The Strand Book Festival

Here's some information on the Strand Book Festival that ST's guest contributor from Bangalore, Rachna Maneesh Dhir, would like to share with our readers! Thanks, Rachna!

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For Books on Art, Design, Architecture, Interiors, Fashion Design,
Fiction, Management, Self-help, Popular Science, Reference, Spirituality,
Cookery, Crafts, Children’s and more.

A full range of titles for adults and children.

1–14 Dec 2011
Fabulous Discounts Min. 30 - 80% !
10am – 8.30pm

Venue:

Wesley Tamil Church Hall,beside Garuda Mall,
opp.Vogue Institute.,Commissariat Rd
Loads of free parking in Church grounds


Spread the word ! See you soon !

www.strandbookstall.com

Follow us on Facebook!

Island's End

Island's End
Author- Padma Venkatraman
Publisher- Penguin Young reader
Ages- 12 plus

Here is another engaging and thought provoking read from TV Padma, who has been featured in ST a while ago.

Set in a remote island in the Andamans, off India's coast, Island's End brings alive the simple and compelling lifestyle of a tribe yet untouched by "civilization/ development". Initially the descriptions of the village, their customs and the main character of the book- a fifteen year old girl by name Uido, reminded me of another wonderful protagonist- Ayla, in the Earth's Children series.

The imaginative narrative with what seems to be a good amount of research as well, makes for a very real picture of the tribe's age old ways of eco freindly living.

The spirited Uido is marked to be the next healer of her people and is trained by the current leader, Lah- me. Uido's training, her struggle to cure her young brother, gain acceptance of her older one, find and control her spirit animal and prove to her tribe that she is a capable leader, is what the story is about.

There is inevitable conflict, when the younger lot gets curious about the alluring yet potentially dangerous ways of the strangers. The strangers ( modern people on neighbouring isles) are not all villainous- there are good and helpful ones among them. Only making it a more difficult choice.

Uido emerges as the spiritual leader of the En-ge people, though with a bit of pathos and certainly a lot of struggle, when Uido's visions from the spirit world help her protect them.

The author had inspiration from her trip to India's Andaman Islands, where she had "passing contact with an ancient mode of life that pulses with its own special beauty."

Beautiful, raw and energetic, a good read for anyone who is twelve years and above.

A Plump and Perky Turkey

A Plump and Perky Turkey
by Teresa Bateman
illustrated by Jeff Shelly

Ages 4-8

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corporation

Stories told in rhyme have a charm and allure that is hard to miss. A Plump and Perky Turkey is one such which, despite its simple story line, managed to put us in a Read->Laugh-along->Repeat cycle.

The people in Squawk Valley
were downhearted and depressed.
Thanksgiving was approaching,
but without its special guest.

Special guest? Why, the turkey, of course!

Far and wide and long and hard they search but not one single turkey was to be found.

But then, Ebenezer Beezer has an idea: why not let the turkey find them instead? And that is what they set out to do. A Squawk Valley Art Show with a turkey theme.

An ad is circulated: Model Wanted for the Art Show.

Why, even turkeys understand
(as everybody knows)
you can't make turkey art
without a turkey there to pose.

None respond, except for silly old Pete, the Plump and Perky, Clever and Cocky.

With a proud and jaunty gobble,
he gave out a hearty cry—
"A plump and perky turkey?
Well, I'm sure I qualify."

He is hired without delay and put to work right away posing for the artsy-craftsy folk to make their turkey art.

They make turkeys out of spuds,
and out of clay and out of rope.
They made turkeys out of oatmeal,
and out of paper, out of soap.

When it is time for Pete to judge the Pete-inspired art, the salivating people exult at having trapped the hapless bird. He studies each work of art as the crowd close in and cheer; he stops for a closer look and then he... disappears!

How? you ask. Well, since I believe it is cruel to leave the reader hanging (esp., if they cannot get their hands on the book easily), here's what Pete did:
The room was full of turkeys,
in a wall-to-wall collage.
For a clever bird like Pete
it was a perfect camouflage.

And manages to escape.

Needless to say, the people of Squawk Valley are certainly disappointed. Crashed are their hopes to relish a roast turkey. But, being pragmatic folk, they agree when Beezer says breezily:
Right now, at least I'm thankful
that we still have shredded wheat."

Turkeys are notorious for lack of smartness, sometimes even to their own detriment. The story puts an interesting twist on this fact. And why cannot they be found around Thanksgiving in Squawk Valley? Well, being clever flightless birds, they gather in groups, hop on hot air balloons and head to warmer shores come autumn.

The illustrations by Jeff Shelly are silly, comical, expressive and busy. The beautiful oranges and browns capture the autumn in the air.

The catchy lilt and rhythm, the double-trickery, the illustrations, and the autumn cheeriness of the setting all have added up to a merry read-aloud favorite.

Oluguti Toluguti: Indian Rhymes...

OLUGUTI OLUGUTI

Indian Rhymes to Read and Recite

Edited by Radhika Menon & Sandhya Rao

Illustrated by Kshitiz Sharmaa

All ages

A lot has been said about the novel way in which Tulika involved readers/ bloggers to chip in with their fond rhymes from their childhood in their mother tongue/ regional Indian languages. Translating and transliterating it must have been a huge task as well.

