Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes
by Jonathan Auxier

Published by Abrams/Amulet
 Ages 10+

"Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves."

With a brilliantly unconventional dive into an unlikely hero at the very start of the book, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes immediately appealed to me.

With wit, humor, irony, plus fantastic pace of story progression, and a handful of quirky characters, the book is a pleasure to read.

"One morning, a group of drunken but good-hearted sailors spotted him bobbing in a basket alongside their ship. Perched on the boy’s head was a large raven, which had, presumably, pecked out his eyes. Disgusted, the sailors killed the bird and delivered the child to the authorities of a nearby port town."

Without the cloying sweetness that can sometimes sneak into YA literature, and without horrific sensationalism that can get distasteful, the book has a direct charm that respects the young readers and their capacity to appreciate a well-narrated story.

Ten year old Peter Nimble is a blind thief, and a fantastic one at that. He can get in anywhere, open any lock, steal anything, and hence his last name, Nimble. He happens upon a mysterious haberdasher from whom he steals a box with 3 pairs of magical eyes - gold, onyx and emerald. Thus starts his reluctant adventure.

He is whisked into an island when he tries on the first pair of eyes. Who should he meet there but the haberdasher himself. And, a horse-cat knight who arrives there quite by accident. Horse-cat-knight? Yes!  He is all three in one, an unfortunate outcome of a curse he has been trying to undo unsuccessfully.

A verse in a bottle, the message clearly urgent yet missing the last word to make sense. A kindly professor who cleverly thrusts Peter in the thick of it, to find his destiny. A villain so terrible he is ready to rid the world of children. Ravens, brave and loyal, waiting to restore their honor. And, a spit-fire of a princess who leads a rag-tag bunch or rebel children to stop the villain.

The story climaxes to a satisfactory conclusion. Even though we suspect good will win over evil, the author's irreverent style keeps us on our toes - we won't be surprised if all's not well in the end, the author never promises that.

Meanwhile, there's big clockwork machines and giant sea serpents, huge towers and vast deserts, brain-washed adults and enslaved children, hunking gorilla-ish goons and sneaky back-stabbing thieves... plus of course, a sister who finds her long-lost brother amidst extenuating circumstances.

"How could the sea disappear?" "Why couldn't they tell Peter what the other 2 pairs of eyes do?" "What if the ravens...?" "Why did the king...?"

The book generated so many questions as I read it with the resident 8 year old. Nothing is impossible in fantasy, even if there is some minor violation of internal consistency and integrity. Imagination is they key. The book has plenty of it, and not all of them are blasé-old-stuff either.

Now, literary criticisms are a different matter best left to the professionals who can shred the veil of niceties and lay bare the merit of a book. But for a certain young reader (et moi), this book has everything to transport her into another world and enjoy the whole experience.


[read Chapter One]

[image source: www.peternimble.com]

The Puffin Book of Folktales

The Puffin Book of Folktales
Illustrations - Poonam Athalye
Ages 4-8

What do you get when you throw together Paro Anand, Ruskin Bond, Kamala Das, Devdutt Patnaik and Shashi Deshpande, among others? You get the Puffin Book of folk tales, celebrating 10 years of Puffin in India.

Some original stories, some moving from the oral tradition to the written, and some retold, the compilation makes a nice mix. Admittedly I see no sense having Manjula Padmanabhan retell the story of the family who didn't appreciate their donkey, but hey, a lot of kids in this generation will probably not have encountered this fable before, and she does tell it well. I just wish we'd got something original from each of these stalwarts. But that's just me nitpicking.

Bhagirathi's pond, by Sudha Murthy is a poingnant fable from Karnataka, focusing on sacrifice. Paro Anand's Harshringar tells a lyrical tale of how the Harshringar flower came into being. Musharraf Ali Farooqi tells in verse, the story of Podna and Podni, from my childhood. The two little love birds are separated, and the brave Podna builds an army and rescues his love from a big, hairy king.  Devdutt Pattanaik works within his area of expertise and gives us the lesser known story of Renuka and Jamadagni in Renuka's Umbrella. My favourite though, was Shashi Deshpande's The Gardener's Son - romance, a feminist twist, lovely.

