India's Olympic Story

Title : India's Olympic Story
Text by - Sandhya Rao, Sattwick Barman, Sudarshan Narayanan, Vishal Mathew
Illustrations by Ashok Rajagopalan
Published by Tulika Books
Ages 10 +

Has your family been in the grip of Olympic fever for the last couple of  months ? Have you and your kids been avidly following the sports section of the newspapers to read about the contenders for this year's Olympics and felt awed by the yesteryears' stars and their achievements ? Have you been feeling obsessed like me, wanting to show Nadia Comaneci and Jesse owens movies to your kids, having felt so inspired when I watched them as a kid, on the television ?

Then here comes the perfect book on the Olympics with an Indian flavour making it so special. Ever since I heard of the book release by Tulika, I have been eagerly waiting to get a hold of it. Today as the book arrived, I just could not contain my excitement, what with the just concluded Opening ceremony and events being live telecast on sports channels. The spark of the Olympics is definitely in the air !

Starting with the history of the games briefly, the books takes us through the evolution of games from the ancient times to the modern times, the changes that have happened and the people who have shaped the games at various points in history. The humorous cartoons and the mind boggling facts presented in boxes, give a perfect balance in terms of the information presented to the reader. Slowly from the global angle, the book moves into the involvement of various Indians at the Olympics.

The individual stories of each of these sportspersons are very humbling, inspiring and make you sit back and admire them for who they are/who they have been. As I read the stories of Deepika Kumari, Mary Kom, Abhinav, P.T.Usha to my kids, I could feel their complete involvement, as they tried to digest that behind a glorious moment, lie years and years of hard work, determination and passion. I personally learned a lot about Dhyan Chand (the hockey player) and K.D.Jadhav (wrestler), the early Indian achievers. My son, who loves athletics and is a die hard fan of Usain Bolt, kept ruminating over Usha's missed bronze at the 1984 Olympics by One hundredth of a second.

The book also has extensive details on Paralympics and the Indians who have represented in these games. Needless to say, every achievement speaks of the human will to conquer the impossible.

What I found really appealing was that  after every story, references to the books and movies related to that particular sport have been listed.  At the end of the book, more pointers have been given to books, movies and websites related to Olympics and sports in general. So it gives a further opportunity to explore your areas of interest. That's exactly what I have been trying to do the last month - figuring out children's books related to athletes for my son and also showed them some wonderful movies, which represent the spirit and the values embodied by the Olympics.

As I put down the book after the first session with my kids, I could see that they had a distant look in their eyes, questions were buzzing around in their heads and may be they understood that every Abhinav Bindra or a Mary Kom today, had been as little as they are now and may be that's when the quest to excel in a particular sport began !

This book would be a perfect accompaniment to the ongoing London Olympics:-).

Have You Seen This?

Pic courtesy tulikabooks

Have You Seen This?
Text by Arthi Anand Navaneeth
Illustrated by Roomani Kulkarni
Published by Tulika books (bilinguals)
Ages 3+

I came home with A from her school bus-stop, and a parcel was waiting for me. I had a fair idea as to its contents, as I had been expecting my review copy from Tulika. The kid pounced on it when I told her what it was, and tore open the wrapping. There she stood, with her bag and shoes still on, giggling as she read through it!

Arthi Anand Navaneeth, Saffrontree’s own Artnavy, has brought us the wacky, the whimsical, the quirky, even the outlandish in this completely giggle-worthy book. A book bang-on in the premise of fiction, even fantasy- suspending disbelief, and even believing the unbelievable!

“A chair that jumps? 
A tree that flies? 
A crow that cooks?” 

A friend who came over read it to her 2 ½ year old in front of me, and his reaction was equally giggle-worthy. The child was transfixed, with his mouth open, and saying “Yes!”, “No!” : acting out some stuff and laughing out really loud at places. It was interesting to note what he said “Yes” to. Those were the ones he has seen as the anthropomorphised characters doing similar wacky things in other stories or on the TV. So these were clearly things that children around his age seemed to think were possible- spot on for the target age group of the book.

Illustrations by Roomani Kulkarni are a huge part of the book’s appeal. The eye looks at a picture on a new page first, travelling next to the words which explains it all, just a single sentence on each page. The pair of children romping around the narrative reminded us for some reason of ET, the extra-terrestrial!

This is what my fellow ST contributor, Prabha, had to say about the book:
'Arthi's new book from Tulika – Have you seen this? just landed on my lap...and can you guess what happened? The door started walking, the chair jumped up in delight, the house in fact started spinning - it was complete wackiness let loose! Thank goodness, a flower piped in to tell everything to stop it all!  While all the time the book actually tippy-toed its way to a corner and was reading quietly pretending as if all of this was happening in another make-believe world…'

We're proud of you, Artnavy! Our personal favourite? The book that reads!