What makes it even more precious are the illustrations that just invite you, taking you along this mini tour of India. Here is a chat with the young man behind the art.

Meet Kshitiz Sharma - the illustrator of Tulika's Oluguti Toluguti. His maiden children's venture. From Symbiosis Institute of Design with a degree in Communication Design, he is a designer who enjoys reading, travelling and witnessing Indian street culture/fashion.

ST- How did you bring alive so many cultures?

The task at the beginning was very daunting and you know it being my first ever book and being still in college back then, I was scared whether I am doing the right thing, infact I was scared right uptill the middle of the book. But then, i thoroughly enjoyed illustrating such beautiful rhymes from all corners of India. There were regular discussions about the culture and the rhymes at Tulika which helped a lot. It was like a mini tour of India, illustrating this book.

How was the page composition arrived at?

The page composition was what took priority once the illustration style was set, right at the beginning of the book. Several permutations were tried. It being quite a big book, the pages had to look fresh each time someone opened the book, at the same time the book could not afford to confuse. The information ( the translation, transliteration and the rhyme in original script) had to have a set pattern, for usability reasons. So all this was thought off and with the guidance of Radhika, we settled on this page composition which was deemed appropriate then.

Can you tell us how the illustrations evolved and what styles you used for this book?
The evolution of illustrations was a very natural process.From initial trials and roughs to settling on an appropriate look which works for the book was very a organic process.The styles used in the book were inspired from the art forms of India, no one in particular.It was an intuitive assimilation of all the art forms of India I have grown up with and absolutely adore

Any anecdotes from your experience?
The best part during the creation of the book was when I spoke to my friends from all parts of India and asked if they had heard this rhyme or that rhyme from their region. The feeling of nostalgia that evoked was amazing. And of course at the book launch, last month, seeing kids react to lovely rhymes was priceless, makes me want to draw more and more for kids.

Can you share your favourite illustrators/ picture books and why?
My favorite artist is Jamini Roy. I am a huge fan of his body of work and his work unfailingly always inspires me. Of the new age illustrators I like Mr Sanjay Patel's work. His book on Ramayana is a visual treat. There are way too many picture books and artists to list here. My biggest heroes are the artists from India. The tribal artists and their creations need no more words of praise.

Thank you Kshitiz ! We are sure that in a few years, your body of work and your fan group will expand!

Calvin Can't Fly, Spoon, Manana Iguana

October days not only lifted our hearts with beautiful Autumn weather, but also brought some wonderful books our way. Three books stand out in my mind as the three year old favored them the most for weeks, urging me to share them here. These three books from the 3 year old also happens to appeal very much to the resident 6 year old. And to all ages, as a matter of fact. The clever message, crisp story and humorous illustrations made these my favorite read-aloud books.

Calvin Can't Fly
The Story of a Bookworm Birdie

by Jennifer Berne
illustrated by Keith Bendis.

I think it is the comical colorful illustrations that appealed the most. Calvin is a brand new baby starling hatched along with his siblings and cousins.

While the others discover worms and dirt and water, Calvin discovers books. While others dream about eating bugs, Calvin dreams about adventure stories and poetry. While others learn to fly (with their teacher Mr.Wingstead), Calvin is busy in the library (which is inside the trunk of a large tree, with posted Hours and Nocturnal Hours by the arched doorway).

Finally, when it is time to migrate, Calvin hasn't quite mastered the art of flying, owing to lack of practical knowledge although he is brimming with theoretical details. His cousins end up towing him much to his embarrassment.

At this point, the parent radar started beeping when I read it for the first time: So, Calvin's love of books does not turn out well for him? I can't pass that message to my kids...

However, the message in fact turns out to be quite a (wild yet) positive one. Calvin, thanks to his bookish knowledge, manages to steer his whole migrating flock of fellow starlings away from danger. And they thank him profusely and throw a party in his honor.

Calvin's cousins call him names: "nerdy birdie", "geeky beaky", "bookworm". When you are a bird being called a "worm" is a very bad thing.

"We don't do name-calling, that's not okay. Calvin's cousins are mean to him." chimes in the 3 year old every time we read this page. Another message registered.

And the heartwarming part is at the end when Calvin can actually fly! He never tried it before and therefore never knew he could do it. But once he tried it and practised hard, he flew just as well as the others who continued their journey of migration.

I ended up loving this book as much as (if not more than) the three year old.

Spoon

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
illustrated by Scott Magoon

A charming little book by one of my favorite authors. Her Cookies book was Ana's favorite a few years ago, still picked up from our bookshelves on and off.

It amazes me to see Ms.Rosenthal do it over and over again: take a simple route to present a profoundly beautiful message without sermonizing, always gentle and tender, woven with humor and wit.

