Kampung Boy (utgåvan 2006)

A swift and subtle look at a particular and universal childhood. The details from 1950's rural Malaysia are a world away from Western city life, but the themes and experiences remain familiar. A deft, sly touch in the art and pacing makes this the classic it is known it be. ( )

Malaysia. The first in a series by a Malaysian cartoonist. It covers his life from his birth to his departure for boarding school in Ipoh. His life is filled with fishing and swimming with the Meor boys, learning the Koran in school and family functions such as weddings and his own circumcision at age 10. He senses his agricultural village on the verge of change, as tin mines and factory jobs slowly take over.

The story is biographical of the author's life growing up in the 1950s. It is part of a series. I really did not like the drawings and being a graphic novel, the drawings are as important as the text. He looked like an animal or ape instead of a boy. Just wasn't very impressed with the story. Had to read it for an International Children's Literature class. ( )

The black and white graphics of this book are engaging. Children of all ages would enjoy this book. It has a global message about modernization and industrialization. The book can be used to teach world geography, world religion, and cultures.

Loved this for the details of village life in Malaysia the 1950s--things you can't get elsewhere, you can get in this graphic novel. Pictures of how a kitchen is set up, or a hammock rigged up so that Lat can rock his baby sister--or, later, a picture of him pulling his little brother along on a palm leaf frond. His dad shows him a weaver bird nest and says that weaver birds put fireflies in them to light up the insides. I checked this out online, and it's a widespread belief--people say this in India, too--but I guess it's something ornithologist have never actually seen, not for real. But anyway, little stories like that, I love. I liked everything about this book. ( )