The Adventures of Odysseus

The Adventures of Odysseus
Retold By: Daniel Morden, Hugh Lupton
Illustrated By: Christina Balit


Mythology is a fascinating subject. While I've been partial to Indian, Norse, Scottish, Welsh, and Greek mythologies, possibly because they are well documented and easy to access, I do enjoy glimpses of African, Australian and SE Asian mythologies.

For a while, the older child was obsessed with Greek and Norse mythologies. That's when we read The Adventures of Odysseus, a Barefoot Book. And like all of their books, this is a winner.

Having encountered Christina Balit in Atlantis for the first time, both the child and I were thrilled to see her illustrations for this book. This is a chapter book for older readers, possibly 8+, with quite mature presentation. The text flows well but is not exactly kid-friendly, and the story itself obviously has traumatic aspects.

The Prologue sets up the background for the adventure. The island of Ithaca is missing their king, Odysseus, for nine years now, when the book starts. And continues for 14 chapters, ending with the Epilogue. We enjoyed the book in small doses, as I read aloud to the 8 yo, a chapter at a time, often less.

The art work is amazing, to say the least. In fact, Zoo In The Sky and Once Upon A Starry Night grace our bookshelves simply because we can't get enough of the illustrations.

[image source: barefoot books]

Disclosure: While we  received a review copy of the book, the decision to share the book here is my own.

Nabiya

Nabiya

Story by Chatura Rao

Illustrations by Ruchi Mhasane

Publisher: Tulika Books

Waiting for Mommy is wonderful Korean picture book illustrated by Dong-Sung Kim. One of the loveliest and touching books that I have experienced about a kid waiting for his mother at a bus/tram stop. I was bowled over by those illustrations(a sample of a page from that book is here) and always wondered if I will ever come across a picture book from India that conveys its point in a subtle manner, with muted colors and simplicity in illustration. I finally found one such book with similar illustrations in Nabiya. 

The story of Nabiya is simple. She is introduced to the world of stories by her new English teacher and she is enthralled. Her teacher realizes the power of books and the effect it can have on a child. Nothing extra-ordinary. I call such books as self-referential books - A book that talks about other books and power of books. The Library and The Library Lion are more such self-referential picture books. The tough part of a self-referential picture book is to attract both a book lover and a newbie. A book lover loves anything that talks about a library or other books, but attracting a newbie with a story about a book is tricky. Here is where Nabiya scores - it leaves enough trails for a newbie to discover that there is a lot in the world of books to discover and to immerse into it. 

Illustrations shine through out. The illustration in the opening page of a group of kids playing in a small muddy ground with the rain having left its mark and the giant multi-storey buildings growing in the background is awesome.  We are almost instantly attracted by the girl with two pony tails and bald-headed boy trying to hit the ball. The book ticks a few important boxes immediately with more girls playing football than boys and the girl yelling to the boy to hit the ball the other way ("wrong goal post! do not hit a self goal please!" - was the hidden meaning).  A slight quibble here though - The illustration indicates that the wind is blowing from right side of the page to left side; but the Nabiya's hair alone seems to blow the wrong way!

There are so many small nuances that I enjoyed - The fact that when Nabiya smiles and she has dimples that appear like happy commas; the illustration of black or blue water drums that we used to keep in our bathrooms to store water; the subtle beauty of a kohli; the beautiful dress that Nabiya wears on Eid; the hiddent truth about our cities and folks like Nabiya's father(a plumber) who keep it running for the rest of us; the complete absence of the father in the book; the almost realistic 3-dimensional illustration of a paper puppet being held by a 2-dimensional illustration of Nabiya; the anxiety of the mother about Nabiya going out and playing in her new dress on Eid; the shy-ness of Nabiya who slips out of the house even when her favourite teachers comes to her; the illustration indicating that the lanes in the area where Nabiya lives are so narrow that a man and his buffalo cannot walk together(the author's words! - lovely isn't it?);  the green colour ribbons that the girls of the school wear; or the mysterious bald headed Ganjoo.

 After finishing the book, I wished that the book was a wee bit longer. Most Indian publishers prefer to have pictures books with only 24 pages. This is one of times where I felt that 24 pages does not do enough for this story. I wished for those extra 8 pages - the standard 32 pages that most Western world picture books have. At times, it appeared that there were quite a few details that were packed into a single page. The extra 8 pages would have made a great difference and converted this book into a even better one. 

