A Walk with Thambi

In recent times, few picture books have enthralled me as much as this one. I have been using it in my Library Education Sessions for teachers, to introduce them to the power of children's literature and the magic of picture books.  Everywhere I have introduced this gem of a book, it has been received with admiration by adults and children. Here is a brief review of the book:

ABOUT THE BOOK

“We were late. We were running in the street. We had played in the river, and we had climbed trees …” Everything Amma had said NOT to do! Woven into this story of everyday fun lit up by Proiti Roy’s joyous pictures, are sensory descriptions, and visual details like a walking stick in the boy’s hand, the dog guiding his friend … clues that gently tell us that the boy is blind.

What Works:

A Walk with Thambi is a beautifully written tale that features a blind boy and his guide-dog without ever using the words ‘blind’ or ‘guide’. It normalizes the state of blindness – Thambi happens to be blind just like another child might happen to be allergic to brinjal – neither of these realities needs to prevent children from living life the way they’d want to. 

This book is one of those little gems that rekindles your faith in the power of a picture book. It has sparse text and wonderfully speaking pictures, and as a reader, one feels compelled to go through the text and the illustrations again and again, marvelling all the while at how effectively they reveal the story, even when you are not observant enough to notice.

The text and the art work wonderfully together and both are an integral part of the narrative.

It was short-listed for the 2019 The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Awards for children’s books in the Picture Book (Story) Category.

CONCLUSION

This delightful book should be included in every school library, and be read by the parents of every child who is considered ‘disabled’. A child’s ‘disability’ does not have to define or constrain her. She is as ‘normal’ as the next child and has access to an equally rich world and worldview.

http://www.goodbooks.in/version2/2019/05/29/a-walk-with-thambi-2/

BOOK DETAILS

Author: Lavanya Karthik

Illustrator: Proiti Roy

Language: English

Page Extent: 28

Price: 175

ISBN: 978-93-5046-945-3

Publisher: Tulika Publishers 2017

Subject Category: Fiction/Picture Book/Inclusive

Meena Kakodkar's Salkantlo Jadugar

It's #femmeMarch and I will be reviewing books by women writers. Or books featuring strong women characters. I may have lots of nice things to say about them. Or not. But it will be an honest and fair review.

Today's text is unusual on two counts. It's a play, not a novel or collection of short stories. And, it's in Konkani, not English (as are most of the books I review here)

Salkantlo Jadugar is set in ancient times - times when you had queens and kings ruling the land, wicked magicians stalking the land in search of means of increasing their power over others, and sages who could predict the future and dish out magic mantras and herbs. 

However, it's also a surprisingly 'modern' play, with a princess who speaks her mind and makes use of logic to get her way rather than rely on long, silky hair or glass slippers; the king and queen actually trust their daughter to behave sensibly and do not choose to  lock her up in the castle tower when danger threatens; and while the princess does need two young boys to come to her rescue, there is no talk of her marrying either of them when she returns home safely.  They simply continue as friends and playmates. 

There's also a charming little frame narrative structure which emphasizes the importance of stories, including popular Konkani folktales that speak of incest, and death. The play was written for school children to perform, and published later. Altogether, this was an unusual find, and well worth the time taken to read it. It's written in the Nagari script.

The playwright, Meena Kakodkar, is a Sahitya Akademi awardee and has authored several books - for children and for adults. 

The Sleeper and the Spindle

It's #femmeMarch and I am reviewing books by women, or books featuring women characters. A review a day. I may not always have nice things to say about the books, but my review will be fair and honest. Read on...

For today's review, I chose to go with a male author - Neil Gaiman, and a male illustrator - Chris Riddell - but then I just loved the feminist take they offer on the world's best-known fairytales. Having said that I must also say it has the most gorgeous black-and-white-and-gold illustrations by Chris Riddell (Duh, like that's new!)

The Sleeper and the Spindle is a fairytale for young adults. It brings together the stories of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. No, let me correct that. It brings together the characters of the tales of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. No, that's not true, either. The Sleeper and the Spindle is a fairytale featuring three women - each of them is a strong woman, refusing to be a two-dimensional cardboard character. There's a queen who, on the eve of her wedding, decides it's more important to save her kingdom than speak her vows, there's an old woman whose hair on her scalp is grey and sparse but her determination is strong and fierce, there's a girl sleeping on a massive fourposter for seventy years - with a purpose. 

