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Loading... Malaika's Costumeby Nadia L. Hohn
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Nice to see a strong story about family separation and living with a parent far away. ( ) Top 100 pick because: Mixed media collage, pencil drawing and bold colorful illustrations provide a look into the bright stylized images of Caribbean life. Heart-warming and authentic story. From the colloquial voice of Malaika to the picture of her mother crying while looking at letters from home, I feel the emotion put into the book. Malaika waits anxiously for the money her mother, off working in distant Canada, had promised to send back for her Carnival costume in this engaging picture-book. When the money isn't forthcoming, and her grandmother unpacks her own girlhood costume, the young Caribbean girl (no country is named), who had dreamed of being a colorful peacock, can't contain her anger and disappointment, running off down her street. Eventually coming her to senses, Malaika visits Ms. Chin the tailor lady, coming away with a bag of scraps that she and Grandma can use to make that old costume new... Malaika's Costume is author Nadia L. Hohn's debut picture-book, although there is a sequel, Malaika's Winter Carnival, that has been published since it was first released a few years ago. The story is engaging, the text alternating between the narration, in standard North American English, and the dialogue, written in Caribbean dialect. Although this will undoubtedly be a challenge for some young readers and listeners, it also makes the story more authentic, and isn't a bar to understanding. Having seen the author perform the story - in a gorgeous Carnival costume of her own, no less - I know this to be the case. The themes explored in the story, of poverty and making do, of child-parent separation due to the necessity of migrating for work, are poignant and powerful. The artwork, done by Irene Luxbacher in gorgeously colorful collage, is well-suited to the tale, especially the section in which Malaika and her grandmother piece together the costume. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books set in the Caribbean, about the celebration of Carnival, or featuring children separated from their parents because of economic hardship. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesMalaika (1)
Participating in a first Carnival since her mother left to find a better job, Malaika fears she will not be able to dance in the parade without a costume and comes up with an idea to use scrap fabric to create a patchwork rainbow peacock outfit. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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