Beautiful, generous, full page and even *drool* double spread illustrations by Poonam Athalye tempt you to rip the pages out and frame them, sacrilegious though the notion might be. One really can't say enough about them. Rich colours, the feel of oil on canvas, and a stunning use of colour.

In the absence of grandparents telling the kiddies fables as they pat them to sleep, this is a good substitute. Do pick up for the artwork if nothing else.

Four Books for your Picky Eater

At some point, every mother has worried about what her kid is eating (or not). Over the years, mothers (and many fathers) build up a repertoire of tricks - expertly camouflaging vegetables in bhel puri and pizzas, rustling up Dino dosas... Nothing brings out one's innate creativity like parenthood does!

A guest post by Meera Nair, author of 'Maya Saves the Day' published by Duckbill Books. This Mother's Day, Meera has put together an elaborate four-course meal for our readers... four books for picky eaters. Enjoy your meal!


You know the type. You probably have one at home or, at the very least, have spotted one in a restaurant. The Picky Eater (omnious drum roll here). That little self-styled epicure who never fails to stick her tongue out at an innocent tomato or turn her nose up at a perfectly innocuous fried egg. My own daughter once took a look at my elegant roasted eggplant dish and declared, “It looks like a dead rat,” as a roomful of dinner guests looked on. Now that the Picky Eater has attained mythic status---the subject of so much analysis and hand-wringing---we wondered what books might convince our kids to eat what's put in front of them. Or, at the very least, be fun to read—maybe over a plate of something delicious, and unobjectionable. Oh, and Happy Mother’s Day!

Sylvia's Spinach

image source katherinepryor.com

by Katherine Raff
Illustrated by Anna Pryor
Readers to Eaters
Ages 4-10

"No spinach in my egg! No spinach in my soup! No spinach! Ever!"  Sylvia hates spinach, as you might have figured. Then her teacher gives her a packet of seeds to plant and Sylvia discovers the joy of growing one's own food. When she finally decides to try this new food and bites a “ leaf in half” her opinion of the veggie goes from“bleh” to “not bad.”

image source amazon.com

Gregory, the Terrible  Eater
by Mitchell Sharmat
Illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey
Scholastic Paperbacks
Ages 4-8

Little Gregory's got a big problem. He's picky.  He's a goat who loves “fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, bread and butter.” But his  parents would rather he ate a shirt, “buttons and all.”  How dare he insist on eggs for breakfast, when there's “ a piece of rug and an old shoe” to enjoy?  Why, oh why, can't Gregory be like other goats? Dr.Ram tries to cure Gregory of his obsession with the “good stuff.”  by prescribing a little bit of junk slipped in with his food. So it's spaghetti with shoe lace in tomato sauce. And string beans with sliced tires. A few pages of behavior modification later, Gregory eats all the “junk food” in sight and ends up sick. Now he has to learn moderation in all things. This nutrition-turned-on-it's head story is funny and should spark some interesting conversations about food and choices round the dinner table.

image source amazon.com

The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets behind the Food you Eat, Young Readers Edition
Michael Pollan
Dial Press
Ages 10 and up

If you want to change the way your teen thinks about food, buy this book. This young people's version of the best-selling book is a great choice for any smart teen who wants to understand how and why we make particular food choices. Divided into chapters like “The Industrial Meal,” or the “Do -it-yourself meal,” the book is enhanced with photographs and easy-to-read graphs. It offers, among other things, compelling evidence of the damage done to our environment  by corporations that supply the fast-food chains and urges a closer look at industrial farms. Best of all, this book that might just convince your youngster to say no to that Big Mac burger the next time he's out with his friends.

Thunder Cake

image source eduplace.com

by Patricia Polacco
Puffin Books
Ages 4-8

Take one wise Babushka and add a frightened little girl. Mix in a farm, cups of cake flour, some sugar, chocolate, tomatoes and brilliantly colored comic-book like illustrations. Throw in a thunderstorm in the background and boom!- you have the charming tale of Thunder Cake.

A grandmom, in a master-stroke of distraction, convinces her scared granddaughter to venture outside and forage for ingredients while a thunderstorm rages. The little girl gathers milk from “Kick Cow” and eggs from mean old “Nelli Peck Hen” and strawberries from the “Tangleweed Woods,” and in the process discovers that she can ignore the storm and be “brave” deep down inside. The book advocates that eating is more fun if your little helper breaks eggs, mixes and puts the batter in the oven herself. There's even a recipe for Thunder Cake at the back, with a surprising secret ingredient—pureed tomatoes. If you do try it, you should encourage  your Picky Baker to make appropiate “voice of thunder” boom-crash sounds.

