Malaika’s Costume

Author/Guide: Nadia L Hohn

Why a Booktrail?

A little girl is getting ready for Carnival but her mum is still in Canada!

ISBN: 978-1554987542
Genre: Childrens

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What you need to know before your trail

It’s Carnival time in the Caribbean and the first Carnival since Malaika’s mother moved away to find a good job in Canada. She’s promised to send money home so that Malaika can get her costume made for the festival but the money hasn’t arrived yet. Malaika misses her mummy very much and really wants to see her . She also really hopes to have a great costume for the festival and doesn’t want to be the odd one out!

Malaika is worried she won’t be able to dance in the parade. So Grandma offers her a hand-me -down costume but that upsets Malaika even more!

She leaves the house, running into Ms. Chin, the tailor, who offers Malaika a bag of scrap fabric. With her grandmother’s help, Malaika creates a patchwork rainbow peacock costume just in time for the parade. But what will her costume be like in the festival and will it all go to plan?

Locations

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Travel Guide

Canada

Canada is cold like an icebox and something they call snow is on the ground, Mummy tell me. She send me pictures too. The snow look like Coconut sky juice. She Say that children play in it and build man with it. What a sticky mess!

The Carnival!

Malaika is waiting for her mum to send money for her costume and she’s counting down the days until that happens. She also can’t wait to see her mother again.

The spirit of the Carnival is electric!

Carnival come soon and every one getting their costume ready!

Booktrailer Review

Susan @thebooktrailer

What a lovely lovely book! Written in colloquial style this just sings from the page and you can hear and feel every word, feel every beat of the Carnival music.

A great colourful book in every sense of the word. The author herself is Toronto born but her parents are from Jamaica and so she’s woven beautiful writing and a story which shows how diverse cultures are and the problems that people have when they have to move away for work.

A lovely message but a lovely book and the words, fresh from the mouth of Malaika herself are a joy to read! Part of the WOTS Toronto festival this year on the Sago Mini’s Children’s Activity stage and I’m not surprised!