The message again is quite subtly yet clearly conveyed: Spoon is not satisfied with who he is. He longs to be like others. He sees them as having more fun. Knife gets to cut and spread. Fork gets to go practically everywhere. Everyone thinks chopsticks are cool and exotic.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Spoon, his friends rather envy him. Knife says, "No one is allowed to be silly with me." Fork is impressed as Spoon is used to measure out stuff. Nobody uses Fork to measure stuff.

Well, you get the idea. The book celebrates the individual and their unique traits that make them who they are, at the same time lets us see the flip-side of everything.

Spoon finally sees his own merits when his mom reminds him of all the things he can do. So, finally Spoon feels alive again, rather than mope around thinking of all the things he cannot do.

Some of the tongue-in-cheek wordplay in this book is probably lost on the 3 year old, who takes it at face value and laughs at the pictures and yet gets the message about why Spoon is special in his own way. A brilliant book for all ages.

The illustrations are funny and witty, with dark black line and greyish silvery look. The page with Fork having all the fun digging into a slice of cake, standing up with a forkful of salad, and esp., ready to delve into the pie was the kids' favorite. I liked the Spoon family photo where the spork is the black-sheep, rather a misfit. Would they welcome him in the Fork Family photo?

Mañana, Iguana (book+CD)

by Ann Whitford Paul
illustrated by Ethan Long

Bilingual books are fun. So are books with CD for read-along. Mañana, Iguana has both these features making it a recent favorite with all of us.

We learnt the days of the week in Spanish, as well as Yo Si (I will) and Yo No (Not I) thanks to conejo and culebra and tortuga.

Much like the classic folk tale The Little Red Hen, the story covers friendship, teamwork and not the least, contribute if you want the benefit of the labor.

On Monday (lunes), Iguana decides to throw a party for her friends the following Saturday (sabado). There are party invitations to be written and delivered, food to be prepared, decorarions to be hung.

Iguana asks her friends conejo (rabbit), culebra (snake) and tortuga (tortoise) for help every day. Predictably, they each have an excuse for every task. Rather than help out now, they say, "Mañana, Iguana" and while away their time.

Well, the rest of the story is apparent: the friends get a rude shock when they try to gate-crash Iguana's party, not being invited and not having helped host it. All's well that ends well. They realize the error of their ways and come through in the end.

The illustrations are vibrant with the Southwest landscape, complementing the story well, revealing Iguana's feelings at every turn. The repetitive response when Iguana solicits help and the distinct characteristics of the animals makes this a wonderful read-aloud book.

The timelessness of this story and the Spanish-learning opportunity appealed the most to me.

[image sources: www.ethanlong.com Long, www.scottmagoon.com, amazon.com]

Letters from a Father to His Daughter

Letters from a Father to His Daughter
Written by Jawaharlal Nehru
Published by Puffin Books India
Ages 8+ yrs

A father and his daughter. The bond has to be seen to be believed. When I see A and her father together, the affection is palpable. They often get into discussions about deep things- of late it has been religion, as we have friends of many faiths, and gender issues, especially those encountered at school!

By the nature of his work in the struggle for the freedom of India, Nehru was often away from his family, and his daughter was away at boarding school. Letters being the prime means of communication at the time, Nehru wrote these, which, according to the foreword written by him, were 'personal letters addressed to a little girl, ten years of age.' They, however, speak of many things. In the preface, written in 1973, Indira Gandhi writes, "they deal with the beginnings of the earth and of man's awareness of himself. They were not merely letters to be read and put away...they taught one to treat nature as a book."

The letters speak of the beginnings of the universe, the formation of the earth and its landforms, of pre-history, the beginnings of mankind, the migration of human beings- he shows great learning and vision in his conclusions- "It may be that the German and the Negro are descended from different types of men, but some time or other they must have had the same ancestor. The differences must therefore have come in by the process of adaption to their surroundings...so we find that people's complexions are the result of the climate they live in. They have nothing to do with the worthiness or goodness or beauty of a person." Explained wonderfully in this vein in language easy enough for a 10 yr old to understand.

He goes on to speak of races, religion- early beliefs and faiths, religions as we know them now, languages- the beginnings of communication by making meaningful sounds, of making meaningful marks leading to writing, of the relationships of the different languages of the world. He speaks of civilisation, the division of labour - leading to the patriarch- which led later to kings and kingdoms. And of ancient civilisations all over the world. About trade and travel.

He speaks of the coming of the Aryans to India, and the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha- I loved the simple way in which he has explained the gist of these great epics- again, putting them in an interesting perspective.

Of the Ramayana, he says, "The Ramayana, as you know, is the story of Ramchandra and Sita against Ravana, king of Lanka, that is now Ceylon...it may be that the story of the Ramayana is really the story of the fights of the Aryans against the people of the South whose leader was Ravana."

And the Mahabharatha- "It tells of a great fight between Aryans and Aryans. But apart from the fight, it is a wonderful book, full of great ideas and noble stories. Above all, it is dear to all of us because of that jewel of a poem which it contains--the Bhagavad Gita."

The book comprises 30 letters in all, short, independent reads each, or read in a sequence. Each is a story lucidly told, a father's affection for his daughter coming across in each. These letters were written over the summer of 1928, and retain all of their freshness for every child who has the opportunity of reading them. They have to be, of course, read in the context of terminologies used in the early 1900s, some of which might not be politically correct today.

