Common Sense Media Review
Lyrical slice-of-life from rural Thailand.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Noi's life changed when the land her family rented and farmed was sold to a developer of vacation houses for foreigners. Now they are barely getting by on her father's part-time job as a bricklayer, her mother's work sewing mosquito nets, and her grandmother's painted umbrellas, sold to tourists at the market. So Ting, Noi's older sister, is sent to work in a local factory, making radios.
The factory is not brutal, but it is long hours six days a week for little pay, performing repetitive tasks that strain the eyes, exhaust the body, and dull the soul. Noi is terrified that she will soon have to join her sister at the factory. Her one hope is to learn her grandmother's art of umbrella painting well enough to be able to sell to the tourist trade.
Is It Any Good?
Though rather slow, and with a heroine who can be maddeningly timid in getting to the easily predicted solution, this gentle little book is also satisfying and, at times, fascinating. The author paints a vivid picture of Noi's life, including customs, holidays, and the occasional word (glossary at the back). Equally vivid are the descriptions of Noi's creative process in learning to paint delicate plants and animals onto the silk umbrellas that foreign tourists snap up at bargain prices in the market.
Author Carolyn Marsden refrains from stacking the deck. This is not a polemic, just a picture of a difficult life far away from those of her readers. The small victories enable life to go on and be marginally bearable, and the love of family makes it more than that. This delicate book will not be to every child's taste, but some young readers will identify with Noi and cheer for her success.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the impoverished people who work at factory jobs to contribute to America's consumer lifestyle. Have you ever given much thought to who makes the products you enjoy? How do you feel about buying the kind of tourist goods Noi works on? Is it exploiting cheap labor or supporting needy people?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Family Life
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Candlewick Press
- Publication date : March 13, 2005
- Number of pages : 134
- Last updated : September 22, 2015
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate