| Books |
|
|||
| Those
well-loved stories of childhood Kumara Gee contains classic compositions by the author who excelled in writing verse for children. His imagination was inconceivable. The language he used was so simple that one wonders how those words in day-to-day usage could have such an effect. Many decades ago, as children we recited Ha Ha Hari Haava - Kele Medin Ava - Hitagena Ganga Gava - Vata Pita Ahe Leva. The picture is painted vividly in our minds; The hare comes through the middle of the forest, stands by the river and looks around. A simple lyric, yet so effective. The actions of the hare were described in eight simple verses and the child who had just gone to school found them most interesting. Memorizing them didn't require much effort. The set of verses on Haavage Vaga (Hare's doings) describes how a dog appears and starts sniffing out the hare. Beautifully illustrated by Sarlis Master, the book contains eye-catching drawings. These verses first appeared in Kiyavana Nuvana - the first reader written by Cumaratunga Munidasa. In the first reader he used basic things that the child looks at everyday. What the crow sees early morning is presented in the form of a simple dialogue between the crow and a small child, who is prompted to get up early and study. In Mal Bas, the admirer of the flower wonders whether there is a flower within a flower but soon realizes it's a butterfly. Maha Pudumeki - Maleka Maleki - Nehe Ehi Saki - Samanlayeki - a lovely play of words! The story of the elephant in Goda Atha Loku Satha is fascinating. In six verses he describes the key features of the elephant. Kang Uge - Kulu Vage - Dala Dige - Ul Age is how he explains the elephant's ears and tusks. The ears are big like the kulla - the winnowing fan - and the tusks are sharp. Enga Thadyi - Loku Vedyi - Esa Podyi - Hama Dedyi helps the child visualize its physical features - the body is huge, it's too big, the eyes are small and the skin is rough. The story of sour grapes in Aesop's Fables is presented as a lesson to the little ones on how the weak find excuses when they cannot achieve what they want. Through Verivu Meeya - the drunken rat - he teaches the need for us to refrain from boasting about the things we cannot do. C. T. Fernando is sure to have been influenced by Kirillakage Vipakaya to compose his popular song Pinsuduwanne Ane Bala Lamunne. It's the lament of the mother bird on seeing its nest on the ground. It's also an appeal to little children to refrain from being cruel. Nelavilla, the lullaby written by Cumaratunga Munidasa has been hailed by critics as an outstanding creation which can be rated as a world classic. Maestro Amaradeva has turned it into the lilting melody Handapane Velithala. The poem appeared in Shiksha Margaya - the third reader. A Visidunu publication, Kumara Gee contains 56 compositions written by the master, for students up to Grade 7. An influential figure in the literary landscape as the country approached independence, Cumaratunga Munidasa formed the Hela Havula in 1941 as a movement to promote a 'pure' Sinhala language. He was well versed in Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit and was also proficient in Tamil and Malayalam as well as English, Latin and Greek. Born at Dikwella on July 25, 1887, he read his first letters at Dikwella Buddhist School and later joined St. Thomas' College, Matara. Having been under the tutelage of Ven. Kahawe Ananda, he entered the Government Training College and passed out as a teacher. In 1917, he was promoted an inspector of schools but he didn't continue for long because of his interest in working towards the progress of Sinhala language and literature. He took a keen interest in children's literature and in addition to Kumara Gee, wrote highly acclaimed books like Hath Pana and Heen Seraya. Prabanda Sangrahaya, comprising a collection of his creations was dedicated to children. He re-started the newspaper Lak Mini Pahana and laun-ched the magazine - Subasa to further his efforts to promote the Sinhala language. Until his death on March 25, 1944, he contributed much towards the national resurgence movement that was building up. Ranat Heart-warming
poetry Adding in lighter vein that her mother could not have been a particularly good child herself, she spoke with obvious admiration of a woman who not only did much for Lankan drama and literature, but was also a wonderful person. Born in Matara, Wendy Whatmore began writing poetry at the age of nine, and was a frequent contributor to the Junior Page of the weekly newspapers. Educated at Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, many remember how actively involved she was in the 75th anniversary publication of her alma mater. On leaving school,
she took up a career in speech and drama and founded the Wendy Whatmore
Academy in 1940, the pioneer in speech teaching in Sri Lanka. She
was also the first in the Far East to receive a fellowship of the
Trinity College of London. To help readers better enjoy the wealth of poetry in this book, as well as teachers who may want to use it in their work, the poems have been graded into three categories by the author. The sections contain poems for enjoyment, those that could be used in speech training, and another segment with poetry especially for dramatization, mime and choral speech. With lovely illustrations by Rangika Karunaratne accompanying the heartwarming poetry, 'The Heart of a Child' is a must-own for children and speech teachers alike. It is priced at Rs. 300 and is available at the Wendy Whatmore Academy, 13th Lane, Colombo 3. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