Crocodile Smile

Crocodile Smile Book+CD
10 Songs of the Earth as the Animals See It
by Sarah Weeks
illustrated by Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert's creations have resonated with us time and again. Leaf Man, Snowballs, Color Zoo, Color Farm, Red Leaf Yellow Leaf, Lots of Spots, Top Cat, Feathers for Lunch are some of our favorites.

So when I came across this book in the library, the illustrations caught my attention and when I saw that it was by Lois Ehlert, I immediately brought it home. The gorgeous, bright double-page collages are a treat to behold.

There are 10 poems by Sarah Weeks, some from the point of view of a particular animal like Panda,Tiger, Komodo Dragon, Great Egret, Galapagos Tortoise, Crocodile; while a few others are about a habitat like the jungle where the animals share the dwelling, and our Earth where we all co-exist.

Some of the poems are quite catchy, a couple have verses that seemed a bit bizarre, especially for the kids, but all in all a beautiful reading experience.

For example, Pretty Tree is a very cute poem as told by a Panda, about how their habitat is being chopped down; but ends with the Panda sweetly inviting the reader to join him up on the pretty tree to enjoy a bite of bamboo.

Allow me to introduce myself
You probably don't know me
See, I don't get out that much
I just sit in my pretty tree
Eating the tasty bamboo...


...Climb up and sit with me
Here in my pretty tree
There's room for us both you'll see
Here in my pretty tree.

However, the title poem Crocodile Smile was about the crocodile's sweetheart leaving her and how she is blue and yet she seems to smile as she cannot help it; it was rather awkward to read it to kids, but that's just me.

Don't be fooled by that crocodile smile.


What have I got to be happy about?
My sweetheart disappeared
And now I'm down and out
He left me high and dry in this swampy place
With nothing but the smile on my face.

The CD that comes with it has the poems set to music. While the tunes were not quite catchy and the lyrics were rather slurred, it did have a certain appeal that garnered repeat listens. After several reads of the book first, knowing what to expect, listening to the CD at bedtime was much more enjoyable.

My favorite poem in this collection is Take It Slow (Galapagos Tortoise), and the 4 yo's seems to be I'm Not A Hat (Great Egret) with Pretty Tree (Panda) and Pad,Pad,Pad (Tiger) a close second.

But for the few verses in the Crocodile Smile poem, the book is quite a treat to read aloud with repetitive lines and sing-song verses all about animals, by the animals.

[excerpt at books.google.com]

[cover image source: amazon.com]

The Whales By Cynthia Rylant

Pic Source Credit: Goodreads.com

Title: The Whales
Author and Illustrator: Cynthia Rylant
Publisher:The Blue Sky Press, An Imprint Of Scholastic Inc

 Age: 3 - 6

Cynthia Rylant has always been a favorite at home. Her name was the only reason I picked up this book. When I opened the book, acrylic paintings using sponging technique mesmerized me.

The book delivers neither facts about whales nor a story. The way the text is done, makes the book fall in to the ‘feeling’ category rather than in the ‘thinking’ category. The idea is to simply to celebrate the beauty of these gentle giants.

And Whales do not now,
as they rise up for a big breath of air,
that someone is standing on a shore
and his heart is filling up.
Filling up and ready to burst.
Whales do not know how they change people,
how they make them better,
how they make them kind.
Like angles appearing in the sky,
whales are proof of God.

As you read this book, you will feel a sense of calm seeping in. Makes this a perfect bed time book.

Four Books within Books

image source rainbowresource.com

Books within books. Stories within stories. Here are four books about the magic of books, the power of story, of imagination.

Andy and the Lion
By James Daugherty
Puffin Books
Ages 3-6

Once in a while, I come across a book that makes me ooh and aah, makes me want to show anyone who will listen (even those who won’t!) the magic the creator has woven with words and drawings.

This Caldecott Honor book is one such - a whimsical tale about the friendship between a boy and a lion. James Daugherty doesn’t just do a retelling of the tale of  Androcles and the Lion, he adds a beautiful twist at the end. That and the illustrations make this book a treat both for the young and the young-at-heart.

It all starts with Andy reading a book about lions. His grandfather tells him tall stories about hunting lions in Africa. That night, Andy dreams that he is in Africa hunting lions. In the morning Andy is still thinking about lions.

The text and pictures perfectly complement each other. I love the fluidity of the illustrations - James Daugherty excels in depicting movement. The book was first published in 1938, and the drawings reflect the times.

image source boydsmillspress.com

Emma’s Turtle
Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Marsha Winborn
Boyds Mills Press
Ages 3-6

Written by the prolific Eve Bunting, this is a gentle story of an adventurous turtle, whose imagination is triggered by what else? Books!

