We recently received some lovely books from Epigram Books, and Noah was really thrilled to have more new books to read. So glad that he’s such a bookaholic like us! He goes through phases where he wants me to read the same book to him over and over again, so I thought I’d review The Amazing Sarong, since it’s his most recent favourite book.
Noah has never seen a sarong before, I think, so he was quite fascinated by this large piece of cloth that had so many functions. In fact, he’s been asking me where we can get a sarong, and I’ve promised him that we can look for one soon. I suspect he wants to try and look for kittens in trees to rescue with the sarong, because he loves that part of the book best, and he’s also been asking if he can have a cat for a pet. Oh dear.
Books are a great way to introduce new items and concepts to children (and I daresay adults as well), so we both got to learn about the different ways in which we can use sarongs. I love how beautiful the fabric is, and how the children are so creative in using the sarong to do so many things. Goes to show that children don’t really need toys, and can improvise with whatever they’ve got!
Noah has been asking me many questions after the first time we read the book, although many of them weren’t directly related to the sarong, but more about the illustrations in the book. For example, he wanted to know where Putra, Nora’s younger brother was, when Ibu unties the baby sling to let Nora use the sarong as a turban, and why Adi, Nora’s older brother, didn’t need to wear the sarong as a turban to the beach. He has also been asking me to make some kueh keria for him to try!
I think the illustrations really appeal to him, because he spends a lot of time examining the pictures whenever we read the book together, and even when I’m too busy to read to him, he would sit quietly just looking at the pictures. To me, that’s a mark of a good picture book for children, because it stimulates his thought process, and makes him curious enough to want to know more about the characters in the book.
Posing with the book so that I would read it to him again
The Amazing Sarong
Books about our local culture are rather difficult to find, so The Amazing Sarong is a good read, especially if you use it as a platform to introduce the Malay culture to your children. There are plenty of follow-up activities you can do with the sarong, and in fact, you can try out all the different things that the children in the book do with the sarong (except maybe rescue a kitten)! I don’t think you’d be able to find rambutan trees around either, but maybe you can improvise and use it to carry apples from the market instead? Do support local authors, and get a copy of The Amazing Sarong for your own personal library, because it’s definitely worth having your own copy.
Happy reading!
Buy the Book The Amazing Sarong on Epigram Books
Check out the previous Friday Flips posts HERE. I’ve also created a photo album on Facebook with some other good reads, and will be updating it whenever I come across more books that we enjoy. Do pop by for a look HERE.
Disclaimer: We received a copy of The Amazing Sarong for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are, as always, our own.
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GIVEAWAY TIME
We have THREE sets of ‘The Amazing Sarong‘ and an actual sarong to be given to three lucky readers of Growing with the Tans! Do note that the prizes are to be collected directly from the Epigram Books office. To participate, please complete the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and conditions apply.
Terms and Conditions: This giveaway will end on Friday, 4th March 2016, at 2359h, and is open to Singapore residents only. Winners will be contacted via the particulars provided when entering this giveaway, and will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be selected. All incomplete entries will be disqualified, and all entries will be verified before the winner is announced. Prizes are to be collected directly from the Epigrams Book Office, located at 1008 Toa Payoh North #03-08 Singapore 318996. To be fair to our sponsor, please note that all fake Facebook accounts (accounts set up purely to take part in contests, with no or very few real friends), will be disqualified. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
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