Three Green Books

Every day is Earth day if you ask me, but the formal occasion did serve as a reminder for us to revisit some old favourites.  Books on nature and nurturing nature-

image source Candlewick Press

The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone
By Timothy Basil Ering
Candlewick Press
Ages 4-7

Dark pages with text scrawled over, wacky illustrations, a boy with tons of attitude and a “monster” that he creates… Browsing through this book, I knew there were two possibilities – it would either be rejected outright on the grounds that it was scary, or it would be a big hit. I decided to take a chance. The book was being sold at a third of the marked price at the Strand book sale, after all. My gamble paid off. What I did not anticipate was the magnitude of the book’s success with the then five year-old.

The mock-scariness of the book gives it a special appeal. The fun quotient easily overrides the fear factor. Books with a message don’t have to be remotely preachy; they can even be highly entertaining. Timothy Basil Ering, illustrator of the Newbery award winning ‘The Tale of Despereaux’, shows us how in ‘The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone’.

In dull and grey Cementland lives a boy with “a singular wish” to find a treasure. Searching through piles of junk, all he finds is… well, junk. Just when he is about to give up, he finds a box with “wondrous riches”. Following the instructions, he puts the tiny “specks” into the earth. But nothing happens. The next day, when he finds the wondrous riches dug up by thieves, he comes up with a plan to protect the treasure. With smelly socks, used underwear and scraggly wires from the junk pile, he conjures a scarecrow-like creature that he calls Frog Belly Rat Bone. FBRB does more than just protect the treasure; he shows the boy what to do with the wondrous riches –
“One, two, three…
You must be patient
And then you will see!”

Want to know what happens in Cementland? One, two, three…  Read the book and you will see!

This book’s a keeper. Amusing words, an engaging story, quirky illustrations… very refreshing with none of the cuteness usually associated with kids’ books. The one drawback is that the dark font on dark pages can be a strain on the eyes. But it’s only a couple of pages that are hard to read, and even those are not bad in broad daylight. Otherwise, the book’s a treasure, full of wondrous riches!


Giving Thanks

image source Candlewick Press

By Jonathan London
Paintings by Gregory Manchess
Candlewick Press
Ages 3-7

A young boy tells us about something he has learnt from his father, who in turn has picked it up from his Indian (Native American) friends – That things of nature are a gift and in return, we must give something back. We must give thanks. The father-son duo walk along a creek, past trees, through the woods, till the hills, thanking quails and hawks, deer and foxes, the sun and the moon.

The lyrical prose and gentle oil paintings have the same soothing effect that nature does. A wonderful way to wind down at the end of the day – both the book, and the habit of expressing gratitude for one’s blessings.


Since we were on a roll, we went on to read some non-fiction - Katha’s ‘The Magical Web bridge’, ‘Walk the Rainforest with Niwupah’ and ‘Earth Song’ (featured earlier here and here) and 'The Coral Tree' - an interesting concept by Tulika.


The Coral Tree

image source Tulika Publishers

Text Mamata Pandya
Photographs Pankaj Gorana
Tulika Publishers
Ages 8+

Visitors to the coral tree include black drongos, tailorbirds, sunbirds, babblers, koels, parakeets, a dove, a rat snake, langurs, cats, bats, and the gardener! Lilting text and photographs take us through the day, and tidbits satisfy the curious reader seeking to know more. The book has a set of questions to help make a tree diary.

This is a book to sit outside in the balcony with (or garden, if you have one). We may not have a coral tree outside our window, but we do have the good old Gulmohar that is bursting with colour right now. We are making our own tree diary. Are you?

'Jobless, Clueless, Reckless' by Revathi Suresh

Jobless, Clueless, Reckless
by Revathi Suresh
Publisher: Duckbill
Ages : YA

Let me say at the outset that ‘Jobless, Clueless, Reckless’, Revathi Suresh’s debut novel  had me hooked at page one. Starring – and narrated by- possibly the surliest teenager to feature in Indian YA fiction in a while, ‘Jobless..’ examines the trials and tribulations of being fifteen, female and friendless in the age of Facebook, with wit, a great eye for detail and a sound ear for teenspeak . It also gives us a terrific narrator – articulate, foul-mouthed Kavya, Bengaluru’s own Holden Caulfield , hiding her insecurities behind her acerbic wit and mildly goth wardrobe.   Revathi writes well; she peoples her book with believable characters , slips in all kinds of clever literary references and ensures that the pace of the book  stays at a brisk canter .

