Interview by William Chan
The Macau Post Daily recently conducted an online interview with two mothers who had participated in the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s (IC) programme “Infant and Toddler Reading Programme”.
According to a statement by the bureau in July, it has launched a string of cultural activities for Macau residents of all ages that began in July, covering history, reading, and music, one of which included distributing reading packs to infants and toddlers in Macau in a number of public libraries.
Both interviewees, Sandia Leong and Mel Cheong, noted that each reading pack consists of five children’s books. Leong opted for the Chinese version of the books, while Cheong chose the Portuguese package.
Leong noted that she joined the reading programme to understand her child’s book preferences. She said, “Since we usually provide him with English books for reading at home, I chose Chinese books this time for my son, who is now 17 months old. The reading package not only includes illustrated books but also provides ‘Spot the difference’ books.”
Leong said that her son’s favourite book was about a bear being polite to other animals. “The story is easy to understand and the illustrations are very cute as well,” she added.
Meanwhile, Cheong said that prior to registering for the programme, some others had told her that the Chinese books were not suitable for toddlers. She said, “Initially, I considered an English version based on the other mothers’ reviews, but only Chinese and Portuguese versions were available. I ended up selecting the Portuguese ones as they appeared more colourful.”
According to Cheong, five books contained in the package varied in size from large to small. Her son’s favourite turned out to be the smallest one, a counting book from 1 to 100, while her favourite was the largest one, which had no words and featured various colours and patterns for toddlers to identify the shapes. Cheong added, “My favourite book didn’t capture my baby’s interest as much. Instead, he insisted on reading the 1-100 book almost every other day.” Cheong pointed out that three books in the package were designed with handles, but her son didn’t show any interest in touching them.
Cheong added that she and her son tried reading the two books together several times, where one book discussed the importance of water and how everyone drinks it, while the other focused on different types of bread that people eat. “Nonetheless, neither piqued his interest. I also found that both books lacked a real story line and simply depicted various bread types and representations of different shades and shapes of blue water,” she said. Consequently, she decided to return the two books to the library for someone else to enjoy.
Regarding the last book in the package, Cheong admitted she couldn’t bring herself to part with it. The cover resembled Little Red Riding Hood, featuring all the characters. “However, the story described how Red Riding Hood had been playing in the forest and became very dirty, so she needed to take a shower,” Cheong explained, expressing her amusement at the book.
Residents can still register to receive the reading packs through the bureau’s official website https://cr.library.gov.mo/RPA/
These photos taken by Sandia Leong last week show the cover and content of her son’s favourite book.
These photos taken by Mel Cheong last week show her son and books of the Portuguese reading pack.
