AsiaLIFE

The Clay Marble – Minfong Ho
The Odd Egg – Emily Gravett
Monkey and Me – Emily Gravett
Tales from Moominvalley – Tove Jansson
The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

It’s frustrating trying to source children’s books relevant to Cambodia. Quite apart from the telephone answering systems from hell (“…your call is important to us - please hold the line while we try to connect you” followed immediately by the loud raspberry of death as it randomly hangs up on you), some publishers in the U.S. just don’t expect someone ringing from an obviously mythical land first thing in the morning (“You’re from WHERE?” she cried in disbelief). I’m searching for children’s books in Khmer and English which the publisher I telephoned actually produce, so I am mystified by the reluctance to seize the opportunity to sell the damn things actually in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, I can thoroughly recommend Minfong Ho’s The Clay Marble. Though the author is Thai, she worked for an NGO at refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. Set in one of those camps, the novel is about courage, friendship and overcoming life’s obstacles. Not new by any means (published in 1991), this is still high quality writing. Some of the inner thoughts of the 12-year-old female heroine, Dara, don’t ring true but it’s an evocative and touching read.

Emily Gravett is an award winning illustrator and author of beautiful and witty picture books for younger kids. Her latest, Dogs, is only available in hard cover right now but try Monkey and Me or The Odd Egg – both will knock the little nipper’s socks off and send them to the land of nod happy and satisfied or, as in the case of my little lad, inspire an attempt to re-enact Brion Gysin’s cut-up technique by joyfully (and un-sleepily!) ripping pages to shreds.

If you’re looking to keep a certain someone occupied for long periods of time, try the 512-page whopper, The Mysterious Benedict Society. When 11-year-old Reynie Muldoon responds to an advertisement recruiting “gifted children for special opportunities”, he finds himself in a world of mystery and adventure. With elements of a Potter-like struggle against evil and Dahl-ish funtastical adventure, Trenton Lee Stewart delivers a five-star gripper.

Lastly, I love to tempt parents of a certain age by pointing them at near-forgotten reading pleasures from childhood. So if you enjoyed being lost in Moominvalley long ago, you might want to enchant the next generation - Tove Jansson’s quirky Moomintroll stories are all available again.