Welcome to my blog on children’s books.
Children's books often constitute our first exposure to the act of reading and writing, the beauty of narrative and the delightful aesthetics of illustration.
Children's books often constitute our first exposure to the act of reading and writing, the beauty of narrative and the delightful aesthetics of illustration.
Children’s books are not only about literacy, fun and
adventure but also serve as a foundational literature. As adults, we may or may
not read fiction, non-fiction, (auto)biography, or anthologies of short
stories/poems, but we have all, everyone of us, read them as children. Even
those of us who preferred to play football or a videogame to reading a book,
had to perforce, read our textbooks in school and have been exposed to random
pieces of poetry, short stories, one-act plays, etc. And years and decades
later, these return to haunt us, and make us chuckle in remembrance or indulge
in an Aha! moment.
I read dozens, no make that hundreds, of books as a child.
As an adolescent, and later, in adulthood, I continued devouring books, and
thought I had moved past my fascination with children’s books. I dug into my
children’s book collection whenever younger cousins came visiting, and when
they went away, reread the books again. I travelled to the Far Away Land,
admired Fatty’s skill at disguises, and longed to visit Jupiter Jones’
junkyard. I also wondered about Premchand’s character, Hamid, who bought tongs
for his grandmother, and Tagore’s Mini, who had long happy chats with the
Kabuilwallah.
In this blog, I shall review and explore children’s and
Young Adult books from different parts of the country and the world.
Read along, and write to me your thoughts on books, reading and blogging.