2011 is Year of the Rabbit

Last week I was shopping around for a bilingual Chinese + English children's book for my future niece. It's technically my first cousin's daughter but in my family we call practically every female relation and non-relation 'cousin' or 'aunt'.

I came across a wonderful and unique story Monkey and Rabbit Together retold by Dr. Mike Lockett and illustrated by Ming-Jen Hsu.

The story is based on an African folktale about two friends faced with each other's bad habits. A monkey and rabbit have a contest to see who can sit still the longest without exhibiting any of their bad habits. Monkey has a bad habit of scratching while Rabbit sniffs constantly. While telling stories to pass the time, both Monkey and Rabbit can't help but fall back into their old behavior. By the end of the story the two friends learn to accept the other's 'annoying' habits with humor. The tale is a simple and genuine lesson about friendship.

Hsu's illustrations are wonderfully drawn. The animals' facial expressions crack me up. I especially liked his addition of animals joining in during their contest.

An audio CD comes with the book to help kids follow the story on their own. Monkey and Rabbit is in a bilingual format with English on one side and when flipped over, Chinese is on the other side.

Nobody's Fool

Last week I went to Yoshitomo Nara's exhibit, Nobody's Fool, at the Asia Society Museum in the UES. This is his first extensive exhibit in New York - it made up 2 floors at the museum and included more than one hundred works. Besides his drawings and paintings, I never realized he made sculptures, ceramics and large scale installations.

My favorites, and I'm sure many people feel the same, are of the little girl with attitude. They are so often humorous and expressive, but always honest and insightful. He's influenced by punk and rock music and like that genre, his work conveys feelings of frustration, anger, and loneliness of the generation. I loved going up close and examining his paintings - the colors are so lush, almost edible, and they have such a smooth, creamy texture.

His installations are very inviting. The one of a dollhouse, I wanted to crawl into the space and look at everything on each wall! In another room, the installation was of a Japanese style home. He had murals blocked off by a wooden wall with windows cut out at different heights and locations along it. At certain distances, the cut outs give only a small window view of the entire painting. Another memorable installation was comprised of small rooms with doors. Behind every door was a painting or object inside. Each was a surprise and evoked a particular emotion for me. I thought this was very well done.

If you have time please go and check out Nobody's Fool - it is worth the trip. The exhibit will be up until January 2, 2011.

Nara also has a wonderful children's book, The Lonesome Puppy, which you can find in the museum shop.