This 2004 edition by Puffin is hardcover, printed on crisp white paper, and an easy-on-the-eyes font. With a fresh foreword by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Nehru's great-grand-daughter.

A loved it.

A logical follow-up to this book would be Nehru's Glimpses of World History, which was written from October 1930 to August 1933, as letters addressed from prison to his 13-16 year old daughter,  published much later.

Pic courtesy flipkart. Crossposted..

By Children, For Children

As an ongoing part of Children's Day, here are some stories from a friend's nine year old.

And from my 6 yr old - a story and the sketch above.

A story by a 10 yr old, illustrated by a 6 yr old!

A, my 10 yr old, has always been big on books and stories. Like all kids, she is also extremely curious about everything around her. This, coupled with a hyperactive imagination, has spawned quite a few stories. She has been writing since she was just 4-5 yrs, the early efforts being not much than a few lines, sometimes with improbable plots, and unintelligible logic. As her mother, all her stories are to me wonderful. They are certainly getting into better form lately.

Here's one that she wrote a few months back, and I'm very proud to share it with all of you as part of this Children's Day celebrations. The illustrations are by another SaffronTree kid, the extremely talented artist Anushka, Artnavy's six-year-old, who just sat down with her colours and drew them as soon as she read the story.

I chose this story because it fits in well with our Five Elements theme that we had for CROCUS just gone by. Obviously, the story has been inspired by Rudyard Kipling's 'Just So Stories.'  As also by the fairy tale 'Henny Penny' and all the fantasy fiction that A loves. The words, format and grammar is all A's, with no editing from my side.

So here goes!

THE RAINBOW BIRD

Long long ago, when there was hardly anything on earth, a little shoot emerged from the ground. It had only a single green leaf. It was the first life form seen in the Thra-Thago desert. The sun realised that there was no one to care for the new shoot.

"Who will help me give it food?" he asked.
"Not us," said the stars.
"Not I," said the moon.
"Then who will help me?"
"Do it yourself," came the reply.

The sun was now alone, for the stars and moon had left.

So, the sun sent one of his ray-messengers to search for someone else who might help. At last, after a couple of weeks, the ray came back with some clouds from above the faraway sea of Brimbleting.

The sun shone down on the shoot and the clouds sprayed water on it. They did this everyday.

The plant grew rapidly. One day, they noticed something. A flower, with seven petals, each a different colour. After a few days, the petals withered and fell off. Inside, they found a minute and colourful fruit.

Another couple of weeks passed. Then came the special day. The fruit popped open. Something came out. It was a small bird with the same colours as the flower.

As it flew, it arched over the sun and clouds, and left behind it a stream of colours. This was the first rainbow.

Every time the sun and clouds are out together, the clouds spraying water, the rainbow bird makes another rainbow. Just like it had, long, long ago.

Story copyright held by A. Crossposted.

Lengdon's Legacy

Lengdon's Legacy
Retold with Illustrations by
Tertia Sandhu

North-Eastern India is as mysterious to many Indians as say a remote country in South America. The place, the sound and picture of these places never enter into our conscious - thanks to our cultural tastes being driven entirely by Bollywood and Hollywood. The cultural dominance of a few regions (nothing wrong with them) totally eclipses the other subtle flavors in the big cultural cauldron that defines India. 

During our visit to NBT book shop, we came across this book that was asking to be picked up with its simple and wonderful cover. And what a treat it turned out to be! 

The book is a compilation of folk tales of Tai Khamti people from Arunachal Pradesh. They migrated from China to Assam many centuries back and currently are present in parts of Burma and Arunachal Pradesh. Tertia Sandhu, the re-teller of the folk tales and illustrator of this book is a Tai Khamti herself and writes with passion and illustrates with a great professional flair. The black and white illustrations are simple and highly detailed. Check out this wonderful illustration of a elephant that is running amok (click on the image and see the higher resolution of the image). It is exquisite. 

Tricksters and stories about them are common among various folk tales across the world. It is no different with the folk tales by Tai Khamti. The stories about Phanthoi, the ultimate con man in the Tai Khamti's world are funny and his escapades and tricks on the tigers are funny and a great hit at home with the kids. 

Folk tales give us a peek into the lives, beliefs and people of a particular race or area. This book is a treasure that illustrates the diversity of India and reinforces the need to maintain it and remember it. It will makes us all much more richer. 

National Book Trust, India

When was the last time you walked into a book shop -

where you were greeted by a friendly and smiling face,

when you mentioned that you were looking for books as gifts, for a specific age group, they pointed you in the right direction and volunteered lot of information about the books themselves,

when you were flustered that you did not carry your membership card (that helps to avail of a 20 % discount each time) and also did not remember the Membership number, they asked you not to worry but patiently searched their old registers to locate the details (not a quick computer search),

where you can quietly sit and browse through the books without a crowd breathing down your neck ?

