Monday, May 17, 2010

The Gudbuds Get Out of a Mess

Story by Swati Jalnapurkar, Art by Jeyanthi Manokaran
Published by The Centre for Learning Resources , Supported by Parag Initiative

Age 3 plus

The Gudbuds get out of a mess was a book that I picked up because it looked different and interesting visually. The 3D characters looked like photographs of clay sculptures moulded not too carefully, but rather lovingly. The title Gudbud ( meaning confusion, muddle) was also inviting.


The book opens with an introduction to a family of four - Mama Gudbud, Papa Gudbud, Gauri Gudbud and Gundu Gudbud. Did I hear you say this is like the Berenstein Bears ?? Well, in some ways. Just like the bears, there is a series of Gudbud books and all of them focus on some basic human value.

In this episode, the seemingly self centred members face a domestic crisis, a huge mound of unwashed clothes. They overcome the same by working together. Even a chore-washing clothes-becomes bearable when all chip in.

More importantly it clarifies that some things just need to be done for a family to function efficiently, even if it is not an enjoyable activity.

A nicely executed, crisp book, the characters are endearing and not too stereotypical. For instance, the mother loves to read, the daughter loves to climb trees (but the father thinks washing clothes is not for men.)

And it is not just the kids who are in need of the lesson. The parents are also in the wrong. It is thus collective learning and finally wisdom that prevails in the end. Makes it much more palatable for children in my opinion.

I am waiting to get hold of the rest of the series.

12 comments:

Vibha said...

Incidentally we read a book in Hindi - 'Mummy Gadbad ne Chutti Manayi' in which Gadbad Mummy decides to go on a trip with her friends and the other family members realize how much work Mummy does and how they should help share some burden. I liked the last part after the story ends, when there are some questions to discuss, we spent a lot of time on that page. The illustrations are unique and reminded me of the dolls of our times before the 'perfect-figure' barbies entered.

Artnavy said...

Hey Vibha
precisely.. i loved the dolls with their rough look

as for the Q & A will try it on Anush sometime... I give it a miss usually

Choxbox said...

nice pick art. will look out for this one (at this rate i'm going to have to carry a list around with me - and i'm not complaining!)

@V - this mamma disappeared for a week recently so the kids will relate to your book big time! hey that gives me an idea- am going to ask them to make a story - write/illustrate it based on what happened when i was not around!

Uma said...

Looks like I need this before taking it to Pattu!

Arundhati said...

Sounds interesting. Something kids can relate to. And parents can extrapolate to include all the stuff that kids find boring and a waste of time (and there is plenty, isn't there?)!

sandhya said...

Vibha's comment reminds me of a very well known play in Marathi called "Aai retire hotey" which translated means "mother retires". In this the middle aged mother who is taken for granted by all the other members of her family decides to retire from her role as home-maker. The chaos which follows when no-one can manage anything is worth watching. I have watched this play many years back with the celebrated Bhakti Barve-Inamdar in the central role, and it was a wonderful experience.
Will look out for this one.

SoulSpace said...

sounds really interesting
thanks

utbtkids said...

Wow! Sounds interesting.

ranjani.sathish said...

Very interesting book...I think the Centre for learning resources publishes some very good books...I remember seeing few more of theirs in the book shop but cannot recollect the names

Artnavy said...

chox- :-) and i want to try making the gudbud characters with anush's play dough

Arundhati- very right

Uma- come one- whom r u kidding

sandhya- i want to see the play whenever it comes here if it does...

ss/utbt- tnx

ranjani- the books can be ordered online from the link on this post

Choxbox said...

@Vibha: Got a copy of the Mama Gudbud book :) Being read over and over :)

@Art, you are right, the characters are super cute! And we also skip the last page.

@Sandhya: There was a Gujju play called 'Ba Retire Thaay Chhe' with Jaya Bachchan in the lead role. Possibly the same as the one you mention.

Artnavy said...

Vibha/ Chox-
Mama artnavy travels anyway on work- but still may be a good ida to get that Gudbud book

chox-
So far, I haven't done Q & A from any book- Anush herself plays back or questions later- I like that... but on some of the factual books it may be interesting to start - i am not too sure where i stand on this ...

Related Posts with Thumbnails