Adaa's Book Review: "The Discovery of Chess"
The lovable duo, Emma and Ethan, as well as their Red Panda companion, all beautifully and colourfully drawn, make the rich origins of chess palatable to a young audience.
BY ADAA RAHUL - HER NEWS COLUMNIST
“The Discovery of Chess” by Phil Amara and Oliver Chin, illustrated by Juan Calle, is a multicultural visual history of the universal language that is chess. The lovable duo, Emma and Ethan, as well as their Red Panda companion, all beautifully and colourfully drawn, make the rich origins of chess palatable to a young audience.
As a young Indian American myself, it’s good to know that there are picture books that display diversity without making it the sole focus of the book. Instead, this book, with its detailed, high spirited illustrations, shines the spotlight on all the lessons to be learned from chess.
The story follows inquisitive friends Emma and Ethan, as well as the magical red panda Dao You, who, prompted by a round of chess in the park, whisks them away to ancient India to satiate their curiosity about the game. They learn about the many sovereign kingdoms of India, and how the pieces on the chessboard evolved from a simulation of the battlefield. They move with merchants and traders to Persia studying the etymology of the names of pieces as they go along. They find out about the ancient chessboard, the chaturanga, and its name, accompanying the board on its journey to medieval Europe, where it received its distinctive checkered pattern. Before they know it they’re in the midst of the tumultuous, distrustful times of the Cold War, where everything, chess included, became a heated competition between Russia and the U.S.A. The friends ponder the forever shifting demographics of chess players from being dominated by Russians to being inclusive of people of all nationalities. They watch chess become yet another form of communication that transcends language barriers, and suddenly they’re back in the park, with some answers but even more questions.
The book leaves off with an open ended conclusion, so there’s a lot you can do to get more out of it as a parent. Try doing some research about a country or time period mentioned in the book, or find other children's books on chess. For a teacher or librarian, this book is representative and light-hearted, with lots of engagingly presented facts. Amara, Chin, and Calle have thoroughly succeeded in creating a story that explores chess from many aspects, both historically and culturally, while maintaining a light and playful picture book.