Caged Birds of Phnom Penh ANNOTATION
A young Cambodian girl saves her money to buy a bird on which to make a wish for her poor family's future.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Rendered in watercolor and gouache over pencil, Himler's (Fly Away Home) softly focused portraits of a winning young heroine carry readers through a few of Lipp's (That Cat Is Not for Sale) wordier passages. Though eight-year-old Ary has heard about the rural rice fields where birds fly free, she lives in the Cambodian capital where the "yellow winds grew gray. Gray winds were difficult to breathe." The only birds she knows are "prisoners" in the cage of the bird lady, who sells them to tourists. After the girl uses her savings to purchase a bird, she sets it free since, according to local custom, giving a caged bird its freedom makes wishes come true. But her bird immediately returns to the safety of the cage. On a second attempt, after considering advice from her grandfather, she purchases a sickly bird that "held a secret long forgotten by the other birds." This one soars into the sky and on to freedom. The author includes some heavy-handed imagery ("This is our cage, Ary thought, as she lay her head on the mat"), but his thought-provoking, open-ended conclusion shows the tale in a new light. Himler's appealing art conveys the girl's changeable emotions as well as the heroine's intelligence and optimism as she interacts with the world around her. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature
Ary feels as trapped in the crowded, polluted city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as the little birds kept caged by the bird lady. According to custom, the birds are purchased and set free to make wishes come true. But the first bird Ary buys for her hard-earned money returns to the cage, and her hopes are hard to sustain. Finally, Ary purchases another bird that seems to take her wishes for herself and her family out beyond the city to the rice fields and the open sky. Ary, whose name means "knowledge," feels that in some way her wishes will come true. The story offers both a realistic picture of the difficult life of a poor family in Phnom Penh and a hopeful outlook for the future. In Himler's jacket illustration of Ary staring into the cage of colorful birds we feel her concentration and spiritual strength. The double pages offer naturalistic scenes with colors that suggest the contrast between the lush rice fields and the city's somber streets. More by suggestion than by details, the watercolor and gouache-over-pencil illustrations are effective in helping us come closer to another lifestyle, while incorporating universal characteristics of the spiritual struggle of Ary, a character we care about. 2001, Holiday House, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-Although she has spent all of her life in Phnom Penh, eight-year-old Ary has heard stories about the green countryside where rice grows and where birds fly free. She dreams about escaping from the polluted city where she and her family live in poverty. One morning, she takes the money that she has earned by selling flowers and goes to the marketplace, intending to buy a bird from the bird lady's cage. According to custom, if the bird flies free, her wish will come true. She chooses one, holds it tight while she makes a wish for her family, and then releases it. The girl is bitterly disappointed when it circles overhead and then returns to perch on the woman's finger. Feeling as though she has been tricked, Ary consults her grandfather, who tells her that it is important not to pick just any bird when making wishes. She saves more money and watches the bird lady carefully. One day, she sees the woman putting a new bird in the cage. Ary picks this bird and watches it fly out of sight, knowing that some day her dreams will come true. The outstanding watercolor-and-gouache illustrations capture many different kinds of light, such as the yellow light of the country, the gray light of the streets, and the dark of the family's home. Text and art work well together, providing an excellent window into another culture.-Anne Parker, Milton Public Library, MA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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