Book Talk Tuesday - Miss Rumphius 花婆婆 REVIEW & GIVEAWAY!

In 'simplicity', there too can be 'beauty'. That was basically what went through my mind when I first read this title in English as part of the FIAR series. This simple and personal story also won the American Book of the Year award in the year of its publication.

:: The story 

Miss Rumphius, otherwise known as 花婆婆 in this Chinese title, is told through the eyes of a little girl (her grand niece). Miss Rumphius grew up in America where her grandfather was a migrant and an artist who painted occasionally. Miss Rumphius' early memories of her grandfather were those of evenings spent on her grandfather's laps as he reminisced his younger days and regaled his adventures with the young Miss Rumphius. That fueled Miss Rumphius' interest in travelling and she told him that she too, would travel when she is older. 

"很好，“ 爷爷笑着说， ”但是， 你一定要记得做第三件事。”
”什么事？“艾莉丝问。
”做一件让世界变得更美丽的事." 

"That is all very well, little Alice," said her grandfather, "but there is a third thing you must do." 

"What is that?" asked Alice.

"You must do something to make the world more beautiful," said her grandfather. 

And so Miss Rumphius did the two tasks (out of three) that she told the grandfather she would. She visited the countries and places which she wanted to and, stayed in a house by the sea. When it came to the third task, she was stuck. She pondered over this question for the longest time, "what can I do to make the world more beautiful?" 

:: The Illustration
Dumpling and I enjoyed the various scenes from Miss Rumphius' travels in the book. From the icy snow caps to her tropical adventures, each page brings on a different 'delight'. 





The colours are rich and vivid, and the layout, interesting. Many pages have an "overlapping" format where the illustrations would 'bleed' into another page with small "scenes" either above or below the text. :) It is no surprise to know that Babara Cooney (both the author and illustrator) has illustrated over a hundred books with 2 Caldecott Award Winners to her name. The art for Miss Rumphius has a permanent home in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.



Author & Illustrator: Babara Cooney 
No. of Pages: 32
Age Group: From 5YO (as a readaloud), 7 for reading independently 

Delicately woven with a lovely message, I am excited to share that Read with Me Mommy is sponsoring one copy of this title for a giveaway. :)

Earn credits using Rafflecopter below 

(Please share on what you can do to make the world more beautiful in the comment section. Do remember to also leave your email address in the section too):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 (For Singapore residents only)

The more credits you earn, the higher your chances! :)

That's not all! Just for Beanie N Us readers, you stand to enjoy a 10% savings when you key in this code BEANIENUS at the checkout! 

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