How to Stop your Grownup from making Bad Decisions

How to Stop your Grownup from making Bad Decisions

Written by Judy Balan

Publisher: Harper Collins India

Ages: 10+

There’s no such thing as a normal family, eleven year old Nina declares early in this book, pegged as the first in the Nina the Philosopher series. Certainly, hers abounds in crazy – a ditsy mom, juggling single parenthood  with a job as a writer; a surly older sister who just might be a voodoo priestess; Nina herself, struggling to keep the peace as the only (over)thinking member of the household.  Adding to the mayhem are Dhiraj aka Diddy Blood, mom’s utterly unsuitable rapper boyfriend and  Polka Dot, Diddy’s horrid little son  (names are clearly NOT  Diddy’s forte) -  even Moustache Maami, a well-meaning, bewhiskered neighbour. Thankfully, Nina has some support in her corner – her mother’s friend Ashwin and BLG,  Bright Light God himself, who just might be tipping the fates in Nina’s favour every now and then. But just when you think things are looking up for our sassy little narrator, Mom drops the M-bomb, announcing her plans to marry Diddy! What is a girl to do, especially a budding philosopher like our Nina?

Bristling with pithy observations about life, sisterhood, evil teachers and the ordeals of bringing up a stubborn and clueless parent, How to.. is a fun, breezy read you can finish in a single sitting, thanks to its articulate and irreverent narrator. Told in the form of Nina’s  blogposts over a period of two months, the book  is a refreshingly different look at the modern family, with a plot  that manages to include pretty much every topic long held taboo in Indian children’s writing – PMS! Divorce! Live-in relationships!! Teenage pregnancy!!!  Even Nina’s mom is the antithesis of the traditional maternal figure – wildly impulsive, childishly stubborn, useless in the kitchen and with extremely questionable taste in men. Some aspects of the book are likely to crease the odd parental brow -  at one point, Nina urges her mother into a ‘trial marriage’ with Diddy ; elsewhere, her fourteen year old sister hares off to get tattooed, then deliberately leaves the wrapping of a pregnancy testing kit in the trash.  

I enjoyed Nina's candour and worldly wise commentary, which often make her sound older than her years. “I really think I should be the mom in this family”, she says, after yet another family flareup. You have to agree. “Are children even supposed to worry about their parents?” Of course, all it takes is an accident for her to go right back to sounding eleven years old as she pours out her fears to BLG on her blog. I also enjoyed Priyanka Shyam's whacky  illustrations , especially the one of the teachers-as-angry-elephants.

By the end, of course, things are rosy again. There is the hint of romance in the air, and the possibility of unearthing the mystery of Nina's absent father. But this is, after all, the first in a series .Going by the promise of Book 1, Nina's quest for Normal is still many, many hilarious blogposts away.


I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. The views expressed here, however, are my own.

Ashwathy and the Boot of God

Ashwathy and the Boot of God
Written by Sowmya Rajendran
Published in Puffin books by Penguin Books India
Ages 12+

"When Ashwathy first saw the boot, sticking out of a pile of leaves, she thought she'd discovered a dead body." With a beginning like this, the story could have gone anywhere. The fact that despite thinking it might belong on a dead body, the 14 year old Ashwathy pokes around, and is piqued enough to investigate it when it lands up in their cowshed, supposedly carried in from a place where the cow would not have been able to enter when she came back from grazing, is enough to tell us that our protagonist is no ordinary girl. She's smart, curious, intelligent enough to figure things out, and as we find out, resourceful enough to get to the bottom of things.

So what are these things? The boot belongs to God. And not your ordinary 'staying in the temple, requiring pujas with flowers and coconuts' kind of God, but a sparkly-eyed, fashionably attired God who often changed her hairstyle and decided to go on dates with interesting people. Yes, you read that right. God here, is not the default male, but a woman.

There had been a death in the neighbourhood. Sreeja, a married woman, was said to have committed suicide, having recently been diagnosed with cancer. Sreeja, however, had complained to God that she had been murdered, and asked for her help. God wants Ashwathy's help in solving the case. So how does Ashwathy rise to the occasion? What does she do to find out what really happened? It is a quick, breathtaking read to find out.

