Pinduli

Title: Pinduli Author and Illustrator: Janell Cannon Publisher: Scholastic inc. Publication Date: 2004 Summary: Little Pinduli is a young Hyena in East Africa. One day she goes off exploring and runs into three different animals who make fun of her physical characteristics.  With each comment Pinduli tries to change herself to hid the parts of her body that they made fun of. In doing so she covers herself in mud and allows it to dry. This makes her look like a ghost and the other animals see her and are terrified. They begin to express guilt for making fun of a small hyena earlier that day and for the ghost to have mercy on them. Pinduli takes advantage of the situation and asks the animals why they had been so mean.  As each animal tells their story, we find that they were infact made fun of by another animal. Pinduli tells the animals that they must go to the animals that had upset them and make peace with them, as well as leave a small portion of each meal as an offereing.  She told them that if they did this she would never return. The animals went and made piece with each other and Pinduli went home. There after she and her mother had plenty of food and the animals of Africa were kinder to each other. Recommendation for Parents: Pinduli is a wonderful story that will draw your child's interest as well as teach them a very important lesson about how hurtful comments effect people. Janell Cannon's illustrations are so beautiful and realistic that your chidren could spend hours just looking at the pictures. At the end of this book Janell Cannon also gives information about Hyenas and other animals found in Africa and why they have certain attributes. You'll find your children will want to learn more about the animals in Aftrica. A great read! Recommendation for Teachers: Being kind and respectful to others is an important school rule and for good reason. Pinduli is an excellent story to get students thinking about the effects that hurtful comments have on individuals. Just like all the animals in the story have different attributes so do our students. This book gives them the opportunity to see that differences are not a bad thing. Pinduli could inspire activities about positive self-image and kindness towards others. Personal Note: Janell Cannon is one of my favorite authors. Her illustrations are breath taking and realistic. The animals could pop out of the pages and come alive. Her stories have deep meaning and important lessons for life. She also includes factual information at the end of the book about the animals she featured in Pinduli. Beautiful pictures, insightful stories and further information about her characters makes Pinduli and other books by Janell Cannon well-rounded unjoyable books.

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