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Janosch: Beautiful Panama, land of my dreams
Review by
Lena Röhle (17 Jahre)
translated by Carl Grufman (18, swedish)
This book is about a little bear and a little tiger, who live in a nice
house and they feel well. They live of what the forest has to offer.
The little bear goes fishing and does the cooking.
One day as the bear finds a box on which the word "Panama" is written and that smells like bananas, they decide to go to Panama, because Panama is the land of their dreams. They do not know the way, but they build a sign post out of the box. On their way to Panama they meet the mouse, the fox, the duck and the cow, but unfortunately these do not know the way to Panama either or they give the wrong answers. When it starts raining the bear quickly builds a hut for shelter. After the rain the tiger collects some mushrooms, because both are hungry. When they have finished their meal they meet the rabbit and the snail, who invite the tiger and the bear to their home. There they sleep on a plysch sofa, and they say that they also want to buy one as soon as they have found their dreamland.
They also meet a crow, who can help them. She takes them up into a tree and shows them the countryside where they formerly lived. The bear and the tiger are so stunned by the new perspective, that they do not notice that it is their old home. They also find the old sign post, and they are convinced that they are in Panama. They repair their old house, buy a plysch sofa and live like before, but they are happier now because they have found the land of their dreams.
Author
Janosch lives in Spain since 1980. At the age of 50 he returns to the town where he was born: Zabrze.
My opinion
With the figures of the little bear and the little tiger
Janosch manages to create two animals, who in a nice way show their strong
and weak sides of character. Both have dreams and wishes like everyone has,
and that makes them so convincing and sympathetic. I can strongly recommend
this book to children, because it teaches social attitude in a
non-threatening way, simply by the friendly understanding between bear and
tiger.
The short story is written for both old and young , because the world is as you would like it to be. Animals and human beings trust and respect each other. And even when something fails the two animals usually bring it to a happy end because of their friendship. Of course the book is a little bit utopic, but I think that it is an advantage, too, as it is shown that you can live without being always concerned about the consequences of your actions. It is also a very nicely written book and the pictures by Janosch are merely wonderful!
An internet project of Integrierte Gesamtschule Bonn-Beuel
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Stand: 01.03.1998 |
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