Inu and Putti are not allowed to play with each other. But what can they possibly do when everyone else in Shanti Park seems to have been born at the age of 30? They have no one to play with except each other!
Soon they discover that they actually like each other and want to be friends, so they need an answer to the Most Important Question: why are their families fighting?
They go to one person after another, searching for answers (or answers-shanswers, as Putti’s father would say). Mr Om Namaha, Dr Solanki and the Tekdichi Mhatari – who can answer their question?
Friends Behind Walls is such a gorgeous book that I simply had to include it in my reading programme! Here’s some of what we will do.
Word Games
Putti loves words and so do I. He breaks words up and comments on how nonsensical they are. Legend = lej+end, but it has nothing to do with the end of a ledge. Cacophony = cac+o+funny, but it doesn’t have anything to do with a joke.
Now imagine the possibilities of working on words with children. I’m also thinking about the multilingual games I could use and the ways in which we can play with songs!
Imagination
I LOVE the illustrations in Friends Behind Walls, and pictures make for great conversation starters. The cover itself is a good place to begin because it invites children to think about what the story could possible be about. Within the book, I love the rickshaw ride, the car ride and Tekdichi Mhatari doing a little jig. To be honest, I love them all, but these stayed with me. Working on character sketches and caricatures is going to be such fun!
Book Discussion
What do you do after a fight? What about adults? Do you think they do the same thing? What makes you angry and what do you say when you are angry?
We can talk about so many things when we read a book like Friends Behind Walls!
Join a book club!
We read Friends Behind Walls for the first time in March 2021, over four years ago! It was a favourite with my book clubbers then, and I’m waiting to read it with a fresh group of seven- and eight-year-olds!
However, registrations are now closed for the August-September 2025 edition of my book club. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
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