From Publishers Weekly
In a bustling town in contemporary India, a handful of adults face their "first day" in their chosen pursuits. The title character, who has just "given away everything he owned to lead the holy life of a sanyasin," sits under a tree with an empty bowl, and hopes that someone will fill it. On her first day as a plumber, a woman arrives at Mrs. Krishnan's house, anxious to do a good job installing a new kitchen sink. There is also a rookie traffic cop, and a farmer bringing rice to town for the first time. Shank, himself a first-time author (and the husband of Crescent Dragonwagon), brings some of these characters into contact with one another: the policeman tells the farmer where to sell her rice; the farmer's first customer is Mrs. Krishnan. The rookies make mistakes, but the mistakes prove advantageous. For example, the faucet of Mrs. Krishan's new sink fills her rice pot too rapidly, and as the plumber adjusts the water pressure, Mrs. Krishnan simply makes extra rice, which she brings to her son at school; her son later gives his leftover rice to the sanyasin. The story feels contrived and takes too long to get moving, but the atmosphere is vivid and may compensate for the abstract plot. Stock (Emma's Dragon Hunt), too, is more effective with her panoramas and exotic street scenes than with her portraits of individuals. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Grade 1-3-It is the first day in their chosen vocations for a sanyasin (holy man), a female plumber, a traffic policeman, and a female farmer in modern-day India. Each will be happy by day's end, their lives unknowingly woven together by Mrs. Krishnan, who hires the plumber to fix her sink, buys the farmer's rice at the market, feeds some to the plumber, and takes some to her son at school. The boy, in turn, puts a helping in the sanyasin's bowl. The traffic policeman directs them all as they make their way through the bustling town. The plot is contrived and somewhat inauthentic; it would be unusual to find a female plumber, a pleasant traffic cop, and Indians who line up rather than swarm around a rice seller. Nevertheless, the author's rich detail, whether describing the traffic policeman's uniform or the bustling market, its stalls filled with "...limes, chilies, mangoes...spatulas and rice cookers," gives an intimate look at another culture. The narrative is matched by Stock's bright, busy watercolors that invite readers to find the people and objects described in the text.
Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
