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January 25, 2004
Review: Poems with a message
RESPECTING our elders, apologizing for a mistake, showing kindness to others and thanking God for his blessing are a part of the value system that we try to inculcate in our children. These little gestures make life pleasant and go a long way in shaping the characters of children. Nilofer Sultana attempts to address these issues through her poems compiled in her book Little Stars. By taking up these topics she tries to influence young minds.
Thus the poem “God is Great” speaks of God’s mercies and Greatness while “Mother” pays tribute to the woman who gives birth to children and gives them love and care. The poet uses simple words so that they can be easily understood by children.
The poem “Sorry”, talks of tolerance — a subject that we actually need to teach our children. Here Sultana tells a tale of two friends in the form of a monologue in which a little boy talks of a quarrel that he had with his friend. It goes as follows:
It is a dark night
With my dear friend
I had a big fight
If he were wrong
I too was not right
The poem shows the child pondering his actions and in a very subtle way puts forth the message, that we need to be tolerant even when we know that the other person is wrong. We need to give people space and love and accept them as they are. Conflict is not the answer to our problems. It only leads to pain.
The poems highlight the beauty of nature, (“Trees” and “A hill”), the seasons, (but autumn has intriguingly been left out), and patriotism (“My country”). The poems are mainly for a pre-teens readership. Some aspects require greater attention such as the layout and design, the style and diction and the rhyme and the rhythm. Typographical errors, the bane of our publishing industry, mar the quality of the book in places. It is interesting that a professor of economics should be writing poems for children.
Little Stars: Poems for Tiny Tots
By Nilofer Sultana
National Book Foundation, Islamabad
25pp. Rs16
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