practice

My Day with the Panye by Tami Charles

| Tasha
Cover image

My Day with the Panye by Tami Charles, illustrated by Sara Palacios (9780763697495)

Fallon is invited by her mother to head to the market together. Her mother wraps her hair in a mouchwa and then sets the panye on her head. Her mother lets Fallon try to carry the panye on her head, but it quickly falls off and crashes to the floor. So they set off together with the panye on her mother’s head. She encourages her daughter to take learning the skill slowly and not rush it. She explains that one must move gracefully under the weight of the panye, one must be strong. After they visit the market, the panye is full of food. Fallon knows that to carry the panye is to care for her family. Now she is ready to try once more. But the panye falls again. Her mother encourages her to build her nest and try again. This time Fallon stands tall and takes her time, walking like her mother all the way home.

Set in Haiti, this picture book celebrates the ancient act of carrying a basket on one’s head to handle a heavy load. It’s a skill taught at a young age, just as Fallon is learning it in the book. Fallon’s mother shows patience with her daughter and encourages her to take her time, filling their walk to the market with lessons on what carrying the panye means to the family and also to Fallon herself. It’s an empowering lesson, one that speaks to the strength and resilience of the Haitian people.

Palacios fills the pages with bright and deep colors that show the bustling market and beauty of the hills outside of Port-au-Prince. The grace of carrying the panye is conveyed in the images too, the women tall and upright, full of strength and balance.

A picture book that speaks to tradition and patience when you’re learning a new skill. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy provided by Candlewick Press.

Review: Olympig by Victoria Jamieson

| Tasha

olympig

Olympig by Victoria Jamieson

Boomer has decided to be the first pig ever to compete in the Animal Olympics and gained attention of the news.  He practiced hard and at night dreamt of Olympic victory.  The next day, he lined up for the race against cheetahs, rabbits, and greyhounds.  He lost, of course, much to the delight of the news.  Boomer was heart broken until he realized he had other events to compete in.  He lost at weightlifting, hurdles, high jump, wrestling and more.  Then came the diving event, and Boomer knew that he had the best dive in the animal world: the cannonball!  But even then, he lost!  Boomer quit before the final event, storming off the field.  But then he saw his mother on the news saying how special he was and how much she loved him.  So he put on his costume for the final event, and off he went!

Jamieson portrays Boomer as an eternal optimist, someone who has been told that all it takes to succeed is to practice and do your best.  Unfortunately, it sometimes takes some natural talent too.  But Boomer remains that optimist.  He may get bruised and battered, but bounces back.  Jamieson has created an underdog that everyone will be rooting for, but who is also doomed to fail. 

The illustrations are done in a silly, cartoon style.  Jamieson creates engaging pairings for each event: Boomer weightlifts against an elephant, jumps against a flying squirrel and dives against a seal.  Adding to the jolly feel of the book are the endpages that have a silhouette of a round pig doing a range of Olympic events.  They have just the right feel, mocking the Olympic signage.

Silly and yet heart warming, this picture book is nicely timed with the Summer Olympics and will be enjoyed by all of us who yearn to be Olympic victors but just aren’t built for it.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.