Genuine personal touch enhances the quality of each of our experiences in life. The NBT book shop is one such wonderful place, where each book shopping experience has been a pleasure. Books are as much about the shopping experience and the pleasant memories they generate, as the books themselves. Each time I pick a NBT book to read, I am fondly reminded of the friendly and helpful lady who assisted me in picking the books.

National Book Trust, India is one of the oldest book publishers of India, with a wide variety of titles published in English as well as numerous Indian Languages.The idea of creating an institute like NBT was conceived by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to promote a nation wide love for books and encourage book reading habits. Among st the various categories of books published, Nehru Bal Pustakalaya is the series which caters to children's literature. Today on the occasion of Nehruji's birthday, which is celebrated as Children's Day in India, it seems befitting to highlight NBT and the revamped book store in Bangalore (Southern Regional office of NBT). Also this week (Nov 14 to Nov 20) is the National Book Week being organised by the NBT. A lot of wonderful events have been lined up for this in New Delhi, the details of which have been outlined in Pratham Books blog.

The NBT book shop in Bangalore is located in the Banashankari BDA complex. Recently the book shop was renovated making it spacious, well lit and having comfortable space to sit and quietly browse the books, just like how a good book shop should be! A lot of their books have been reprinted using high quality printing material making them look even more catchy. At very reasonable prices and the books covering a range of topics, I would definitely suggest you to take a look at their books. If you get a membership card paying a one time fee of Rs.100, you can get a discount of 20 % each time you shop for books. Quite a few NBT books have been reviewed at ST - The World of Trees, The Joy of Classical Dances of India and Dear Popat.

Here are some snapshots of the shop (taken with the permission from the Regional Manager).

One of their fairly new books is Lengdon's Legacy, which is being enjoyed by all of us at home. The review of this book  by Sathish, will follow this post.   

A chat with Samhita Arni

Samhita Arni is known as the child sensation who authored and illustrated Tara's The Mahabharatha- A Child's view. The book has been translated into seven langaugaes and the author has been felicitated globally for her work. While she is an author of repute even today, the charm of a child writer and that too a creator of such a work is captivating. It is indeed a joy to have her at Saffron Tree, that too on Children's Day! The questions that ST has posed are more from a child's perspective but we trust will interest parents as well.

Samhita at 11

ST: What did you read as a child? Did you prefer listening to stories than reading them ? Or did you enjoy making up your own?

SA: I read anything and everything as a child. And I was fortunate that my parents never restricted my reading habits - I was allowed to read anything that I picked up.

I loved listening to stories, but I think I read more. I loved stories of king and queens, princesses and particularly witches. Mythology - especially Indian and Greek mythology - was a big favorite. In school, sometimes, when I was bored, I used to daydream about being a monster, or a witch, or a prince and (occasionally) even a princess. (I have to mention though, that I detested Barbie dolls - and as my mother wants me to add, used to dissect and perform operations on all the Barbie dolls that people gifted me. I was a very, very strange child)

I used to like making little books made of stapled pieces of paper, with stories that were made-up or retellings of myths.

Do you prefer to write or enjoy sketching more?

As a child, I liked both equally. As an adult, I prefer to write.

Kids usually use colour, why did you choose B&W?

It wasn't a conscious decision. I used to draw in colour as well, but when I started to write the Mahabharata, I often would draw in the same book that I was writing in - in the same ballpoint pen that I used to write with. I think also that black and white allowed me to create drawings with a lot of detail. I was a child obsessed with things like jewelry and ornate fabrics. If you look at the images in the Mahabharata, all the characters wear lots of jewelry, and wear elaborately designed outfits. Black and white allows those details to show up better. If i had done it in colour, illustrations would have taken a lot more time. (And as you might suspect, a lot of these illustrations were done in between tuition classes, homework sessions etc, so time was an important factor.)

When you realised your book was getting published, how did you feel?I don't think I was actually terribly excited. I hadn't written the book for it to get published - it was a compulsion, and obsession. I was also very caught up in my own world.

Your top 10 picture books for children?

The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf
A Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
Where the Wild Things, Maurice Sendak
Book of Nonsense, Edward Lear
George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
Wingless: A Fairly Weird Fairy tale, Paro Anand
Olivia, Ian Falconer
Madeline, Ludwig Bemelwans

Any advice to aspiring child writers ? And their parents?

Honestly, there was nothing really special about me - if you meet me today, I'm a fairly normal, average person. Anyone can be a writer - but I think the most important thing is that you must be compelled to tell a story.

As for parents - don't try to make your children into accountants or lawyers, and force them to be what you want. Give your kids the space and opportunity to try out many things, and find out what they're best at and what gives them the most satisfaction. Don't force them to continue something they don't like or aren't good at.

Also, there are a lot of parents who force their child to go from activity to activity, and fill up all their free time. For me, boredom was important. As a child, I needed time and space to be, to digest. It's when I was bored that I turned to writing and drawing to find something to do - and that's how the Mahabharata began.

Kids that I meet today always surprise me with their insights, and their opinions and thoughts deserve, and have earned, a great deal of my respect. I think it's important for parents to give their children the freedom to think and ask questions - I'm so grateful that my parents encouraged traits that other parents would regard as eccentric, distracting habits, and have given me the freedom to think and choose my own path in life.

