Author & Illustrators
Tiny Owl’s ‘One Story, Many Voices’ range celebrates a rich global heritage of story-telling. It explores how many stories from around the world have their own flavour but also striking similarities. Sufiya Ahmed’s recent addition to the series, Under The Great Plum Tree, is based upon the stories of the Panchatantra, a collection of ancient Indian animal fables.
Miss Bandari, the kind-hearted monkey, and Mr Magarmach, an old crocodile who likes to tell stories of his youth, have become unlikely friends. Each day they meet under a plum tree to share fruit and tales. Until the day when Mr Magarmach decides to take Miss Bandari for lunch at King Crocodile’s swamp. Will they just enjoy a nice meal together or is King Crocodile trying to manipulate their friendship to get his own tasty lunch?
This is a beautifully written picture book about the nature of friendship and forgiveness. It would be a wonderful text for exploration and discussion relating to work in PHSE or Philosophy for Children. It could form the basis of a debate on the importance of forgiveness in friendships and family relationships. Due to the underlying message of Under The Great Plum Tree, it also could be used for comparing/contrasting with fables from other traditions.
Reza Dalvand’s strikingly vibrant illustrations are inspired by Indo-Persian tradition. The depiction of the lush foliage in the jungle lends itself well to the study of shapes found in nature. The use of pattern and marking would make a great stimulus for exploration in sketchbooks.
I absolutely loved Under The Great Plum Tree and think it’s a must for traditional tale collections!
I have the right is the perfect companion text to any KS1 lesson around the ‘Rights of the Child’. It simply states an affirmation on each two page spread and illustrates this with a bright, bold and powerful image which is ideal to share and discuss with a class.
Although the images appear to be quite simple in style and contain as many adults in parts as children, Reza Dalvand’s illustrations captivate and draw your attention directly towards the child or children in each image; challenging you to see things from their perspective. A perfect example of this is ‘I have the right to be protected from violence’. There are adults fighting and shouting in three corners of the page but in the bottom right hand corner is a father with a child and both are looking attentively at one another as if the dad is shielding the baby from what is happening around them. You can almost feel the love and protection flowing between them.
The book does not shy away from some of the more challenging parts of the UN Convention; for example, there are two pages which are predominantly orange and have black smoke rising from (what we can assume to be) recently bombed buildings with a line of children raising white flags to illustrate ‘I have the right not to be forced to fight wars’. It is also equally filled with such joy and care, ending with the most important of all the affirmations; I have the right to be loved.
This book is suitable to have as a part of a KS1 or KS2 PSHE library and could certainly be used as a stimulus for discussion in EYFS as well.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments