Beastly Tales from here and there

Beastly Tales from here and there - Vikram Seth
Illustrator - Prabha Mallya
Puffin Books
Age 5+

My first reaction to this book was a surge of envy. Envy that my children were privileged enough to read Vikram Seth in their childhood while I only first encountered him as an adult. I then chose to be more adult about it and began to read it myself , err, I mean to them.

They're not fables we haven't heard before - the monkey and the crocodile, the louse and the mosquito, the hare and the tortoise and more. The difference is that they're retold in verse. What can you say about Vikram Seth's writing, that hasn't already been said? Even in this, a book meant for children, I like that he engages with his readers without talking down to them. How many other writers do you know who will use words like carcass, glib, mangled, unpoliced, commemorate and capricious while addressing children of this age group? To say nothing of introducing them to concepts they might otherwise go through a lifetime, unacquainted with. Sample this line -
First they hugged, and then the cat
Played a prelude in E flat,
While the cock, concurrently,
Sang a serenade in D.

Fabulous!

The illustrations, as in every good children's book pull their fair share of weight and are very well done. What makes them brilliant is the fact that they could be from anywhere. They do not have anything typical that might trace them back to an Indian artist. Considering the stories come from lands as distant as Greece, China and Ukraine, this is wonderful. The attention to detail is thrilling. The king in the story of the louse and the mosquito slumbers peacefully (hugging a teddy bear) while a tattoo on his arm proclaims H.R.H. me, within a heart. The tortoise counting Uno, Dos, Tres has a number on his shell like sportspersons' tee shirts. Great stuff.

We only picked it up recently and the Brat and Bean have been thrilled by this combination of animal protagonists and verse. My only grouse is that he doesn't write for kids more often!

Bebeanchem Kazar - The Wedding of the Frogs

The Wedding of the Frogs

Bebeanchem Kazar - The Wedding of the Frogs
Illustrations - Shilpa Mayenkar Naik
Translation - John Carneiro
Published by Bookworm
Ages 4-8

This is a ballad by late Konkani poet, Dr Manoharrai Sardessai, also well versed in Marathi, Hindi, English and Portuguese. The poem opens with five frogs, brothers in the lotus pond at Paliem. Skilled, intelligent and everything nice, they had a good life and knew it. Everytime someone suggested it was time they get married they'd dismiss the suggestion. Why should they? They  wanted to come home from the bar slightly tipsy and not have a wife take them to task, they didn't want to spend all their savings on setting up a home.

But youth for all it's wit is still no match for age, and a wily old frog sends his beautiful daughters out to the pond to splash around and charm the brothers into changing their minds. Before you know it, the five brothers are head over heels in love and asking for the old frog's permission to court his daughters and walk them down the aisle.

It's interesting to see how our ideas of children's literature have changed over the years. Here's a ballad aimed at rather young children, talking about the male frogs wanting to come home tipsy and not spend their earnings on the upkeep of a home, you have seduction strategy with female frogs coming out to play and entice the male frogs while they 'wiggle and sway, swim and dive most gracefully.' But then most children's fiction and writing of a certain time talks of marriage, death, murder. Far more adult compared to contemporary children's writing that mostly focuses on children of their own age and their specific issues, like ragging, dealing with the loss of a friend, and mostly rather innocuous topics.

The Brat and Bean enjoyed this story, particularly because they've asked their father time and time again to tell them a Konkani story from his childhood and he's come up blank. John Carneiro's translation seems competent and as good as one can possibly get, while trying to maintain some form of rhyme. The entire poem is given in Devnagri script at the end of the book (Konkani is written in Devnagri script) and that makes it easy to read and achieve a certain rhythm, once you've figured out the meaning.

The hard cover book itself takes on the role of an almost heirloom thanks to the fabulous artisan's paper it is screen printed on. Goan artist Shilpa Mayenkar Naik's lovely illustrations are in shades of black, pink and green - an  interesting choice. A great book if you're interested in exposing kids to a variety of cultures at a deeper level. Ribbit, ribbit, we're off to read it again.

School Stories

The soon-to-be-six-year-old has bid goodbye to his Montessori environment. Come June, he will sit at a desk in a classroom for the first time. In preparation, he has been devouring school stories.

image source scholastic.com 

Marvin Redpost Class President
By Louis Sachar
Scholastic
Ages 6-9

Class President is one of a series of eight books by Louis Sachar. At around seventy pages, these are ideal early chapter books. The topics are relatable and the books beautifully written.

The main character, Marvin Redpost, is just your average third-grader, with all the doubts and anxieties of a kid of that age. In one of the books, he is scared to cycle down a steep slope. In another, he is quite sure he isn’t his parents’ son. Marvin battles his fears, with his parents and teachers helping him along. Along the way, young readers root for Marvin and probably pick up some tips too.

In ‘Class President’, the President of the United States makes a visit to Marvin’s school… and his class!

I thought the Q&A session between the kids and the President was a clever tool to discuss important topics without getting preachy or boring.

source  simonandschuster.com

Jake Drake Class Clown
By Andrew Clements
Simon & Schuster
Ages 7-10

Jake Drake is a boy with ideas. In this series of four books, he goes from being a Class Clown, to Teacher’s Pet, Bully Buster, Know-It-All… Every classroom adventure makes for an engrossing book. The teachers are likeable, and the problems very real. The books have been written with great sensitivity.

Every little kid will identify with Jake Drake’s buffoonery in ‘Class Clown’. At first, the teacher is amused - she even breaks the golden rule ‘never to smile before Christmas’. Then the class clown crosses the line… Andrew Clements gives the reader a peek into a typical classroom. For kids who’ve been wondering what goes on inside a teacher’s head, the book is sure to reveal some surprises.

image source bettybirney.com

Trouble According to Humphrey
By Betty G. Birney
Puffin Books
Ages 7-10

A school series with a difference – this one is a classroom hamster’s account of the goings on in ‘Room 26’! Refreshing and absolutely delightful!

With characters like Sit-Still-Seth, Stop-Giggling-Gail, Don’t-Complain-Mandy-Payne… (I love those names!) the books are great fun... and touching at times. There are some wise words too -

“You can learn a lot about yourself by taking care of other species”
“Everybody makes mistakes”

On weekends, the kids take turns taking the Humphrey the hamster home, providing ample scope to discuss the differing circumstances of families – an opportunity the author puts to good use.


The Gooney Bird Greene stories by Lois Lowry (reviewed here) are not to be missed either.

In a couple of years, I hope my boy will enjoy the wonderful books for a slightly older age group by these very authors. And then, when he grows up some more, there’s ‘School Ahead!’, a collection of short stories by Paro Anand. Some of those stories made me teary-eyed, others made me smile.

School can be fun, school stories even more so!