A lovely book with introduces us to the possibilities of where Indian picture books can go. If this book is any indication, we are looking at some exciting Indian picture books in future. 

Interview with Shaili Sathyu

Shaili Sathyu

Shaili Sathyu is the founder-director of GILLO, an independent children's media group based in Mumbai.  She works as an education consultant with schools, focusing on curriculum development and innovative teaching-learning processes. She is currently also working with Akshara High School, Mumbai. 
Since 1997, she has been conducting workshops for children and teachers, with themes ranging from the literary and visual to the performing arts. Shaili has directed plays for children - IPTA’s Barsoraam Dhadaake Se, GILLO’s Suar Chala Space Ko, Kyun-Kyun Ladki, Mr. Jeejeebhoy and the birds and She-he-shey. 

In 2011, she was selected as a finalist by the British Council for the Young Creative Entrepreneur - Performing Arts Award along with four other practitioners from across India.

ST: When did you know you wanted to bring theatre to children?
I first started out wanting to write stories for children. As time went by, I realised that my background in the theatre gave me a stronger base to do plays for children, instead of writing books. Just after my first play as director, I was selected for an International Directors Seminar hosted by ASSITEJ in Germany. I think that experience sowed the seed of starting a theatre repertory focussing on Theatre for Young Audiences.

How does theatre engage children? How different is the impact from that of other performing arts, storytelling, books, etc.
Theatre as a medium connects with and engages children in different ways. Broadly as participant and as audience (though even as audience they are participating). In both engagements children enjoy a range of things like the story, the visuals, the sounds and music, the live interaction between actors as well as the audience. Their aesthetic sensibilities get energised, assaulted, influenced and so on. Each art form is different from the other and at the same time has overlapping areas with one or more forms. I am often asked to compare theatre with other forms of expression. I find this exercise futile. There is no such thing as better. Theatre is one of the life experiences that children can be given. It is up to the artists as to what we want to share with our audience.

You have based some of your plays on children's books like Granny's Sari and Mister Jeejeebhoy and the Birds. How do you choose books to be translated into performances? 
Over the past ten years I have been avidly reading and collecting books for children. I think the Gillo library now has about 1500 books for children (mostly by Indian publishers). As and when a story has kept me engaged and seemed like it would make for interesting theatre making, I have taken it up as a stage production.

In Granny's Sari, which was presented as musical storytelling, the book was adapted considerably, although the essence and theme of the story was retained. What is the process like?
Granny’s Sari was adapted by Sharvari Deshpande and John Soans who have both been working with Gillo since 2009-2010. Sharvari is a singer and John is a musician and with that background adapting the story into verse came naturally to them. The process for each adaptation depends on the nature of the story and the creative choices we make. Being a simple story, we tried to bring focus to the core ideas in the book and then add elements that would help us give more body to the performance. Also, the musical choices depended on the emotion of a particular part of the story. Mostly the process was organic and things were built with inputs from other singers during rehearsals.

Your plays have been staged at venues like Rangashankara as well as smaller alternate spaces. What are the pros and cons?
We have been producing plays in two broad formats. One for formal theatres like Rangashankara and the other for alternate spaces. So we don’t fall into the trap of trying to change the play or compromise on elements when we perform in an alternate space. The idea is to reach out to more and different kinds of audiences. Also, as our target is children and youth, it helps to go to neighbourhoods and schools as a lot of children don’t have access to performances in theatres.

How important is it to expose children to different languages, Indian languages, and what difference does the language make to the overall experience? 
Fortunately or unfortunately, we are moving towards an education completely in English. We may write in our mother tongues, but discussions, lit fests, interviews (like this one), discourses – these are often in English. I firmly believe that being well versed in your mother tongue and other Indian languages is essential to our identity. I am not talking about the identity that gives rise to regional and divisive politics. More connected to an individual’s personality and identity. A lot of our early relation with language is in the mother tongue. Unfortunately in urban areas many parents have stopped speaking to their infants and toddlers in their mother tongue. So our next generations will always be shortchanged between English and their mother tongue. Coming to your question, it is very important to expose children to different languages. But the nature of this exposure should go beyond the functional. Poetry, fantasy, nonsense poetry, drama, folk songs, jokes, daily conversations, sharing memories, there are so many things we can share with our children in other languages. More than the knowledge of a language, it is the relationship with it that needs nurturing.

