When Gecko complains to Raden, the jungle’s chief and a lion, about the fireflies that are keeping him awake, he sets in motion a string of complaints as each culprit of one animal’s complaint blames his actions on another’s behaviour. Eventually Raden is brought face to face with Rain:

When he reached Mount Batur’s highest peak, Chief Raden roared loudly, “Rain, why are you ruining the jungle pathways and causing so many problems for the animals?”

While waiting for Rain’s reply, Chief Raden dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Looking out over Bali, he saw sparkling rivers, blue skies filled with drifting clouds and endless hills of green. Raindrops fell, cooling his tired body. [...]

Raden then understood he was asking a very foolish question.

He returns home and delivers a few home truths to the animals about remembering all that Rain provides, and tells them to stop complaining but learn to live “in peace with one another”. By being considerate to their fellow creatures and recognising that there is much to appreciate in their own lives, they do in fact find themselves with little to complain about.

Gecko’s Complaint/ Keluhan Sang Tokek, a Balinese folktale, retold by Ann Martin Bowler and sumptuously illustrated by Balinese artist I Gusti Made Sukanada (Periplus Editions) is available both in English and, as of this year, as a bilingual book with English and Indonesian text. It is definitely a fable whose meaning has bearing on the lives of us humans. Chief Raden is a respected authority figure who listens and is decisive and fair – a role model who will also be respected by young listeners of the story. At the same time, the narrative doesn’t fall into the trap of being didactic but provides plenty of room for characterisation and humor to come through. The vibrant illustrations are full of jungle wildlife and we love the vignettes of animals, birds and flowers scattered through the text. Perhaps it’s an unreasonable quibble, but if another edition is ever planned, it would be great to have an appendix saying what they all are; it would provide a good counterbalance to the introduction, which gives an interesting overview of Indonesia and Bali in particular.

Ann talks a little about writing the book in her interview with PaperTigers – and I have to say, I’d love to know more about what she describes as the “adventure” of working with I Gusti Made Sukanada to create the book. She has also written a song, Complaining, to accompany the book – it’s available on her website.

To read a little more about how Gecko’s Complaint fits into Indonesian folklore, read this review from the Bali Advertiser. Many cultures feature animal fables in their traditional story-telling – do you have any particular favorites that you’d recommend as a bedtime story?

This year PaperTigers celebrates Earth Day by kicking off Jan Reynolds’ blog tour of Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming.

Author/photographer of Celebrate! Connections Among Cultures and the “Vanishing Cultures” series, Jan is no stranger to turning world cultures and natural environments into beautiful and educational books for children. With this new title, Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life, she has put together a fascinating photo essay that explains sustainable farming by using the Balinese traditional system of rice farming as an example of “growing food while being conscious of the needs of other people and the well-being of the planet.”

The book shows us how rice farming in Bali has been practiced for a thousand years (“from seeds to rice-bearing plants to cut stalks that go back into the soil”), and how its cycle is closely connected to that of community life in the island. For the Balinese people, the natural rice cycle involves a hierarchy of water temples; community rituals performed by high priests to thank the goddess of water and the goddess of rice; careful planning of water-sharing schedules to meet everyone’s needs, allowing for a fallow period between growing cycles to keep the fields fertile; the help of ducks to eat worms and bugs and to fertilize the soil naturally with manure; and more. But in the end, the essence of the process, i.e the spirit of a connected community sharing water to ensure a rice harvest and a good life for all, comes through quite clearly (more…)