The book is about the sinking of the supertanker, the Amoco Cadiz, that sank off the coast of Brittany in France in March 1978, spilling 227000 tonnes of oil into the ocean. The story is narrated from the point of view of a little child, Yann, who belongs to a fisherman’s family.
It’s a stunning book that talks about a momentous event in history; the first step on the Moon. You must be wondering what’s so unique. The story is told from the eye of a young girl. June is waiting for her baby brother’s little steps to land whereas everyone else in the world is waiting for the astronauts to walk on the Moon.
What everyone will love about this story is the simplicity with which the story has been written, from a child’s point of view. What the child felt about his father’s arrest, about the British government and most importantly about Gandhiji – the fact that he was the person who could oppose the British authorities – all are wonderfully described by the author.
This book shows how the love and warmth of Mother Earth embraces everyone, while making sure that its beauty and serenity are not muddled and destroyed by people’s desires and greed to own it.
The first thing about ‘The Great Big Lion’ that took me by surprise was that it was written as well as illustrated by a 3 year old Mensa prodigy, Chryseis Knight. The art work and the level of detail gone into lion’s mane alone is exemplary. The bright board book caught eyes of my 3 year old instantly and I saw him flipping through the pages intently.
Decked up with beautiful rich Manipuri art, these stories of myths and legends are unique and quirky. For children, it transports them to far away lands, with myriad Gods and twists and turns from mountains to oceans. For the adults, it is pure joy, to rediscover the reason why a cat always buries its poop, and mother hen looks after sister duck’s eggs.