Emma reads to her turtle about places that are far, far away. She shows him pictures of elephants in Africa, kangaroos in Australia, tigers in India and panda bears in China. All quite amazing to the turtle who hasn’t gone beyond the backyard pen.  He has a good life, but often dreams of the world that is far, far away.  One day he decides to stop dreaming and see the world outside.

Emma’s turtle is now worried, having come so far he doesn’t know if he will be able to find his way home. That is when he hears Emma’s reassuring voice.

Then something Emma says astonishes the turtle. “I bet it took you all day to go from one end of our yard to the other. I hope it was exciting for you.”

One can indeed travel with books!

image source carlemuseum.org

The Boy in the Garden
Allen Say
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Ages 4-6

Jiro’s Mama reads the story of a grateful crane - a young woodcutter rescues a crane who turns into a woman and marries him. She weaves and helps him become rich - on the condition that he mustn't peek while she works. Eventually, the young man is overcome with curiosity. The woman turns into a great bird and flies away.

That sets off a chain of events.

When Jiro goes with his father to Mr. Ozu’s house, he sees a crane. Later the same day, he encounters a tall woman. Read the book to find out what follows!

The line between fantasy and reality is blurred in this poignant and dramatic story, in Caldecott winner Allen Say’s inimitable style.

image source boydsmillspress.com

My Special Day at Third Street School
By Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Suzanne Bloom
Boyds Mill Press
Ages 3-6

Eve Bunting’s happy book is written in playful rhyme.

Third Street School is buzzing with excitement as the students prepare for a visit from author Amanda drake.

“First, of course, we read her books…
Every one we’ve got.
Then we borrow fourteen more.
She’s written quite a lot.”

Makes me wonder – is this book entirely fictional? Eve Bunting has written quite a lot too - more than 250 books!

The children make a million drawings and a list of questions to ask the author. Then the big day arrives.

“There’s something that I’d like to share
Because it’s truly true.
It doesn’t seem like work
If you are loving what you do.”

The narrator then raises his hand and suggests she write a book about her visit to a school.

She does! And guess what the book is called?

We hope you like it just as much.
We hope that it’s a hit.
It’s called My Special Day at Third Street School.
And guess what?
THIS IS IT.

The Lost Lake

The Lost Lake
Author and Illustrator: Allen Say
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Picking up an Allen Say book is like dipping the hands into a big box of emotional stories. It always throws up a wonderful surprise. A surprise that would make one dig into their own emotional past. They are written in a easy manner that any one could relate to. The Bicycle Man reminds one of their own interesting episode in school; the Kamishibhai Man might remind one of our cultural background and how it keeps changing; Grandfather's Journey reminds one of the constant movement and transitory nature of immigrants all over.

The Lost Lake kept reminding me of the fact that being a father is time consuming and there are no easy ways of parenting. It is a struggle that will ultimately reward if the father is patient enough.

A kid joins his father for summer holidays. It is obvious that the family is separated. His father is busy with his work and hardly has any time for the kid. The kid spends away his time watching television and ultimately being bored takes to collecting nature photographs from old magazines. This kindles an interest in father and he decides to take the kid on a trek to the lost lake (a lake that his father took him to when he was young). When they reach the lost lake, it is overflowing with people. The father sarcastically remarks that it is the 'Found Lake' now. The father and son do not stop and continue trekking in search of their own 'Lost Lake'.

It is obvious that the lost lake is an allegory for establishing a bond between the father and son. From a personal side, there are times when I find that it is not easy to start a conversation with my son. If we need to get into a conversation, it requires time and effort. Just the act of being around seem to stimulate conversation between us. I cannot ask him to tell him what happened in the school after I reach home after 9 pm. It would usually be a simple grunt or "it was fine" answer. But, If I was around with him the whole day, by evening there is a breaking of ice and we converse as if we are the best of friends.

It is surprising how similar this book's episode mirrors the real world. It clearly indicates that father needs to spend time and only then does the kid open up to find their own private space - A space where only the father and kid can inhabit and be happy with one another.

The book is interspersed with some wonderful dialogues between father and son. See this one for example -

"You know something, Dad? You seem a like a different person up here"
"Better or worse?"
"A lot better."
"How so?"
"You talk more".

The illustrations are water colors based and are typical Allen Say style. This is one of the books of Allen Say where I was more impressed with the text than the illustrations. His illustrations in GrandFather's Journey are gorgeous, this book pales in comparison to it. But, the combination of text and illustration in this book makes one wonder how some of these masters of children's literature make something that is tough, look so easy and simple.

The India I Love by Ruskin Bond

Title : The India I Love

Author : Ruskin Bond

Publisher : Rupa

Ruskin Bond mesmerizes his readers yet again through his straight from the heart collection of prose and poems. This is his way of expressing his feelings for his beloved adopted country with all her animate and inanimate beings, their uniqueness, their character and how all these combine to create a unique flavour of Indian-ness.

