Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Siapa Alien? by Wardina Safiyyah

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

— Emilie Buchwald

Hehe.. Just thought I would review this new children's book by our very own local celebrity, Wardina Safiyyah. (Thanks to Ardi for getting my kids a signed copy.)



Title: Siapa Alien?

Author: Wardina Safiyyah

Illustrator: Uneh

Price: RM 19 (MPH)


Brief synopsis

This colourful book is about an inquisitive little alien named Ali who loves to explore and learn new things.

What I liked most about the book

I still have difficulty in finding good quality Malay books for my pre-schoolers. Most are simply English fairytales or Aisan folklore translated to Malay. So it was refreshing to find a book with its own theme and an original concept. Plus there are several additional interesting features, including little notes labelled "Soalan", "Nota" and "Fakta" to make the book more interactive. The illustrations by Uneh are suitably colourful and vibrant, drawing the child into the story.


What I disliked about the book


It's a children's book, so there is not much to dislike. My only qualm is that some of the facts are not really ones that I personally would have chosen to highlight. For example: when discussing cities, the examples given were:

"kota terbaik untuk didiami di dunia ialah Vienna, Austria. Kota tercantik terletak di Eropah seperti Paris, Venice dan Vienna"

I guess, it's good that the author tries to introduce the child to cities all over the world but for me concepts like "terbaik" and "tercantik" are relative and subjective. Perhaps a discussion on "ibu kota" (capital cities) and which cities the child would like to visit may also be an option.


Additional points


There is also a very helpful guide for parents to fully make use of the book and a very interesting Activities section at the end of the book.


Rating: 4/5

All in all a very good first effort. All the best for future endevours!

~She's right. Always dare to dream, and make the dream a reality.~
pic googled



8 comments:

lina said...

Thanks for sharing of your thoughts.

Hidayah Ismawi said...

Lina: no problem :)

Unknown said...

wah...alien pun nama Ali ke..menarik!
My latest post:Superhero sejak lahir

Anonymous said...

dengar cerita buku ni mendapat sambutan hebat...msti best

Hidayah Ismawi said...

iqbalsyarie: hehe .. tulah pasal :)

q-nizam: buku yg comel and informative.. and tak mahal sgt .. bravo to wardina

Farah Y said...

I heard the news that Wardina just published a book. Curious juga with the content. Thanks so much for the review!

Siti said...

hidayah,
can i re-publish this post in my book blog http://mesra-buku.blogspot.com, pls pretty pls? :)
thanks.

Hidayah Ismawi said...

Siti: Sure, cuma minta di-link kan balik ke page ni dan sudi2 lah tampal badge blog ni yer.. InsyaAllah akan review bnyk lagi buku.. and kalau nak amek mana2 book review yg kita dah buat sebelum ni pun silakan.. cuba jgn lupa linkkan balik ke sini :)

Saya dah tambahkan link mesrabuku itu dlm list kita :)

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