Sneaker Paati

Kittu is delighted to discover that he has a cool Paati, the kind he can boast about! She does headstands, and is even willing to teach him to do them! Soon enough, Kittu discovers that his Sneaker Paati, aka Shobha Attai, can do more than just headstands. Maybe she’ll be his new confidante and solve the problem of Big Bad Abby, the local bully.

Sneaker Paati is an amusing story, one that I particularly appreciated because it breaks the convention of children solving everything themselves. While I do usually like stories that feature children with agency, I’ve noticed that the children’s literature I read (and write!) hardly ever steers away from this formula, leading to a surfeit of orphans, boarding schools and conveniently missing parents. As a child, I did read several stories featuring grown-ups, and I didn’t like them any less for it!

In terms of plot, however, I did find Sneaker Paati slightly simplistic. The reason B.B. Abby becomes a bully and the way Sneaker Paati and the others find a solution seemed rather too easy for me!

This led me to wonder about the target readership of the book. I quite enjoyed the story as an adult, and I liked the fact that for the most part, it avoids both cuteness and precociousness on the part of the child protagonist. The gentle humour and the fun characters made the book an entertaining read, one that I believe would resonate with middle-grade readers looking something quick, easy and fun.