Sowmya Rajendran has taken the whodunit genre by the boot ... err... horns, and produced a gem of a book. Not only does it keep us enthralled by the fast paced murder mystery, it also gives us a work of fiction rooted in small town Kerala, a town within daily commuting distance of a major city, with very believable, very Indian characters. And that is no mean feat. Then there is the demolition of stereotypes done in the author's trademark humour (I loved the way she puts things). God is a She, who pooh-poohs the idea of a prayer-and-coconut-breaking-routine of wooing God. Ashwathy is an atheist, even if she is recruited by God, and she is encouraged in her beliefs by her father who dreams big for his daughter despite social pressure to go the other way. One can only imagine the possibilities. And then there is that little thing about Ashwathy confronting a sexually abusive teacher at school. Very impressive.

The resident teen is impressed too. "All those quirky details about God - she went on a date with a Frenchman? There's a screensaver on her photograph when she takes off for some reason? God asks what's wrong with living in a boot? God has a cousin in another universe, who she calls Captain America?" Clearly a hit with the target age group.

The title seems to be nod to J. K. Rowling's series of books, and the plot a nod to Blyton's Five Find-Outers and Dog. We hope that this, too, will be a series -- the Boot of God is still with Ashwathy, even though the photograph is in screensaver mode, as we turn the last page and close the book with a satisfied sigh.

Image courtesy goodreads.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher; the opinions expressed in this review are, however, my own.

Drowning Dreams & other poems

Drowning Dreams & other poems
Written by Ananya Sengupta
Published by Aparna Raman for  Timbuktoo Young Authors Publishing
Ages 10+

A secret wish.

But you see that this is not 
Even half the things I would possibly want

A litany of fantastical possibilities that the mind wonders about.

If a ghost rambled through your brain 
What would you do? 
Would you squeal, shriek or shout in pain?

A longing for a grandmother's home comforts - the house, the food, and small indulgences.

The space is of love and arguments 

Bewilderment and pain on a beloved uncle's passing away, as can be felt only by the young.

You may be gone in front of me 
But you aren't gone from here 

The unbridled joy of swimming with an imaginary friend who feels very real.

I agree with her and swim to the bay 
In the next minutes we are mermaids

Empathy for a young girl in a faraway land dying of cholera after her entire family has perished in an earthquake, the senseless loss of life.

A drop of the clean, clear pure 
And the many millions would not have sailed away.

These thoughts, and so much more in the 10 poems that make up this slim volume of poems by an obviously talented 11 year old, Ananya Sengupta, complemented well by the illustrations and design by Ayesha Adil and Aseem Gautam. Every poem offers something new. From the delight of a mind flying free, flitting from thought to thought, to the disdain of a younger sister over the older one's celebrity crush. They alternate between the charm of a tween's customary thoughts to a maturity belying her age. I've seen the birth of many poems, having a resident fledgling poet, and it is fascinating to watch the process -- everything is felt so keenly and often is translated on to paper quite effortlessly. This young poet shows a lot of promise, and here's hoping for stellar work from her in the future.

Image courtesy Aparna Raman.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher; the opinions expressed in this review are, however, my own.

 

Meet Annie Besant, the author of Whimsy

Whimsy
Written by: Annie Besant
Illustrations: Ruchi Mhasane
Published by: Karadi Tales



Written by Annie Besant and illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane, Whimsy is a charmingly rendered picture book from Karadi Tales. The tale is spun around two playful and fun characters - Mr. Prat and Ms. Fox and their delightful rendition of what whimsy means to each.

Whimsy is wearing a cat for a hat, feeding it with custard and cream in silver spoon, purple skirts, yellow parasols, riding unicycles wearing pink pantaloons and many more such delicious details that turn the text into a rich multi-sensory treat.

Ruchi's pencil and soft watercolor strokes lend a soothing feel, perfectly marrying the words with the pictures. The illustrations are indeed the real icing on the yummily whipped Whimsy cake.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Annie Besant, the author of Whimsy. I had the pleasure of asking her a few questions to hear the inside scoop behind the Whimsy story.


1) Whimsy is a very different book from Mala's silver anklets. We would love to hear how the inspiration for Whimsy came about.

Quince! I doubt I even know how to pronounce that fruit (though it sounds lovely in my head!). I was dreaming of sweet juicy fruits one hot summer’s afternoon, when my mind wandered to quince. Not that I have eaten it in any form or shape…but something about the word was very enticing to me. Sharp, lemony…whimsical! I can almost imagine Quince to be a princess in shining armour, with curls that could poke your eyes out, wearing her boots front to back.

So quinces, naturally, led me to thinking of Edgar Lear’s poem The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and the famous line:
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon.

And that is how the mad duo of Mr Prat and Ms Fox took birth on a page that was hastily torn from my very out-dated calendar diary. I’m not a proponent of page-tearing from books, but Mr Prat made me do it. So I wrote out the courtship of these mad creatures.


