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...]
My Favourite Picture Books and Early Chapter Books from 2023
It's only as I was looking back at all the wonderful books I read in 2023 that I realised that five of my favourite picture books and early chapter books were Hook Books! I love the series, and I'm always excited to read new additions to it.A usual, I begin my list with a disclaimer - not all the books that feature in this list and the ones that follow were published in 2023. I just happened to read them in 2023. One difference this time, however, is that I received many review copies last year, so an overwhelmingly large number were actually published last year too! Here are my top six for ages six and under (though, of course, I'm not under six, but I loved these books anyway!). What Feelings Do When No One's LookingWhat Feelings Do When No One's Looking was the very best kind of birthday gift. It's a book I would not have bought for myself, but one that I treasure, not … [Read more...]
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking
What Feelings Do When No One's Looking is such a gorgeous, whimsical book! Do our feelings live inside us, or do they go on journeys of their own? Or do they do both?Each page of this endearing picture book is beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. As I read about curiosity, joy, gratitude, anxiety, shame and more, I wondered about so many other feelings. And I found nearly each one addressed. Kindness calms storms, doesn't it? What else would it do for you? In me, I hope it reaches out and shares. It knows when to be silent, and when to speak.Seventy-two pages kept me reading, staring at the heart-warming illustrations. Quirky and lovely, believable and outlandish--What Feelings Do When No One's Looking is easily one of the loveliest picture books I've read this year!TitleWhat Feelings Do When No One's LookingAuthorIllustratorTina OziewiczAleksandra … [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...]
My Year in Writing: 2022
What can I say about a year when I FINALLY managed to take my books to audiences? At lit fests in Gurugram, Vadodara, Jaipur and Pune, I shared my books, interacted with children, and did school visits once more. Almost all through 2022, I was on a high!And yet, the true highlight of the year as a writer was the publication of a book I started writing in 2015, after I visited the beautiful forests of Nagzira. Red EyesRed Eyes is an environmental thriller, and it is one of the very few books I've written that was never rejected. I started writing it in 2015, but I'm what they call a pantser. I muddle about, writing what I can, letting the story take the lead. So, in the beginning, I had nothing but an assortment of tales told to us by guides we met in Nagzira and Tadoba.Guide tales? Interesting, sure, but I wanted more. So I started putting them all together in a story told … [Read more...]
My Favourite Picture Books and Early Chapter Books from 2022
I love this exercise - of looking back at all the books I read and loved in the year that went by. This year, I found it even more difficult to distinguish between various age-groups. Longer picture books are like early chapter books; late middle-grade books are like early young adult books. And so, this year, I begin with two disclaimers.The first is my annual disclaimer: not all these books were published in 2022. Several were published earlier; I just read them in 2022.And the second: reading levels differ widely, so children read different books at different ages. Some of these books can be read by ages five and above. Others might be better for slightly older children. The Manic Panic I read The Manic Panic less than a month ago, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. There's so much to love about this book - the story, the very-responsible-protagonist, … [Read more...]
The Manic Panic
I love Richa Jha's books. I don't know how many I've read, but each one has been special - Love Like That, Boo! When My Sister Died, Machher Jhol ... I didn't know Richa would be at Neev Literature Festival, or I would have carried my copy of Giggi and Daddy for her to sign for me, but as it turned out, it was a good thing I didn't carry the book. I ended up picking up The Manic Panic!The Manic Panic is an adorable book. When I was a child, I remember learning the song "Be kind to your parents", and I enjoyed it almost as much as my mother did. And The Manic Panic reminded me of that song - the irreverent, yet wholesome humour, and the sense of madness that inspires an idea like this.What happens to all the grown-ups when there's no internet? We all know the answer to that one, don't we? The important question is: what are you going to do about it?As I read The Manic … [Read more...]
Roshan’s Road to Music
Recently, while reading A Cello on the Wall with my book club, we did a quiz on musical instruments. The piano, the cello (of course), the guitar, and the tabla were easy to identify. The violin was easy for some, confusing for others. But the sarod, sitar, veena and mridangam were difficult for nearly all the children. And this made me realise how rarely we see these instruments in picture books. Yes, many children know that Saraswati plays the veena, but in so many depictions, it looks like she's playing the sitar. I played the sitar myself, and I still got confused!It was with all this at the back of my mind that I started reading Roshan's Road to Music, the story of how Annapurna Devi began her musical journey. What I loved immediately about the book was the use of the name Roshan, rather than the better known name Annapurna Devi. Little Roshan finds music everywhere. Don't we … [Read more...]
Ritu Weds Chandni
I've been wanting to read Ritu Weds Chandni ever since I saw posts by Yali Books two years ago. It seemed like such an important book - a picture book about two women getting married!When I started reading it, however, I did so without reading the blurb. The book opens with little Ayesha getting ready to dance at her cousin's baraat. She seems so happy; her family seems so happy. I wondered ... Would this be a simplistic story glossing over homophobia? Would Ayesha just be a bystander enjoying a wedding?But I was not disappointed. I loved the book, and I smiled as little Ayesha learns what it is to be an ally, saving her Ritu Didi's wedding.There were so many little things that I could not help noticing about the book. Lots of writers spend ages thinking of names for their characters--I know I do! Names have so many connotations, and I love that the characters here have … [Read more...]
My Year in Writing: 2021
The year 2020 was such a boost to me as a writer! With a poem published by OUP, a picture book, a chapter book, a middle-grade book and a collection of short stories, how could 2021 even hope to compete?Even so, with two publications, an award shortlist, a book going into reprint and tons of reviews, 2021 was quite lovely too! How Big Is a Whale Shark? I wrote my first nonfiction picture book! It wasn't easy, but I enjoyed the process tremendously. Best of all, though, are the stunning illustrations. Mandar Mhaskar made How Big Is a Whale Shark? what it is with a beautiful colour palette and humorous illustrations. I love the artwork!Of course, the best part about being published on StoryWeaver is the number of languages into which the book gets translated. It's already available in four languages and will soon (hopefully) be out in … [Read more...]