Pai's purple dahlias are missing! Of course Rosa is in a rush--she must find out who stole them. Was it Dona Sylvia de Braganza, who won second-best garden when Pai won the prize for best garden? Or was it Cousin Mario who recently turned his house into a hotel? Rosa must find out!It's quite lovely how much this playful Hook Book does. In this tiny book, we have a determined protagonist, a gorgeous setting, and a mystery! The language, even while being simple, is rich with similes and imagery. What more could a picture book ask for?I love how Rosa immediately thinks that it is her job to find out who stole Pai's dahlias. She doesn't pause a minute to ask for help or to doubt herself. She's a child with a mission, and her determination powers the story.Rosa in a Rush is a pacy, joyous story that I whizzed through. I swerved around illustrations and braked for just a few … [Read more...]
What Could It Be?
Bapu is scared of something in the bathroom! What could it be? A gang of ghosts in a giggling gather? Scary skeletons covered in lather?When Diya discovers it's none of the things her imagination leads her to believe but just a lizard, she knows that she must save her father. Even if her Bapu says he isn't actually scared of lizards; he just doesn't like them.As someone who is much like Diya's Bapu, What Could It Be? made me chuckle more than once. I like the whimsical rhyme as characters in the story wonder what scary thing could be in the bathroom. And I love how Diya and Farah make amends for frightening a harmless lizard.Just like with so many of the Hook Books, the pictures are a treat. I especially like the expressions on the characters' faces, expressions that sometimes tell a different story from the text itself!Sweet, humorous and joyful, What Could It Be? is … [Read more...]
Wrestling Day
When I went for the White Owl Literature Festival in Nagaland a few months ago, I attended part of an event that the author Theyiesinuo Keditsu conducted on her book, Wrestling Day. She spoke about how traffic piles up on Wrestling Day. People park everywhere, and that’s something that’s perfectly acceptable on that one day because that’s just the way things are. Wrestling is huge; everyone wrestles.Before I could ask, someone else did, ‘Do women wrestle too?’ The answer was ‘yes’; she used to wrestle too!A couple of days later I watched two young boys wrestling in Khonoma. It was such a simple, fascinating affair! They engaged in three bouts, and what I especially loved was the way they dusted each other off after their match was over.All this made me all the more curious to read Wrestling Day, and it didn’t disappoint.Aneingu should be all set to wrestle, but he … [Read more...]
Where Does It Hurt?
Where does it hurt? It's such a simple question. If I read it aloud, I find my voice getting softer, kinder, more patient. And that's what this Hook Book by Samina Mishra and Allen Shaw is about - softness, kindness and patience.Sometimes, pain is easy to explain, like when you eat something that makes your tummy hurt.Sometimes, it's in more than one place, like if you hit your mouth on the handlebar of a cycle. Yes, your mouth hurts, but more, you want to be comforted. And sometimes, pain is much more complicated, like when your head hurts with numbers or your heart aches with sadness.Where Does It Hurt? looks at all these kinds of pain. It encourages us to ask where it hurts and extend a tiny little bit of help. It makes us take the first step towards easing pain.As I read it, my heart skipped at the idea of a child's pain being caused by a mother-shaped hole. Would I … [Read more...]
Puppy Trouble
Amit wants a puppy. He wants a puppy. He wants a puppy. He wants a puppy. But his parents refuse.For me, that was the hook. And thanks to my book clubs and the number of conversations we've had about wanting pets but not being allowed to get them, I know that this is practically universal.Puppy Trouble goes further, though, because a puppy does come into Amit's life. Unfortunately for him, however, everything isn't as exciting as he imagined it would be.A fun book that made me laugh at all the right moments, Puppy Trouble is another Hook Book that brings illustrations and text together perfectly. I love how this short story takes us through so many highs and lows - hope, disappointment, resentment ... It's a happy addition to a delightful set of books for young readers!TitlePuppy TroubleAuthorIllustratorBijal VachharajaniRajiv EipeTagsChapter Book, Hook Book, Animal … [Read more...]