2) Please tell us about how your children's writing journey began.

It began years ago at one of my favourite independent bookstores in New York. I was living in New Jersey at that time and would often spend my weekends at this bookstore in New York with my favourite cup of caffeine. Ensconced in a corner, I would browse through book after book. It was here that I bumped into bookshelves sagging with children’s books.

I began reading them, though earlier I had had no interest in children’s or young adult books. They pulled me into their world – a complex world expressed in tiny word frames. I think it intrigued me that children’s writers have so many limitations to work with: reader’s age and vocabulary, complexity of theme, suitable content etc. Yet, a picture book’s few pages can contain an amazing wealth of colour, illustration, humour, warmth, cleverness, and kindness... the list of merits is unending.

I was a writer myself at that point, dabbling with short stories, poetry, with dreams of writing a grand novel. And when I read those children’s books, I read without thinking that I would one day write them.

Then I moved to Chennai a few years ago. One fine day, a little girl inspired me to write my first picture book Mala’s Silver Ankelts. When that got picked up by Tulika, I felt brave enough to write more. Next, Scholastic picked up my manuscripts, then Karadi Tales and HarperCollins.

At some level, I confess I’m surprised that I’m a children’s author. I never would have picked that path for myself … but I guess that’s why it’s called life!


3) Any other project in the works?

A few books that are waiting to see the light of day – and, happily, almost all of them with Karadi Tales! There’s a romp of a story titled The Dragon’s Toothache, which has our heroine bravely climbing into a dragon’s mouth to try and get to the root of its toothache. But when she gets swallowed in the process, what she finds waiting for her is truly hilarious. Then there is a series titled Gus the Bus – all about a bus set in fun-loving Chennai.

I’m also working on a sequel to The Pterodactyl’s Egg (HarperCollins, India)… and facing the challenge that any author who writes sequels faces – how to make the next book the mother of all sequels! I’m toying with an idea for a graphic novel and trying to figure out the next step.

4) Share with us a little more about Whimsy and how it was working with Karadi Tales on the project.

Whimsy is one of my personal favourites. Where most of my picture books are grounded in reality, Whimsy is pure fantasy. Writing it was sheer fun…and I loved coming up with ways for Mr Prat and Ms Fox to outdo each other. Making up things comes easily to me and so Whimsy was full of strange fancies and notions. In my own way, it was also a salute to Lear’s whimsical lovers – Owl and Cat (in fact, an observant reader may even have noticed them sailing by in a boat in one of the spreads).

However, if you look closely, there are other subtle elements in there that question and push stereotypes. The world still has strong views about who can fall in love with whom, how the very subtle dance of courtship should be conducted, and more importantly strong views about accepting or not accepting those who are different from the usual herd. I would like to think this book provides the opportunity for parents to discuss these issues with their children.

Working with Karadi Tales was a unique and collaborative experience. Shobha Viswanath and Manasi Subramaniam (the then commissioning editor at Karadi Tales) were both very hands-on from the word go. They questioned the story when they had to, challenged it when needed to, nurtured it at all times, babied it like crazy, and found an amazing illustrator (Ruchi Mhasane) for it. That is how I knew this book would be a success – because it passed the tests laid down by two of the most empowered and accomplished women it’s been my pleasure to know. I was also included in the illustration process. This helped ensure that there were no conflicting visions for the story. And what can I say about Ruchi’s art – bewitching!


5) Any thoughts on the importance of reading picture books that you would like to share with our readers?

My thoughts in the exact order than I’m thinking them:
1. Reading will not make you grow taller. But you may meet a giant who will carry you on his shoulders.
2. Reading will not help you with your math scores. But you may save the world with nothing more than your kindness.
3. Reading will not help you like the dark any better. But you may make friends with the dragon under your bed and find out its afraid of the dark too.
4. Reading will not fill your stomach. But you may be invited to a mad tea-party to answer unanswerable riddles and recite nonsensical poetry.
5. Reading will not help you stay the same forever…because you may find a giant peach, or stumble into a chocolate factory, or fly a Hippogriff.

So read! It will show you worlds that you will never want to leave. Read. Read. Read.

6) On a fun note, this question stems from knowing your love for Alice. What strange creatures would your wonderland have if you were to create one?

Mr Prat, for sure! Perhaps mermaids who wear top hats and tap dance? Oh, and a Wagabaloo. What is that, you ask? You’ll just have to jump down the rabbit hole to find out, or is it climb up the rabbit hole?


