Mali

Review: The Everlasting Embrace by Gabrielle Emanuel

| Tasha

everlasting embrace

The Everlasting Embrace by Gabrielle Emanuel, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

A toddler spends her day in Mali strapped to her mother’s back.  Told from her point of view, this picture book celebrates the strong bond that occurs between mother and child as they spend their entire day together.  The little one is bound to her back and they move as one.  She is there as her mother beats millet with a pestle.  There when her mother carries it back home in a basket balanced on her head.  During the day, her mother tickles her, reaching behind to touch her little girl.  They dance together, the rhythms of their day lulling the baby to sleep at times.  They shelter together in the shade the big basket of mangoes makes when her mother carries it.  When they return home, the little girl carries her teddy bear bound to her back.  These days together are precious as the little girl will soon be too big to carry all day.  But the bond they have formed together will never go away.

Emanuel lived in Mali for a year after graduating from college.  While she was there, she shared stories aloud with a little girl, but found that there were no picture books that she could read her about her own country and lifestyle.  So Emanuel created this one.  It is a very strong debut picture book with writing that is confident and a point of view that is unique.  Told from the view of the little girl on her mother’s back, one never worries that she is being neglected or ignored as the mother goes through her day.  Rather one quickly realizes that she is content, cared for and completely part of her mother’s daily life.

Lewis is an extraordinary illustrator.  He captures life in Mali clearly on the page, showing the mother and daughter together at home, walking through the markets, doing chores and spending time together even when the mother is busy doing other things.  There is a joy in his images, a dedication to truly capture this country and its way of life on the page.

Strong, beautiful and unique, this picture book takes children on a journey to Mali where they will see life lived differently and warmly.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.

To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story

| Tasha

totimbuktu

To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story by Casey Scieszka, illustrated by Steven Weinberg

Travel, romance and finding oneself are what makes this book irresistible.  Casey and Steven met in Morocco, had a long distance relationship across the US, and then moved together to China and eventually Mali.  This book celebrates taking leaps of faith with one another, experiencing life to the fullest, embracing different cultures, and just being entirely human in the process.  Come spend a year with an engaging couple who teach, write, draw, and inspire.

Scieszka’s writing is frank and inviting.  She captures travel and the experience of other cultures with an honesty that is very refreshing.  From the rush of a new country and its own unique culture to the isolation and boredom that sometimes result, there is no shrinking away from even the bowel-churning portions of travel.  At the same time, she depicts a growing relationship with Weinberg that slowly deepens and naturally evolves.

Weinberg’s illustrations are equally refreshing with their rough edges, free lines and widely smiling faces.  As one turns the pages in the book, each new page is often a new story, a moment captured from their travels.  The illustrations help make this work very well.

Reading this would send me into memories of my own travels, thinking about times when I had felt the same or done something similar.  If you are a traveler, this book will speak directly to you and your experiences.  If you are hoping to become one, this book will inspire you to do it.

A winning combination of illustration and story, this book will inspire older teen readers to take a different course in life: a path all their own.  Appropriate for ages 16-adult.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.