*********

Did you know? Samhita was not a draft- to- final kind of drawing kid. There was always just one go, and it either worked or it didn't. She never used an eraser or a pencil either. Drew straight on paper with pen.

When she was eight, Samhita Arni started writing and illustrating her first book. The Mahabharata - A Child's View, (Tara Books, 1996) went on to sell 50,000 copies worldwide, winning the Elsa Morante Literary Award, and receiving commendations from the German Academy for Youth Literature and Media and The Spanish Ministry of Culture.

Samhita's second book, "Sita's Ramayana", a graphic novel developed in collaboration with Patua Artist Moyna Chitrakar was published by Tara Books earlier this year.Samhita's third book and first novel, a speculative fiction feminist thriller tentatively titled "Searching for Sita" (tentative title) is forthcoming from Zubaan in 2012

For more on her, go here.

Book Image from Flipkart

No Talking

No Talking
Written by Andrew Clements
Illustrated by Mark Elliot
Published by Simon & Schuster
Ages 8-12 yrs

Middle Grade School. Boys v/s Girls. Each thinks the others stink. So what happens if they get into a conflict over something worthwhile? Just what happens in our book.

Dave Packer, while preparing for a class presentation on India, comes across the story of Mahatma Gandhi, and is inspired by the principles of non-violence, non-cooperation and the disciplining of the mind by not talking.

"And it made him wonder what that would be like--to go a whole day without saying a single word...if not talking would bring order to his mind too." For that was something the fifth form was notorious for- talking, talking, talking- in class, at lunch break, in the corridors, on the playground- every thought thought out aloud!

Dave decides to put the idea to a test. He soon comes up against jeering by the girls, one girl in particular- Lynsey Burgess. Who takes up his challenge on behalf of all the girls. Starting that lunch period, all everyone was to hold their tongues completely. For the next 48 hrs. The 'maun-vrat' would be broken only after lunch break on the second day. They could talk only if a teacher or parent spoke to them directly, and even then they could speak only three words at a time. After school hours, they were supposed to be 'on their honour' and report any transgressions truthfully. It was a Boys v/s Girls contest- to be fought to the finish!

The teachers become aware of something strange in the air almost immediately. The quiet was unnatural, for these were the Unshushables- who even had a separate lunch break to themselves, with teachers hovering in the hallway, trying to keep down the decibel levels. "Mrs Hiatt, the principal, didn't want the noisy behaviour of this group to infect the other children at her school."

How does the experiment proceed? How does each teacher react to it? How do the students handle the indignation of Mrs Hiatt, who takes the whole thing personally, and tries to break what she feels is the students' non-cooperation in behaving normally? What is learnt in the whole process-- by the students, and by the teachers? Who wins, Girls or Boys?

A wonderful book about conflict in middle grade school, by Andrew Clements whose book Frindle has earlier been reviewed on Saffrontree. A book about the power of the mind, the power of the spoken and unspoken word. About people power. A fun book about recognising when to fight and when to let go. About communication, about the use and misuse of language. About standing up for yourself if you are right.

Image courtesy flipkart. Crossposted.

Spidermania

It was a little spider that infused new hope into the Scottish king Robert the Bruce - remember the story? Little Miss Muffet was frightened of one of them, so much that she abandoned her snack and ran away. Aragog, the chief of the Acromantula colony that dwelled in the Forbidden Forest in the Harry Potter series, was also an eight-legged arachnid. Worldwide, there are various myths and beliefs woven around these stupendous creatures.

So what are we crawling towards? A bunch of books about spiders of course!

Wolfie
Ages: 4-8 

I chanced upon Wolfie at a book sale. It is a Science I Can Read book authored by Janet Chenery and illustrated by Marc Simont, and I picked it up without giving it much thought - it had a decent font size, the language seemed good and the pictures looked neat. Little did I know it would lead to many discussions about spiders!
Two little boys capture a spider and make it their ‘pet’. They catch insects to keep their pet nourished and watch over it with great delight. There is a little sister and a wholly relate-able sibling squabble thrown in. Interspersed into this simple storyline are their discussions with their teacher, and they learn that their pet is called a wolf spider. The reader learns all about the species - there are 30000 types of spiders and some of them, like Wolfie, do not spin webs, they just chase their prey and hunt them down.

The Spider's Web
Ages: 4-8

The book above led us to another wonderful tale spun around spiders, published by Tulika. Titled The Spider’s Web, it tells us of 6-year old Ali and his photographer dad who observe a delicate yet sturdy web glinting in the sunlight. Amazing photographs interspersed with illustrations by Ashok Rajagopalan (need I say more?!) flow along with the narrative.
As a wise friend once told me, it is simple things that are complicated to convey. Lata Mani has done a great job of it indeed.

Nature's Webmasters
Ages: 4-8, 8-12

Last of all is this book I have been meaning to review forever - Ranjit Lal’s Nature’s Webmasters, published by Pratham Books. Packed to the brim with information about spiders, the book features superb illustrations by Sanjay Sarkar. The tone is not boring or zoology textbook-like, it is playful and witty. Did you know that an acre of the countryside could hold up to two million spiders?!