Kavya , at first, second and third glance, sounds like your average teenager -  angst-ridden, perennially miserable, lovestruck, whiny , and wanting nothing more than  to “..scratch (her) life out and start over.”  She lives in a pretentious neighbourhood in Bangalore, endures emotionally distant parents and a precocious brother, and can’t seem to make any friends. It doesn’t help that she is homeschooled,  has a penchant for dressing in black and a reputation as a slayer of Barbies and, quite possibly, little kids as well.  But gradually, through the barrage of cuss words and sneering descriptions of the people around her,  the other Kavya emerges – the intelligent, sensitive and bewildered girl, struggling to find some structure in a life her self-absorbed mother seems determined to destroy.  She mirrors the rage and alienation of her literary icon, Holden Caulfield. And like him, she is also a bit of a hypocrite, desperate for the companionship  of the very people she claims to despise. These range from the uber-cool Lara and Niya to supposed “sad behenji” Indu, whose double life as an under dressed party girl is an open secret, thanks to Facebook and the neighbourhood drivers’ grapevine.  Ironically, Kavya resents being the subject of gossip, but has no trouble  treating Indu and her friend Kinky with much the same disdain her friends show her. This, however, doesn’t stop her from joining them at a local disco, with a little light shop- lifting thrown in on the side. Rescued by Kiran, her secret crush, she finds herself forced to reconsider her feelings for him when he asks her for ‘compensation’.

‘Jobless..’ ,makes for great reading, and Kavya, for all her grouchiness and attitude, is a character you can’t help rooting  for. I think it is a measure of how much I liked Kavya that I felt let down by the ending. I know I wanted this book to be about Kavya finding her place in the world on her own terms, facing up to the friends and authority figures she has issues with and finding some sort of closure on the tragic loss of her childhood friend.  The last does happen to some extent; the rest, however, seem hastily brushed away in favour of a romantic ending that is miles from the gritty realism the first half of the book sets us up for. In fact, the book touches on quite a number of issues - - the emotional disconnect between Kavya and her parents, an exceptionally troubled relationship with her mother, a yearning for some sense of structure and belonging, teen pregnancy, sexual harassment.  None of these are dealt with satisfactorily.   Not to sound like a fuddy duddy here, but surely at fifteen,  starting some sort of dialogue about these issues is a great deal more important than the prospect of finding undying love with the blue-eyed college boy next door . Especially one who gets away with saying things like "Girls often say 'no' when they mean 'yes'" as well as several other variations on the "She was asking for it" hypothesis?  After all, the a gazillion teenybopper romances already exist;  honest books about real problems - not exactly raining down from the skies, are they? And books that tell you to stand up for yourself, even if it means heartbreak - well, don't hold your breath, ok?

 I was also dismayed at the condescending treatment of two strong, if flawed, female characters in the book – Kavya’s mother and Indu. And I couldn’t help but notice that both these characters are replaced, in Kavya’s life, by patronizing, even sexist male characters that she has little trouble accepting. Strangely enough, the book does have a couple of very interesting - and positive - male characters. There is Dhritiman, Kavya's brother with his love for sewing and the colour pink. And there is Vinay, possibly the one member of Kavya's circle who treats her well. Sadly, neither of them gets much airtime.

I know this is a work of fiction, and not the next feminist manifesto.  Yes, teenagers have every right to escapist fare. And yes, writers have undisputed autonomy on the fates of their characters too. But surely a character as strong and distinctive - not to mention rare in Indian fiction - as Kavya deserved a more empowering finale than the one she receives here? This is, after all, a girl swearing allegiance to Scout Finch and Holden Caulfield – why abruptly abandon her in vintage Mills and Boon terrain?

Would I recommend 'Jobless...'? Certainly. it's fresh, funny and heartbreaking all at once, and definitely worth a read. If  romance is your poison, this book will not disappoint.