Santiwah

Boy Boy & The Magic Drum | Machel Montano's Book Launch

I recently came across this video clip on YouTube and thought to myself... "Damn what a wonderful idea!" Our Calypsonians have told so many stories in their songs and to have a story book published for the children from a Calypso was long overdue. Just think about the possibilities... Lord Kitchener and the Mighty Sparrow have so may Calypsoes that could be made into story books not just for children but also for the adults... There are many funny calypsos that a stories created from them could put a smile on the faces of the adult population.

I really like the feel of this project (Boy Boy and the Magid Drum); just  saying the title has a good feel and the music (song magic drum) is just wonderful. Kudos to you Machel, and the publishers who were so creative with this project.

The book was first published in 2009 and rides on the success of the song Magic Drum as its core sales pitch. Having said that I must say the story is a wonderful idea if only because it is 'total local' and ideas that the children could relate to at home.  The tale is about Boy Boy who uses the 'magic of music' to change his environment and more importantly his life. What a beautiful thing indeed!

 

Dip Publishing's own Machel Montano at the re-launch of his book Boy Boy and the Magic Drum at Nigel R Khan Booksellers location at Trincity Mall. Nigel R Khan, the exclusive distributors of this book in Trinidad and Tobago and everything that's Dip!  

Machel Montano - Magic Drum (Soca 2009)

"Caribbean Children" - Books written for Caribbean Children

Published by Macmillan, Joanne’s children's books: Go Barefoot; The Scottish-Island Girl; Sally’s Way and Digger’s Diner come with read along CDs sold exclusively through her web site www.caribbeanchildren.com. Her fifth title, "Ibis Stew? Oh No!" about the illegally hunted national bird of T&T, was released in December 2005 and sold 'like hot bread' over Christmas. Her story, "Racing the Rain" will be out sometime in 2006, included in the first of Macmillan Caribbean's new anthology series: Treasure House 1.

via www.caribbeanchildren.com

Côté ci Côté la - The Trinidad and Tobago Dictionary

 A must have book on Trinidad and Tobago's diction. The Book is the creation of John Mendes - from O'meara Rd Arima (hey my home town) and can be obtained at Amazon.com. However the official site for the book is trinidadcotecicotela.com

This book is will take you back to a time when life in Trinidad was fun, when everything was simple and not complicated at all. If you want to reminisce, research some material or simply want to have a laugh then this is a no brainer - get Côté ci Côté la. 

Now if you are a Trinidadian (refers to citizens of Trinidad and Tobago) living overseas then you need to get two copies - one to keep and the other to give to a friend or someone else. It does not matter who you give the book to because your goal here is simply to put a smile on that person's face and trust me this book will accomplish that goal with ease.

Hardcover: 294 pages

Publisher: Medianet (July 8 2004)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9768194146

ISBN-13: 978-9768194145

The Skettionary - an online Caribbean dictionary

Lahe: To engage in unproductive activity; slack off. 

via www.skettel.com

Now you may be aware of Tankalanka and Côté ci Côté la but are you aware of The Skettionary?  This website http://www.skettel.com/ will put a smile on your face but please be aware that some of the explanations are raw!

Now after taking a look at the website please don't forget to come back here and leave a comment telling us what you think about the list. If you have a few that you would like to add to that list then leave it in your commentary here; you can do the same when you visit the website via email.  

In the end it will be seen that Trinidadians (citizens of Trinidad and Tobago) are indeed very creative not just with our music but with our ingenious use of words.