Well I had just read about that, but here is a startling demonstration of the fact - last year the Sindh province in Pakistan had got flooded, leading to a migration of all spiders from the ground level to high up on the trees. Result: cotton candy trees!

(Click here to see more of these amazing pictures)


 ETA: And of course yet another book with a spider-hero is Charlotte's Web! Thanks Niveditha (of Tulika Books) for reminding me!

The Forbidden Temple

The Forbidden Temple

stories from the past

Author: T. V. Padma

Illustrator: Bhavana Vyas

Although history was a firm favourite to me during my initial years of school, it was never a favourite among friends. Almost every one would pull a long face when the discussion turned to history. Then along came a teacher named Mr. Arumugam who brought in a fresh breath of air to the subject with his propensity to rattle off dates and dazzle us with his breadth of historical information. History as a subject became more fascinating when it was mixed with his stories, imaginary and real, and his style of delivery. 

Padma T Venkatraman makes history fascinating in this wonderful compilation of tales set in historical settings. Her stories mesmerize and gives a brief glimpse of a historical period. A glimpse brief enough to entice one to find out more about that particular era.

Imagine an old Mughal miniature painting showing many people playing a game like polo with a burning ball. T V Padma uses this as a setting to write one of her memorable stories. Akbar, the great Mughal king, is frustrated that he cannot play the game of Chaugan after sunset. Daughter of one his courtiers is also equally in love with the game. Her desire to play the game and her solution to Akbar's problem forms the rest of the story. If we analyse this story historically, it is known that Akbar was a great player of Chaugan and loved the game; there are many miniature paintings showing Mughals playing polo; some miniature paintings of women of that era also likely to have played the game. All these facts are used by the author to stitch this wonderful story. 

In similar vein, all the other stories in this book are equally well researched and seem very authentic. She also provides some interesting tidbits along with the story which provides enough information for an eager one to explore further or a teacher to use it as a study reference. Infact, there is an extensive teachers guide provided by the author at this link. 

This book reminded me of another lovely book on history - Anu Kumar's In The Country of Gold Digging Ants. 

Nonsense!

Nonsense!
poems by Edward Lear
pictures by Valorie Fisher

Publisher: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books

There was an old man, who when little
Fell casually into a kettle;
But, growing too stout, 
    he could never get out,
So he passed all his life in that kettle.

Edward Lear needs no introduction. Twentieth child in a family of twenty-one, raised and educated by his eldest sister, Lear's talent as an artist was natural and well appreciated in his times, so much so that Queen Victoria asked for drawing lessons from him. When at Knowsley Hall, commissioned by Earl of Derby to draw the birds and animals in that estate, Lear started writing limericks to entertain the kids there. Under the pseudonym Derry Down Derry, he published these wonderfully silly and funny poems in A Book of Nonsense.

Nonsense! is a collection fifteen of his inventive nonsensical limericks illustrated in a brilliantly whimsical fashion by Valorie Fisher. Everything about this book is completely charming. The resident six year old thinks this book is 'goofy' and 'weird' and 'funny' and 'silly' (which, btw, are all good, raving responses) and chooses to read it many times over, on and off, just for fun.

What makes this book remarkable and memorable for me, besides Lear's fun with words, is Valorie Fisher's illustrations.

Each poem is presented in a double page spread. Left side has a bold patterned vintage wallpaper-like background upon which is set the stark black text in an old-fashioned curvaceous frame. Right side has a full-page illustration which showcases Ms.Fisher's ingenuity: a comical combination of real life objects and scenes with cartoons and cut-outs that create a surreal world. (A glimpse into her style is available here).

There was an Old Person whose habits,
Induced him to feed upon Rabbits;
When he'd eaten eighteen, he turned perfectly green,
Upon which he relinquished those habits.

The illustration accompanying this poem combines small rabbit figurines in the foreground corner, cut-out collage of rabbits and trees for the background, with old-fashioned cartoon-like rendering of a typical old man with glasses, hat and an agonized expression, green all over, holding his tummy desperately.

As if this is not enough, Ms.Fisher, keeping the young ones in mind, has added two little message labels - one on the watering can and another on a shovel-like tool - defining two of the words in the poem: Induced - Caused, Relinquished - Given up. And, the wallpaper-like background for the poem on the left side is bright green with blue spots all over it.

The illustration for the poem about the Young Lady of Welling shows her fishing with her foot while playing the harp, and has a little ribbon which explains one particular word in the poem that might challenge the little ones: Accomplished - very skilled.

When my six year old read, There was an old person of Nice, Whose associates were usually Geese, she paused a bit as she read Nice as the usual word nice (like mice), and caught herself not rhyming right. And one look at the accompanying illustration with signs for La Patisserie de Nice and La Plage de Nice suggested it must be French and helped her rhyme Nice with Geese. Plus, of course, one of the signs read associate: a friend or partner, which eased the need for me to go into tedious explanation of the new word for her.

