Bolormaa BaasansurenRecensioni

My Little Round House by Bolormaa Baasansunen follows baby Jilu through her first year. Her year is defined by her yurt and the seasons.

Jilu is born in winter. She knows the warmth of the furs, the smell of the cook pot, and the circular shape of the family home.

As the seasons progress the family moves. Jilu explores the world outside her home as she grows. Soon it is time for winter again.

The book is a nice introduction to the Mongolian culture as well as the seasons. If used in a classroom setting, children could be asked to compare their own home and family life and how the seasons affect what happens at home.

Où nous suivons une famille mongole. Images un peu statiques, on apprécierait plus de détails, n'apporte rien de plus aux livres sur le même thème mais reste un bon album-doc.

Quick! Name your favorite Mongolian children's author! Can't think of one? Neither could I, before picking up Bolormaa Baasansuren's lovely My Little Round House, which follows baby Jilu through his first year of life. Born into a nomadic community, Jilu's first memories are of his time in his family's ger, and his experiences traveling with his mother, father, and grandparents to their autumn, winter, spring, and summer camps. The pastoral lifestyle, evident in the care taken with the family's lambs, and the special occasions - Tsagaan Sar (New Year's), Jilu's first birthday - all play a role in this narrative of an infant discovering the world around him...

With colorful gouache illustrations that are like a window onto another world, and a simple, but culturally accurate narrative (adapted and translated by Helen Mixter), Baasansuren's book offers western children a rare glimpse of life in her country. Interesting, both in its own right, and as the first of what will hopefully be many Mongolian children's books made available here, My Little Round House is a publishing event to celebrate!

This book looked at a way of life that many students will not know about, and that is now changing.

Baasansuren, B. (2007). The 25th hour. Monsudar, Mongolia: Admon Printing Company.

This book is written in Mongolian, which does not use the Latin alphabet. I had a little bit of trouble understanding what was happening in this story since I could not rely on the words. Also, the pictures are different from what I am used to, and I was not always sure of what they represented. The information in English about the book tells us that the children in the book are traveling to the world of storytelling during a 25th hour that was made for them by magicians. From just looking at the illustrations, it seems that some sort of extraterrestrial creatures (are they the magicians?) open the door to that 25th hour world to four children. They pass through a clock, and meet a wise old man, then start riding on flying creatures. They arrive at a wedding of two black birds, then go on riding along what seems to be shooting stars. After that, they are almost sucked into another place, but they are saved (I think) by one of the extraterrestrial creatures, and continue on their adventures where they meet sea-like creatures. Finally, they come back home through the same clock they left through.

The pictures are extremely colorful, and the colors are very vivid. There is almost nothing square. All the illustrations are rounded, and the delimitations between children, creatures and the world they are in are very crisp. This is a surprising book because it looks different to “western” eyes, but it could be used to have children imagine and tell what is happening in the book.

The style of pictures seems to be oriented towards younger children, so I would say this book would be best for ages 3 to 6.

Author illustrator Bolormaa Bassansuren offers a beautifully written and illustrated book about infant Jilu's first year in a Mongolian community of nomads. The book's title, "My Little Round House," comes from the type of house in which the family lives, a portable round house called a ger (or yurt). The story follows the family as they travel for the different seasons. This is a great book for the study of different cultures, and the different ways that people of different races and cultures live around the world.

Reviews/Awards Source Date
School Library Journal 4/1/2009