is a definite must-have for any personal collection or shelf. More over, despite being sans words, this book is far from silent. Mr. Wondriska makes the alphabet sing off the pages and I love the way he added a new twist to the ABC song's ending: A B C D E F G . . . W X Y and Z. Now I know my ABCs, next time won't you guess with me?

A Long Piece of String

pictures by William Wondriska 

© 1963 by William Wondriska, reprinted © 2010 by Chronicle Books