…and Sandrine Soimaud knows that well! The author of the book “My Life in Bali” (or Ma vie Balinaise) understands this magic relationship between them. She was working along with a local Balinese, Made Suradiya, in producing this precious book and voilà, it is now ready for your reading pleasure. Though this book has an outlook of a children’s book, you could definitely take a look at it too and know Bali from a different perspective. I’m sure that kids and adults alike would love this book; casually written, with occasional humour that will make you smile, as well as the nicely put illustrations. For kids, this book will be their free-time accompaniment before or during your family’s trip to Bali!
After flipping through the pages of this book, it is fair to say that it was very comprehensive yet non-intimidating. This book is rich in content, from the humble explanations about names and family structures in Bali, to the history of Balinese kingdoms, deities, philosophies, mountains, seas, oceans, beaches, agricultures, animals, plants, food, calendar, ceremonies, rituals … seas – did I say it already? – ah yes, okay I could not say all, it’s just that the book is like a miniature of Bali itself! Having said this, I would like to emphasize how it has been written in such a way that it is understandable to its core, making Bali (and all its beauty) accessible to young kids (as soon as they could make sense of what they read). Again, I’m pretty sure that Sandrine do understand how Bali love kids, from all the things kids could get in Bali; and vice versa, they would love reading this book!
A word of caution for parents who are giving this book to their kids: prepare your flight ticket to Bali as soon as possible as you will start hearing cries and pleads from them to visit this island.
This article was written by Amadea who is our prof of Bahasa Indonesia 🙂 Terima kasih Dea!