The pictures fascinated her; especially the Old Man of Berlin who got baked in a cake, the Young Lady of Ryde, the Old Person of Rheims... however, the Old Man with a nose looked a bit scary she admitted. Not that the picture is gory, just that he has such a long nose it made her wonder how he would do the everyday functions.

A gem of a book to have on the bookshelf.

[image source: paperbackswap.com]

CROCUS: Celebrate Reading Of Culturally Unique Stories

CROCUS 2009: Around the World in Seven Days. 

Our first annual children's blog-book festival started as an abstract idea with a driving urge to host an online festival to foster the love of reading. As it gathered shape and form, our collective thoughts settled on the need for a theme.

The love for travel and connecting with the world was compelling enough that by end of summer 2009 the small group of nine contributors had settled on the theme, eager to hand-pick books to review and present at the festival. CROCUS was planted and harvested together as a team.

View all the CROCUS 2009 posts...

CROCUS 2010: A Cultural Odyssey 

Culture can be viewed in terms of its constituent elements - food, dress, language, customs, lifestyles, music, dance, art forms,legends and so on.

It is these diverse forms of expressions that we attempted to understand as part of our CROCUS festival of 2010.

 The colourful threads of diverse cultural forms woven into the beautiful fabric of humanity highlight the fact that despite all our differences we are still one. This universal truth can be explained through these wonderful books to our budding little citizens of the world.

View all the CROCUS 2010 posts...

CROCUS 2011: A Tribute to the Five Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Space. 

As Saffron Tree turns a glorious 5 years, it seems fitting to pay tribute to the 5 elements that we all have in common.

Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Space
Chi, Ka, Fu, Sui, Ku
Prithvi, Agni, Vayu, Jal, Akasha

It has different names, but a connected thread of resonance for all of us. Because these very elements are within us as well, forming the cradle of our life force.

To acknowledge and understand these 5 universal elements, and the roles they play in our lives, was the motivation for CROCUS 2011.

View all the CROCUS 2011 posts...

CROCUS 2012: Melange of Math & Eco-Science

The word ‘Mathematics’ evokes a range of reactions - from awe-inspiring worship to pure terror, sublime beauty to couldn't-care-less callousness. This year, we decided to explore Mathematics with the hope of sharing books that might inspire and entertain the little ones, removing any stigma attached to Math-learning...

And, to find a balance and put things in perspective, we dedicated part of the festival to celebrating our earth via Eco-science books to pass on the awareness to our children.

View all CROCUS 2012 posts...



CROCUS 2013: Migration & Exploration

Migration, exploration, moving in search of a better life, across histories, geographies, cultures, setting down roots in a new habitat - it is a all way of all life. Why not, then, look at stories of these migrations?

Humans have migrated for all sorts of reasons. Moving just that much more ahead to find food and shelter. Getting away from an area that has been affected by natural or man-made disasters. Finding new land to settle in when population exploded as an indirect result of the discovery of cultivation and establishment of agriculture. Exploration of new territories - either for conquest, expanding kingdoms, in the name of religion, in search of different cultures, for adventure, for trade, or just to plunder.

We looked at animal and human migration and our boundless energy for exploration that led to the moon landing and Mars rovers - things that only we, humans, continue to do because we are not happy staying put.

[Excerpted from the Welcome To CROCUS posts by our contributors]

View all 2014 CROCUS posts...


CROCUS 2014: Prehistoric Life and Ancient History

Civilizations are works in progress. If we don’t know what happened in the past, how can we move towards the future? We need knowledge of history in every aspect of our lives – science, sports, fashion, communications, engineering...

We stand before the Taj Mahal listening to a tourist guide tell us the story of Shahjahan’s love for Mumtaz Mahal and how the marble from Makrana in Rajasthan was transported to Agra in carts drawn by camels. That is history. When your mother puts green chillies in the potato curry we remember that we only began to use chillies and potatoes after the Portuguese introduced them into India. These gifts from their colonies in Mexico and South America included chillies, potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, peanuts, cashew nuts... that is our culinary history. When Anushka Ravi Shankar plays Rag Mian ki Malhar on her sitar, she is playing a raga created by Mian Tansen who was the court singer of Emperor Akbar. That is our musical history.

Our kids have many resources at hand that show them the lively past, so they can draw parallels and contrasts, analyze and examine the civilizations and personas that shaped their present self. With this kind of exposure, there is now room for curiosity to flourish, and respect to blossom.

In that spirit, we bring you a week dedicated to books that embrace this philosophy and showcase History in full glory. We start at the very beginning, opening the curtains to when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Neanderthal man carved a life for himself in the wild. We leap into  tantalizing Mesopotamia and surrounding region where we'll be wowed by the Pyramids and Grecian architecture. Not far away lies Rome and a hop across continents will bring us to ancient civilizations. Every day, we will be talking to authors and publishers who have brought these stories alive for us. And, with the lessons from the past, we will look to a bright future, where history is no longer mindless or impersonal.

Come, read our reviews, earmark the ones your family will enjoy and bring them home to read together.  History's many stories are waiting to be explored, one story at a time.

[Excerpted from Subhadra Sen Gupta's and Sandhya's posts on CROCUS 2014]

View all CROCUS 2014 posts...