In some chapters, he reminisces about his earlier days, the time when he decided to make India and its hills his home and leave West for good. In his words, "The link with Britain was tenuous, based on heredity rather than upbringing.  It was more in the mind. It was a literary England that I had been drawn to, not a physical England. " 

He talks about the mountains and hills, rivers and its tributaries, various people and their idiosyncrasies.

He sprinkles the chapters with some nuggets of wisdom that he has processed over the years by observing people and his surroundings keenly.

"A well-balanced person : someone with a chip on both shoulders

Experience : The knowledge that enables you to recognise a mistake when you make it the second time

Sympathy : What one woman offers another in exchange for details

Worry : The interest paid on trouble before it becomes due"

His adroitness to write about himself with utmost sincerity and transparency becomes apparent time and again by the ease with which he packs self-mockery in his writings. His honesty and humility reach out to the readers unadulterated as he cloaks his feelings in simple yet effective language.  A slice of his humility and critical analysis of himself get reflected in these lines -

"I am not the most inventive of writers, and fantastical plots are beyond me. My forte is observation, recollection and reflection. "

Ruskin Bond's writings are so true to the soil of this country in its original form, it clearly displays his sensitivity in observing, experiencing, absorbing, imbibing and processing the Indian-ness in his system and what comes out through his pen is the essence of his relationship with the country and with everything belonging to it. 

The peace and serenity in his writings transport the readers to a blissful state of living the life in its entirety with every single moment registering its presence and with every single thing getting observed, acknowledged and appreciated in the same way as Ruskin Bond does on his solitary walks.

"I prefer walking alone to walking with others. That ladybird on the wild rose would escape my attention if I was engaged in a lively conversation with a companion. Not that the ladybird is going to change my life. But by acknowledging its presence, stopping to admire its beauty, I have paid obeisance to the natural scheme of things of which I am only a small part."

Whenever I get a chance to conduct interviews with the authors, I often ask them for their suggestions to the aspiring/budding authors. But without having directly asked Ruskin Bond, I got the answer from him in this book -

"If you, dear reader, have any ambitions to be a writer, you must first rid yourself of any notion that perfect peace and quiet is the first requirement. There is no such thing as perfect peace and quiet except perhaps in a monastery or a cave in the mountains. And what would you write about, living in a cave? One should be able to write in a train, a bus, a bullock-cart, in good weather or bad, on a park bench or in the middle of a noisy classroom.

While I was editing this review, I noticed that I have used so many of his quotes directly here. This clearly shows that no words are worthy enough to carry the essence of his writings and they are best as they are. 

The Boy Who Drew Birds

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon
by Jacqueline Davies
illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Ornithologist, naturalist, painter, John James Audubon (Jean-Jacques Audubon) is known and loved the world over for his meticulous study of American birds, documenting not just their features and habitat but their migration with his pioneering technique of bird-banding.

This picture book biography shares the story of his life when he was sent to America from his native France at age 18 to get out of conscription in Napoleonic wars. His father, a wealthy-enough man, set up a wonderful house in the woods, Mill Grove, with house-keeper to take care of it, to give John James a chance to follow his passion: birds.

It was true that John James could hunt, skate, and ride better than most boys. True also that he could dance the minuet and gavotte as if he had been born a king. He could fiddle, he could flirt, he could fence. But what he liked to do best, from sunup to sundown, was watch birds.

Mrs. Thomas, the housekeeper, found John James' attraction to birds rather odd: Birds! Always birds! From the moment he woke up in the morning to the moment he closed his eyes at night, he thought only of birds. It was strange for a boy his age.

Out of curiosity about where birds go in winter, and which birds stay and brave it locally, John James conducted his own study.

Are these the same pewees who built the nest here last year? Where did they spend winter? Will they return next spring?

One of the facts from the book that fascinated the 7 year old is that Audubon patiently and over time won the confidence of a family of Eastern Phoebe birds enough to be near them and even tie a silver thread (loosely, of course) to the leg of a baby to see if he can identify it when it comes back; for even if nobody at that time were sure that birds came back to the same nesting grounds, John James had a pretty good inkling that they did.

And he was right!

Imagine his joy when he spotted the silver thread on one of the birds building a nest in the same area the following year! John James Audubon is thus credited with the first known bird-ringing or bird-banding in the continent.

Rather than artists' depictions, Audubon set out to draw detailed pictures of the birds he observed. Life-size paintings of birds hunting, preening, flying, fighting were not common then, so his remarkable paintings appealed to both the scientist and the layperson.


A fact that surprised us is that after drawing detailed and numerous pictures each year, Audubon tore up and burned the year's worth of pictures to start fresh again the next year. Later in his life, he did lose many more of his drawings to rats and other factors, but what survived of his works is still treasured today via his Birds of America book.

[image source: goodreads.com]