Puppetry, shadow work, musical storytelling, use of props - what is the role of these forms?
These are all different ways of telling a story or inspiring children to make their own stories. These forms and elements inspire imagination in different ways and should be chosen and used in ways that challenge the audience to go beyond what is in front of them. As much as these are about adding physical elements to a performance, ultimately they are only representations of a larger picture, the one we make in our minds.

Tell us a bit about the workshops that you do for children. 
My workshops have been related to poetry, puppetry, story telling, shadowplay, movement and many other things. Recently we have developed workshops connected to our plays. In these, we share processes that have been used in the theatre making of a particular story.

How does the funding for Gillo work?
We started Gillo’s Theatre wing in Dec 2009 and the initial investment was made by me. Over the past three years we have been supported by friends who are also now a part of the core team at Gillo. In the past year we have received funds from individual donors as contributions to our Seed Fund. This fund has been used for R&D of new plays as well training actors.
Other than the above, we raise funds through school shows and sponsored shows. Ticketed performances barely break even and are more to build audience and get our work out there. We have also been raising some money for the actors through workshop assignments.
As we are not yet a registered public trust, we are not eligible for any govt funding or grants. Even funding agencies don’t give grants unless we have a NGO registration. We have technical problems with and reservations about registering as an NGO. Hopefully things will change over the next few years.
As of now we are trying to raise funds from two main sources – contributions to our Seed Fund and sponsored shows for schools, corporates, institutes, housing colonies, etc.

Any plans in the long term (or short!) to write? How about movies? There are so few films being made for children. 
Yes, I do hope to write books in the future or whenever something strikes me! Gillo also has plans of producing films for children. I am not keen to direct any film as of now, but I would love to collaborate with people who have concepts that excite me. There are quite a few films being made for children, but the budgets are too low and the quality is compromised. Also the distribution is so bad that most films don’t even see the light of day and just sit in cans and on balance sheets of government departments related to education, culture, children and youth.

What are you working on currently? Any new productions coming up?
Currently we are staging our plays at various festivals in Bhopal, Delhi, Kolkata, Kanpur, Lucknow, etc. We produced four new plays in 2013 - Mister Jeejeebhoy and the Birds, Taoos Chaman Ki Myna, Mind Your Head and She-He-Shey.
She-He-Shey is my most recent play as writer-director. It is based on Tagore's crazy book called Shey (Se) about an imaginary character he creates to help tell stories to his 9-year-old granddaughter. This was one of the most challenging plays I have attempted. And adapting Tagore is a daunting task! Along with excerpts from the book, we have also taken inspiration from Tagore's paintings and used the compositions in our choreography. It was a very self indulgent process, something one has not done before. I am hoping to bring the play to Bangalore in 2014.
Till Feb 2014 we are travelling with these plays. March onwards we shall be working on new productions including a Marathi play about how the Mahabharat was written. We also want to produce a musical for teenagers and are looking for a script. Then we have an Indian ballet style production based on a short story about a little girl and her horse. There are various ideas in the basket. Let’s see which ones hatch in 2014!

[Picture courtesy Shaili Sathyu]

A Book About Design

Very few books appeal equally to the 8 and the 5 year old these days. Unless it is a toddler/pre-schooler favorite that they've both enjoyed being read to by an obsessed mom, it is unlikely that they'd have an extended book discussion of their favorites at this stage...

And then, every once in a while a book comes along that knock them both off their boots, making my  heart leap with joy. Like this set of three books here by Mark Gonyea, (who has become a household name over the last couple of weeks). These three books have been been read and read again several times in the last fortnight and it is not surprising to see its appeal.



A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Good
by Mark Gonyea


Be it the cardinal ratio 1:3:9 or the receding cool colors, or the relative sizes for emphasis, Gonyea manages to get the point across with a few chosen words and a fantastic visual to go with it.

The simplicity of uncluttered design comes across loud and clear in this book. The spare words and simple visuals reiterate that a picture is worth a thousand words.

This book inspired the 8 year old to try out every concept from the ten chapters, making one card per concept, first thing on a Saturday morning. The 5 yo simply loved reading it over and over, picking up vocabulary, and comparing the cover image with the one inside of a similar nature.


Another Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Bad 
by Mark Gonyea

Following up on the previous book, Gonyea has managed to bring across a few more interesting concepts in design.

Starting with the big picture, it is nice to see how adding details changes the design. Foreground and background, negative and positive space are clearly shown. Yes, shown. With minimal words, and bold visuals, Gonyea has managed to show some tough concepts in visual art design.