This book is one of those rare books where the text and the illustrations enrich each other, and the reader's experience as well. Gaiman's concluding words are going to stay with me a long time and so is Riddell's illustration on the page.

The Sleeper and the Spindle takes your expectations and turns them on their head - every last one of them. Where Cinderella sheds her rags for a ballgown, the queen in this tale exchanges her wedding gown for a coat of chain mail. While fairytales focus on the 'bright and beautiful' future, Gaiman reminds us that our past makes us what we are, and what it makes of us is our choice. "There are always choices" as the queen reminds herself. 

And that's why this tale is a must-read. In an interview, Gaiman had referred to fairytales as loaded guns or bombs. With Gaiman narrating fairytales, yes, they will certainly blow the cobwebs from our minds, and bomb all stereotypes to nothingness. 

Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Chris Riddell
ISBN: 978-0-06-239824-6
Publisher: Harper Collins
Age: 11+

Shah Jahan and the Ruby Robber by Natasha Sharma

It's #femmeMarch and I am reviewing books by women, or books featuring women characters. I may not always have nice things to say about the books, but my review will be fair and honest. Read on...

(This review first appeared in GoodBooks.in. http://www.goodbooks.in/version2/2019/02/22/shah-jahan-and-the-ruby-robber/)

Shah Jahan, the Great Mughal Emperor, is hopping mad. Someone has replaced the precious Timur Ruby on his new throne with a … plum! What’s worse, plums are suddenly turning up everywhere. Who can help the emperor solve this mystery?

What Works:

• Part of Duckbill’s History-Mystery series, this book, like the others in the series, blends history and story together in an imaginative way.
• Since the book is aimed at younger readers, the length, the chapterisation, the sentence structure, the use of repetition (such as in the opening lines: “A great Mughal king must not hop. He must not skip. He must not high-five.”) – all these elements work very well.
• Unlike the first couple of books in the History-Mystery series, such as Akbar and the Tricky Traitor and Ashoka and the Muddled Messages, which are not well-grounded in history and present the reader with two-dimensional cardboard characters, Shahjahan and the Ruby Robber evokes the period in which it is set much better and offers us glimpses into the eccentricities of some of the characters.
• Having Shahjahan’s children solve the mystery for him is a very good idea. It serves as a reminder that history is made not merely by famous folks, powerful people and other adults, but also by children, and even a little toddler. Young readers are likely to appreciate this inclusion.
• What does not work:
• Natasha Sharma researches exhaustively and writes well but is not always able to integrate her research into the story or plot the intrigues and conspiracies convincingly.
• Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan’s eldest son, is presented rather shabbily in the story. Why on earth would he suddenly utter the words, “As the great poets say: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”? Not only is this anachronistic, it in no way adds to the story or to the character.
• Considering that Shahjahan’s court was fabulously wealthy and magnificent, one wishes that the illustrations had been in colour so that they could have evoked the splendour and grandeur.

CONCLUSION

A book for a 7-9-year-old that is sure to make her laugh and, hopefully, become interested in history. Some of the inauthentic bits should have been edited out, though.

Book Details

Author: Natasha Sharma

Illustrator: Lavanya Naidu

Language: English

Page Extent: 70

Price: 199

ISBN: 978-93-83331-68-0

Publisher: Duckbill 2017

Age Group: 7-9 years 

Dada's Useless Present

It's Femme March and Women's Day as well, and so I have decided to post a review a day on a book written by a woman. Maybe I will say nice things about the book, maybe I won't. But I will strive to be fair and honest.

Beginning with the first of my #femmeMarch 2019 posts ... 

This review first appeared in GoodBooks.in
http://www.goodbooks.in/version2/2019/02/12/dadas-useless-present/

Dada may be celebrating his 82nd birthday but he still considers himself spry, until a seemingly thoughtful gift from his son tells him otherwise. Dada, however, is convinced it is a useless present – until he finds many useful things to do with it!