I Won’t Wash My Hair
What an utterly delightful book! I love books that make my jaw drop on the very last page, and I Won't Wash My Hair by Aparna Kapur and Ogin Nayam does it perfectly. Like all the other Hook Books I've read, this one puts text and pictures together in the best way possible.Did you have an opinion about washing your hair as a child? If you didn't, it's possible that your hair was short. My hair came to my waist, and I remember how often my grandmother would tell me to wash it when I got back from school. I hated it. Except in the little intervals when I stayed with her because my parents were travelling, I managed to get through school washing my hair just once a week.And that's why Divya's mad, delightful story was even more of a treat. When her parents are away, why must she wash her hair? All kinds of interesting things turn up in it every day. And if her friends don't want to … [Read more...]
The Big Bad Fight
I just finished reading The Big Bad Fight written by Yamini Vijayan and illustrated by Kruttika Susarla, and what a lovely book it is!We all know what it is like to be an angry child. The injustice of a game like Snakes and Ladders! The unfairness of a sore loser! We get upset, angry and annoyed, and it is all these emotions that rile us up.Anna and Kichu are fast friends, but when they have a big, bad fight, they don't quite know how to make up. For quite a while, they don't. But eventually, they must find a way to get together again, and my favourite thing about the book is that they do it without adults' interference.The Big Bad Fight shies clear away from being cute. (I've written multiple times about not liking stories that are cute. Cuteness appeals to nostalgic adults, not to children.) It is full of big emotions, energy, and action, which come together in the best … [Read more...]
The Paper Plane Flew
Don't you love stories that come full circle? As an adult reader, I was waiting to see how the paper plane that flew would come all the way back to Mithi because it had to, didn't it? Even so, the last line of the story delighted me. Yes, I expected the last line to be The paper plane flew. Yet, the way the paper plane flew was utterly unexpected.As a child, I loved songs like 'There's a hole in my bucket' and stories about bad coins that come back to wicked people who deliberately tried to palm coins off. The Paper Plane Flew would have been one such favourite. The best part of the story is when an elephant eats the paper plane and poops it out, only to have the dung picked up and converted into paper. I had a diary made of elephant dung too, and oh! The possibilities!Like all the other Hook Books, I love the way the text plays with the illustrations. Each time the paper plane … [Read more...]
Four Hook Books
At a workshop recently, I showed participants a few hOle books and Hook Books. I had Malhar in the Middle (one of my favourites), The Clockwala's Clues (because how could I not?), Cyrus the Whyrus (a delightful new Hook Book) and Passepartout, Is That You? (because I love how readers are active participants in the hunt for Passepartout).And not one of the teachers in the room had heard of either series. This made me realise (again) how much we need to leave reviews and talk about books we read! Wet Paint 4/5 Wet Paint, written by Asha Nehemiah and illustrated by Chetan Sharma, is a sweet, fun book. The illustrations are especially delightful: even on the cover, I love Paru's shiny, bright eyes! The enthusiasm and energy we see there take us through the twists and turns of a story about finding something … [Read more...]
Passepartout, Is That You?
I attended part of Menaka Raman's session on Passepartout, Is That You? at Bookaroo Vadodara, and I was curious. I knew Passepartout was a tortoise, but that was all. What would the story be about?I finally read this delightful Hook Book just now, and I loved it!When repetition in picture books is well done, I love it. A few favourites come to mind instantly - All Mine and It's a Laddoo Party are at the forefront. In this book, we have Passepartout, is that you? And of course, each time the protagonist asks the question, it is not Passepartout, but something else altogether.. Because how could you have a story about a missing tortoise if we find the tortoise immediately?What I loved most was hunting for Passepartout in Jemma Jose's illustrations. Have you read You Can't Find Me? It's one of my favourite stories on StoryWeaver, and I've used it countless times at workshops. … [Read more...]