The text is laced with humor - the one that struck the 5 yo as funny is the use of the term "personal space" in design where two elements are spaced apart to illustrate the point.

Sometimes sequels fall flat, seem weaker, but not in this case. After convincing us that complicated does not mean good in the previous book, he has set out to convince us that complicated isn't bad either.

That's the beauty of design, as we learn.


A Book About Color: A Clear and Simple Guide for Young Artists 
by Mark Gonyea

Starting with "Welcome to the Neighborhood", Gonyea introduces the Color Street with 6 houses - violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Then goes on to talk about primary colors and secondary colors.

Since most pre-schoolers know about primary and secondary colors anyway,  we don't have to stop here. The book talks about saturation, hues, color wheel, and the fact that cool colors recede and warm colors stand out, and projecting moods via bright bold colors and muted pastels.

Each chapter brings out an aspect of color theory in the most concise and elegant manner that even kids can appreciate.


All in all, three awesome books for all ages about design and color principles.

[image source: macmillan]
[author website: markgonyea.com]

Wisha Wozzawriter

Wisha Wozzawriter by Payal Kapadia,
Puffin, Rs 125
Reviewed by: Rachna Maneesh Dhir

When the crocus was announced this year, it sort of made me think of a book I just read, in a totally different light. We all undertake journeys, almost all the time. Children take the school bus and we go to work in different modes of transportation, we all walk to the park,market and such "mundane" trips are undertaken on a daily basis. Then, of course, we welcome holidays to get a break from this monotony and we go places, new or old. However, we often return - sooner or later - to the place we started with a different mindset.

It is also possible that many of us move to a new destination, that is known as migration, but carry our old mindset with us? The angst of
immigrants has been well documented in so many books, for adults and children, alike. The book being reviewed, Wisha Wozzariter, has a life altering journey as its central theme and even though the protagonist returns"home" in the end - she is much changed in her thought and outlook! The simple story revolves around a ten year old girl, after whom the book is named. I do not want to explain the choice of the title, except for the fact that the book is full of such smart names, for people and places.

The other characters include humans and animals, alike, with Bookworm being the only one to make recurring appearances. The plot is crafted
in great detail and the book will work well for readers in the 7-12 age group. What is most special about this book is the fact that the situations and emotions have universal appeal - pot of gold at end of rainbow, sandwich as a snack, circus acts, train ride - all could take place anywhere in the world. So, there is no need to give names such as which city or country or village? For example, children who pass comments upon reading books exist everywhere as well - don’t they?

According to Penguin, “Payal Kapadia studied English Literature at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay and Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. She has worked with Outlook in Bombay and The Japan Times in Tokyo. She now lives in Mumabi with her husband, two daughters,
and their three imaginary friends: Klixa, Pallading and Kiki. Her first book, Colonel Hathi Loses His Brigade was published by Disney in
2011”.

By completing the story in 77 pages - there is not an extra word used! Risking generalization, I would like to share one of my pet peeves
here - many authors, including those of Indian origin, that write for the “tween” age group (8-12) start well but lose steam midway! The ending might be good but it never makes up for the loss of interest the reader feels at some stage, soon after starting a book. Many a time, immense effort needs to be made either by the young reader (given that the only option might be acute boredom) or through coaxing from an adult who might be privy to the ending, to complete the book.

That is why, I often ask myself “What is the role of the editor? Why can she/he not “tighten” the story so this stage can be skipped? What is the purpose of presenting a half baked idea to readers if it can be worked on and improved with time?” Well, Payal and her editors at Puffin, do not disappoint on this front, either. I can see young readers being encountered with many "what next"

moments and luckily they do not have to wait for long. All teachers of creative writing could make their students’ lives more enriching and their own lives simpler by introducing this book to young readers and budding writers. If it were written for adults, it would have fast found its way to the "self help" category. Fortunately, by choosing to write in the fiction genre - the author has perhaps accomplished a
double feat – of children enjoying what they read and also learning without the usual rules or do’s and don’ts style!

Children who are not keen on reading books because of the jump in the level of vocabulary or volume, or complexity in the plot, as they
transition from chapter books to novels (typically in grade 3- 5), are most likely to embrace this one as it has none of those "issues".
This review would be incomplete without reference to the unusual line drawings that accompany the text. Here is what The Japan Times
website has to say about the book’s illustrator, “Roger Dahl has been contributing editorial cartoons and his Zero Gravity strip for The Japan Times since 1991. An American from Seattle, he is a graduate of the University of Washington.” The expressions of the various characters are extremely well captured.