What Works:

• A charming story about the spirit of ageing grandparents who refuse to give up their independence. Dada gets a walking stick as a present from his son and believes it is completely useless till he finds all kinds of other uses for it except what it is meant for!
• Author Nalini Sorensen’s text is concise and skillfully portrays Dada’s various reactions to his present without being unnecessarily verbose. She also fleshes out the relationship between Dada and his granddaughter Panu lovingly.
• The author blends humour, affection and the little details of everyday life into an engaging tale.
• Allen Shaw’s beautiful water-colour illustrations invite the reader into Panu’s home and show the story of how her grandfather dealt with his ‘not-so-useless’ present. Shaw captures the beauty of the interiors as well as the verdant lushness of the mango orchard close by. The clever use of different angles makes Panu’s home appear three-dimensional.
• This picture book was the winner of the Jarul Book Award 2018.

What Does Not Work:

• If I can pick a bone with Allen Shaw’s art, it is that the facial expressions of his characters are indiscriminately jovial and pleasant.

CONCLUSION

It’s a lovely picture book for the 6-8-year-old and encourages the reader to be innovative and think out of the box.

BOOK DETAILS

Author: Nalini Sorensen

Illustrator: Allen Shaw

Page Extent: 26

Price: 250

Publisher: Karadi Tales 2016

Subject Category: Fiction/Picture Book/Humour

Age Group: 6-8 years

A sea prayer - for children at sea

Khaled Hosseini's book for children, Sea Prayer, was an appropriate book to read as this year slowly draws to an end. This slim children's book is a requiem to loss - the loss of home, homeland, security, identity, relationships, a way of life - the annihilating, bewildering, confounding loss faced by refugees everywhere. It is also a prayer - not for oneself but for one's child, for "the most precious cargo there ever was". Hosseini sums up the refugee's fate "unwanted, unwelcome" wherever they go, their hearts unhinged, their future as unstable and threatening as the stormy sea.   

Dan Williams, the illustrator, has transformed the emotions evoked by Hosseini's words into images that are a visual delight. There are the warm yellow tones of sunlit afternoons drenched in nostalgia, the blue-black hues that capture the uncertainty and fear in the hearts of the refugees as they wait for a perilous sea-journey to take them to safety, the bright bursts of red poppies like the laughter of children playing in the garden. 

This children's book brings the focus on an aspect of childhood that is rarely in the limelight - children at peril and in exile. 

Getting your child to read

Do children read these days? Never having done a survey, I can't say for sure, but going by the sales of books, and the increasing occurrence of children's literature festivals, either the kids are reading a lot, or someone out there is hoping and praying and working really hard to make sure they do!

How does one ensure that children read regularly and enjoy the act of reading? After teaching kids of all ages to love literature, here are a few tips that I know work for sure -

1. Remember they are watching you! Your child may not listen to all that you say, but she is certainly watching you as you go about your day. If you spend a lot of time on the phone, she will wish to do the same, if you like to walk around the park, she will want to go cycling there, and if you spend some time reading every day, she will pick up a book too! Do spend some time reading every day, and talk to your child about the book she is reading.

What if you aren't a reader? Well, become one. Kids love to imitate their parents and so try to read something every day. It can be the newspaper, magazines, recipe books, the atlas, or your prayer book. The point is, that you should be spending some time with your child with a book in your hand.

2. Keep some books lying around the house - That might not be welcome advice if you are the kind of parent who's obsessive about everything being in its rightful place, but, hey, you can ensure you have a little bookshelf in every room or a little basket in which nestle the books you and your child are reading currently.

3. Get to know the books that are available in the market - especially books by Indian writers. Don't get caught in the trap of buying only retold folktales, moral stories, educational books or Enid Blyton - because that's what YOU grew up with! There's nothing wrong with them, but the children's book market today has an exciting range of genres and offerings, and I am sure you'd like your child to benefit from it. Become a part of FB groups that discuss children's books and keep yourself updated with the latest and most recommended publications. 

4. Choose diverse books - read across genres and authors. don't try to stick to one sort of book. Your child may have tastes that are different from yours. Remember that a children's book serves as a window and a mirror - it offers the child a mirror to her world, and gives her an opportunity to look out into other worlds.

There's lots and lots of other ways to raise a reader - you will find out for yourself, and I will share more tips in another post. Until then, open a book ... those squiggles on the page are the password into a wacky and wild world!