Turkey
240
Aksoy, Seza Kutlar (text)
Ceylan, Saadet (illus.)
Noktacık <proper name>
İzmir: Tudem, 2008. – [30] p.
ISBN 978-9944-69-207-6
Family – Divorce – Love – Loneliness
Noktac8k is actually a happy
girl. Life could be nice if only she were not so sad about her parents’
divorce. She believes she is the reason that the family no longer lives
together. She tells a squirrel of her sorrows and becomes its friend. The
bubbly animal cheers her up and convinces her that being at home at two
places could also be nice. She should enjoy the good things and moments with
both parents, music with her father, for instance, and painting with her
mother. So Noktac8k gradually learns to cope with her situation and to
overcome her sadness. This picture book fills an important void. It gently
and humorously approaches a topic that has until now received little notice
in Turkish children’s literature. (5+)
241
Erdogan, Fatih
Sihirli Gözlük (The magic glasses)
İstanbul: Mavibulut, 2007. – 160 p.
(Sihirli dizi; 6)
ISBN 978-975-310-071-7
Glasses – Magic
Glasses wearers don’t always
have it easy. Not only do they look bad; glasses are annoying and sometimes
encourage teasing. Emre, too, must wear glasses at school as well as at
home. Even with his new glasses, he has a mishap. While playing with a
valuable ring of his mother’s, a stone falls out of it and is lost. After
that, he gets a supposedly even better pair of glasses – and they turn out
to possess real magic powers! When a pine cone falls on his head, Emre can
suddenly see hidden things, and so he finds the lost precious stone again.
Fatih Erdogan’s entertaining everyday life story, tinged with fantastical
elements, is also a cheer-up story for young boys and girls with glasses.
(8+)
242
Kocagöz, Halil
Ötlegen kuşu (The singing bird)
İstanbul: Boyut Kitapları, 2007. – 160 p.
ISBN 975-23-0167-3
(Boyut temel kitaplar dizisi)
ISBN 978-975-23-0167-2
Turkey/1940s – Country life – Childhood memory
In this book, the first-person
narrator describes episodes from his childhood and youth in the Turkish
countryside from his adult perspective. The thirteen short stories compile a
happy picture of an intact, whole world around the year 1940, which today no
longer exists. The stories are entertaining and tinged with a light
nostalgic, wistful tone; they portray the past in a positive light, without
glorifying it. Halil Kocagöz describes mundane events: the secret
infatuation with a girl from a neighbouring village, the first drive with
his father to the nearby city, or lovingly raising a bird that fell out of a
nest, are examples of these lively childhood memories. (8+)
243
Kutlu, Mustafa (text)
Hemmatirad, Reza (illus.)
Yıldız tozu (A star for Kenan)
İstanbul: Erdem Yay8nlar8, 2007. – 62 p.
(Günümüz çocuk edebiyatı dizisi; 1) (Erdem Yayınları; 437)
ISBN 978-975-501-415-9
Siblings – Accident – Hope – Soccer
The two stories in this volume
portray the experiences and feelings of two boys in a simple, comprehensible
way. Kenan is fascinated by stars and observes the sky every night. One
night, after his little brother has had a bike accident and Kenan is very
worried about him, he sees a star fall from the sky. At the last second, he
catches it. The star tells him that he is the star of his brother, whose
life now has also been saved. When he throws the star back into the sky,
Kenan already senses that his brother will become healthy again. The second
story is more cheerful in tone. It is about a boy who loves to play soccer
and is willing to give all he’s got to be the best player on his team.
(8+)
244
Neydim, Necdet (text)
Aral, Suzan (illus.)
Sen ıslık çalmayı bilir misin? Şiirler (Can you whistle? Poems)
İstanbul: Günısığı Kitaplığı, 2008. – 85 p.
(Çocuk Şiir; 1)
ISBN 978-975-6227-95-4
Everyday life – Family – School – Poetry
The nearly fifty poems in this volume throw little spot lights on to the life of Turkish children. The poems brush close to everyday reality and thus produce a multi-faceted picture of childhood in Turkey today. The concern is primarily with interpersonal relationships: life in the family, which is not always without problems, being together at school, friendship, and social differences. In also taking on serious notes, the poems take children with their feelings, questions and worries seriously and build bridges that permit them to recognize themselves in the verses. The poems, which are kept to a clear, straight-forward, child-appropriate language, consider the perspective of young readers and in this way gain an authentic tone. (6+)