I would have loved to reproduce the poem that beautifully summarizes the plot of the book, but I consciously do not wish to get into the
specifics as I want readers to get a first hand experience of how well the author displays her craft of book writing. It is with great difficulty that I am writing this review deliberately without quoting any of the amazing passages, that the book is full of, to keep the element of surprise intact. So, let me not keep you from checking this book out for yourselves.

Happy reading!

The Stupendous Timetelling Superdog

The Stupendous Timetelling Superdog
By Himanjali Sankar
Illustrated by Pooja Pottenkulam
Duckbill Books
Ages 7-10

The Stupendous Timetelling Superdog. What a title and what a premise for a story! I was intrigued. I had to read the blurb. The Orange Marmaladies from the Black Hole of Time had tinkered with the Master Clock of Rock and sent the world into a tizzy. All timetelling devices had stopped working. Only silly old Rousseau could tell the time – with short barks and tail-thumps! I must admit I was a bit sceptical – would it be one of those sci-fi thrillers with aliens and all sorts of hi-tech contraptions? Not my kind of book at all! Then I read the first chapter online and wanted more! So when the publishers offered to send me a review copy, I didn’t think twice.

The book has been very well-produced – the font, the illustrator’s style – I could see that a lot of thought has gone into every little detail. The page numbers are housed in tiny paw prints. The chapter numbers have been designed to look like the time on a digital display. I knew the little dog-lover at home would be super-excited when he heard the title; I was rewarded with shrieks and a war-dance. It seemed like the book was intended for the 8+ age group, and the kid had just turned six, so I had to read it before it could be handed it to him.
It was weird and wacky in a very agreeable way – more of a fun fantasy than sci-fi, and seemed just right for the little imp who was breathing down my neck. There were puns and references to Captain Hook’s crocodile, the Big Ben, ancient Egypt and Harappa – but nothing that a six year-old avid reader wouldn’t be able to make sense of.

I like how the information about the marmaladies is revealed gradually (their appearance, clothes and national song!), and I love that they remain invisible in the illustrations, because they cannot be seen by humans. The characters are very well-etched – every single one of them. Mrs Ghosh is a no-nonsense lady who works for an NGO. She talks to her daughters as if they are adults and that makes for interesting conversation. The girls are spirited themselves. But the star is Rousseau! I found myself looking forward to the parts featuring Rousseau and wishing there was more of him in the book.

There is utter confusion in the girls’ school – how does one tell when to ring the school bell without knowing what time it is?! Far away in Germany where Mr Ghosh works, things are much worse - clockwork precision cannot work without clocks! Mrs Ghosh’s parents are away holidaying in the Caribbean where no one cares what time it is anyway! Eventually, Rousseau lands up on TV and the Prime Minister even makes a visit to the Ghosh family home. The superdog is a superstar!

The author mocks the media, politicians, astrologers, godmen... even Shah Rukh Khan is not spared! While the fun never ceases, the book manages to bring out the difference in peoples' attitudes towards time, and their behaviour when out of their comfort zone. As an advocate of the slow movement, I see the book as a commentary on how we live our lives with one eye on the clock all the time.

Be it environmental issues or thoughts like this one - "Maybe all dogs do, Rousseau knows how to tell us. How much do humans know about dogs and their minds?" -  it is cleverly done. The female characters are strong, domestic staff treated with respect. All of it is good, but for me, a book has to earn its pages and I felt it fell short. I would probably have liked it better had it been shorter and targeted at younger kids. But the kid read it and declared it a super-book! He laughed uproariously at the bits I had found hilarious, and enjoyed everything in between too. When he had finished reading, the timepieces in our house mysteriously disappeared. ‘It is the work of a marmalady, they are at it again,’ the mischievous imp told me between giggles as he led me on a hunt to find timepieces under pillows or between books. The “marmaladies” were threatened with dire consequences – after that the timepieces were just turned upside down. Then the kid got busy reading the book all over again and the marmaladies magically disappeared!

Months later, I read the book again, this time without looking for build-up and without anticipating escalation in conflict. I saw it from a child’s perspective – a child who thinks time is well-spent if he has had fun and laughs. I could see STSD was entertaining and I could understand why it had been re-read many times.

[Image source www.duckbill.in]