Saturday, January 24, 2015

A Moat is Not a Goat - a bookwrap





Unwrapping hope and inspiration for girls only....











Unwrapping the gift of empowerment and wisdom .... 


"A Moat is Not a Goat: Poems for Clever Little Girls"
Authored by:  Elsa Takaoka
Illustrated by:  Fanny Liem








Elsa Takaoka has compiled 13 poems, each beautifully illustrated, and geared specifically toward the female gender.  Full of vibrant, colourful pictures this book is not only entertaining but has underlying messages to teach and expand the intelligence and worthiness of a girl.  The illustrations show a diversity of girls,  some dressed up, some dressed down....being who they are created to be...and genuinely liking their creation. They are happy, confident and powerful in their roles.   Each poem contains a message to strengthen their minds, expand their possibilities and to boost their self-worth.

Written in rhyme, this book touches on such subjects as: messing up, as in the poem "Snippety-Snip" . The little girl cuts her long locks and makes a very blatant error in her design.  Rather than fret and freak about her blunder her response is....'uh-oh, I'll wear a hat.'  Problem solving at its best!  

In the poem "The Mollusk's Daughters", a very valuable lesson is learned from a tiny, humble minnow who imparts his wisdom to the competitive gaggle of me-first girls, "For beauty comes not from what you see but what you do and say." Sound advice indeed. 

 I particularly like, "Sniffle, Sniffle"....  maybe feigning sickness is not such a good idea to get a day off of school.  Mom allows her daughter to stay home but makes her stay in bed all day.  After all she says she is sick right? Bedridden for the day she shall be declares mom! Well that is not exactly the plan that the little drama-queen had in mind.  She is foiled by a wise mom intervention!  The expressions on the little girl's face are priceless and perfect!

This book is a winner and delightfully engaging to girls of all ages. I would however recommend it for girls ages 4-10.  



Unwrapping the beautiful, whimsical artwork in the book....

















A country girl at heart, with fond memories of the dark desert sky, purple mountains and freshly cut alfalfa field in her hometown of Blythe, California, budding author Elsa Takaoka puts her pen to paper and creates wonderful tales for children.  Spinning words with natural creativity, Elsa discovered her love of language at a very early age. 

She then pursued a career in Speech Language Pathology and English as a Second Language until the birth of her first daughter. Reading to her own little girls sparked her whimsical journey through children’s literature and dropped one more goal into her bucket list.

Her dream to write and publish a picture book was achieved with Goo and Spot and The Do Not Wiggle Riddle, her first of many books to come. Currently, Elsa lives in Fukuoka, Japan with her sources of inspiration- her loving husband and their two adorable little girls.



Meet the Illustrator- A self-taught genius!

Fanny Liem is a freelance artist from Jakarta, Indonesia who became captivated with art at a very young age. She credits her talented father for passing on the love of artistic creation. Driven by grit and passion, Fanny learned about digital art on her own, redefining her hobby of drawing to a budding career in children’s illustrations. Fanny also taps her feet while enjoying American Country music.

Read on and read always!

It's a wrap.


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