Book of the month: 冰雪公主 The Snow Princess

Have you noticed I seldom introduce Chinese books in my blog? One of the very reason is that Little One speaks Chinese at home and I think it is better to brush up her English by borrowing or buying more English books. This month, however, I would like to introduce a Chinese book ,another favorite bedtime story which Little One likes, titled 冰雪公主. This is a Chinese storybook which I had bought from Grassroots Book Room. A personal favorite of mine when I want to search for Chinese books for Little One as it sells mainly Chinese books. This book was chosen by Little One herself. Tell me which girl does not like princesses?  冰雪公主 埃米莉·霍金斯著 ; 丽莎·埃文斯绘 ; 霍霍译.This book, I find, suitable for pre-schoolers and lower primary. It is actually translated from the English version, The Snow Princess by Emily Hawkins, illustrated by Lisa Evans.
Synopsis
Cursed with a fragile heart of ice, a young princess was sent to live alone in a snow palace. One prince after another tried to save the princess and win her hand in marriage, but every one of them failed. It was only when she started to appreciate the love and friendship right under her nose that the princess found the power to break the curse. _____________________________ Review Personally, I like the story. Although the starting was pretty sad to know that the young princess had to live in a cold palace at the top of the mountain all by herself. But hope and love is always within reach.  That is the morale of the story. This is one of Little One's favorite. Otherwise she will not keep asking me to repeat the story night after night. What I like about this story is also the illustrations. They are beautiful. It is no wonder that it captures Little One's attention when she first saw it. You may want to take a peep here for the illustrations. This is not the first time we were exposed to the illustrator's work. We read The Nutcracker by Emma Goldhawk earlier this year which was also illustrated by Lisa Evans. The book is rather textured, very similar to some textured book you see in baby books. Almost all the pages have some textured features. I am referring to the snowflakes, flowers , vines. It seemed that the Spot UV technique is used but I can't be sure. For the cover, a coarser texture is used. It looked like sparkled glue is used but it is not. haha... it seemed that the book made me very interested to know how the textures are done. If you are interested in reading the book, you may want to check with Grassroots. Otherwise, you may want to borrow from the library. I may try to borrow the English version. :) Link as below:

http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/EXPNOS/BIBENQ/4485355/75398516,1 Chinese

http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/EXPNOS/BIBENQ/4485504/3949951,14 English

http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/EXPNOS/BIBENQ/4485719/257009,10 (Nutcracker)

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Little One's Participation in Qing Ming Festival- All soul's day

    清明

清明時節雨紛紛, 路上行人欲斷魂,借問酒家何處有, 牧童遙指杏花村                                     

 - 杜牧

Every Qing Ming or Ching Ming (also known as Chinese Tomb Sweeping Festival), I will recall this poem in my head over and over again. It describes the sorrowful feelings of those who are praying to their deceased ancestors. Every year, I feel the same way.

Usually, Qing Ming falls on 5th Apr, it is on the 104th day from Winter Solstice. What most Chinese do is that they would pray to the ancestors, sweep tombs, make their offerings such as food and wine. Joss money and luxury items such as house, cars (all made form paper) may be burnt to the deceased. The Chinese believe that the deceased would need these afterlife.  In Singapore, land is scarce, cremation is more common than burial. Many cemeteries have given way to redevelopment. Hence, for most Singaporean, prayers and offerings are made at columbarium or temples where the ashes or memorial tablets are kept.

Peck San Theng Columbarium 

Temporary tents are set up for people to make their offerings to the deseased.

This year is special for me because we get to bring little one to pray to our deceased close relatives for the first time. In the past, we have avoided doing so because burning offerings to ancestors can get quite smoky when every one are burning at the same time. It is also not good  for the little one's health to breath in so much smoke. This year, we think it is time to do so. For the first time, little one paid respect to her deceased relatives using joss sticks. I introduced her the deceased relatives one by one. She looked at the urns without asking much questions.

Some of the things Chinese burn for the deceased.

I have once heard if one does not pay respect to their elderly when they are alive, what sense does it make to pay respect only when they are dead? I personally feel the same. Hence, often encouraging our little one to go visit her grandparents with us. By introducing her to our Qing Ming culture, I hope she would be able to appreciate the Chinese culture and remember who her ancestors are. Yes, slowly I would be teaching her about her roots. Who these ancestors are, so that she would remember, without them, there would not be Papa and Mama. Without Papa and Mama, there would not be her.

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The Golden Apple (Positive Values to instil your kids with)

I had been disappeared for about half a year due to very hectic work life and could not really find a work life balance. Yes, finally I threw in the towel especially after knowing my kid's childcare is going to increase school fee. I have decided to be a SAHM again. Yeah!!! 

This month is the month of giving. There are a lot of activities going on to bring kids around. Besides, live shows in Shopping Malls, Children's Performances at various Theatres, I brought my girl to an 1 hour programme in Queenstown Library. The Golden Apple (Chinese Drama Performance for kids 4-12 years old.) This is highly recommended.