7) Do you conduct any book reading sessions or writing workshops in Chennai?

Yes, many and often! I love interacting with children of all ages, and more so with their parents who are often curious about how to get their sons or daughters to read more.

Fifteen Picture Books to Have Fun with Words

Native English speakers take it in their stride. The quirkiness of the language with as many exceptions to the rule as there are rules is nothing to worry about. It all falls in place, beautifully! So what's to fret about, right?

A non-English-speaker who is eager to master the Queen's language might find it completely confounding. What with idioms, phrases, homographs, homonyms, not to mention the hodge-podge of foreign words adopted liberally, learning English can be both challenging and fun.

Just for the fun of it, since we like reading themed books back to back from the library, we recently checked out some picture books that turned out to be a delight.


I. Rhyming Epithets:

A Huge Hog Is A Big Pig
A Rhyming Word Game
by Francis McCall & Patricia Keeler

One of the favorite word games we play at home goes by a few popular names, one of which is Stinky Pinky. It is a game of answering the clue with a rhyming epithet - an adjective and a rhyming noun. For example, happy father is a glad dad; a clever cat is a witty kitty; an uncommon rabbit is a rare hare.

This book has 15 such Stinky Pinky clues with colorful photographs featuring children and the object in question.

I always wonder about the repeat-read value of such books - once we have read it, we know the answers and there is no incentive to read it again.

[ A version of this game available online]


II. Idioms & Phrases:

Raining Cats and Dogs
A Collection of Irresistible Idioms and Illustrations
by Will Moses

We've all heard of phrases which don't mean much when taken at face value, and may in fact be confusing and irrelevant to the situation. Idioms are a wonderful construct and discovering them as a youngster was a fun activity for me that I am now happy to pass on to my kids.

Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards was the kids' first introduction to idioms; the inimitable illustrations  plus a little spot-the-ape type activity tucked into the pictures kept the kids engaged.

With folkart style illustrations that are literal and funny, Raining Cats & Dogs states the idiom, explains the meaning, and gives an example usage. For example, the illustration for  "Feeling Blue" shows a man with a sad face with blue skin, and his pets are all blue as well; "Make a Beeline" shows a lovely country road with a line being drawn by a buzzing bee and a sign saying 'Buzz's Painting Company."


In a Pickle: And Other Funny Idioms 
by Marvin Terban
illustrated by Giulio Maestro

Much like Raining Cats & Dogs above, this book has silly illustrations to help remember the meaning of the idioms. The explanation is a bit more elaborate here.



III. Palindromes:

Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog! 
Palindromania!
by Jon Agee

A master at wordplay, Jon Agee specializes in the silly, funny, and clever use of the language, with delightfully amusing pictures to boot.

What's not to like about palindromes? The illustrations are quirky and playful in both these books. Some phrases may not be easy for the very young to understand, but, 8+ year olds might appreciate the humor and cleverness of it all.



IV. Oxymorons:

Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp? 

by Jon Agee

The only picture book I found at my library that introduces this weird feature of our English language helped the kids think about such expressions they might have come across and not realized. "Pretty Ugly" is one that jumped to their minds right away. All in all, a fun book that amuses the adult reader as much as it amuses the kids.


V. Tongue Twisters:

Orangutan Tongs 
by Jon Agee

Shared here already, the book is quite fun to try out the tongue twisters.


Oh Say Can you Say
Fox in Socks
by Theodore Seuss Geisel

Two classic books that take wordplay to the ultimate degree and deliver immense satisfaction and joy to read aloud to kids. Nothing more to say about these, except, if one has not read these by now, please do so immediately!



VI. Crazy Collective Nouns


A Shiver of Sharks:
A Compilation of Aquatic Collective Nouns
by PatrickGeorge

Collective nouns are bizarre sometimes, and it takes a while to get used to some of the zanier ones. This book collects aquatic animals. The stylized design of the illustrations makes the book a treat to behold. Also by PatrickGeorge are A Filth of Starlings, A Drove of Bullocks, A Crackle of Crickets



Have You Ever Seen a Smack of Jellyfish?:
An Alphabet Book
by Sarah Asper-Smith

Alphabetically organized books are always engaging for young kids. This books presents various animals arranged alphabetically (Ants to Zebras), along with their collective nouns . From Army of Ants to a Zeal of Zebras, we learn the collective noun, with full page illustration that is child-friendly.



A Zeal of Zebras:
An Alphabet of Collective Nouns
by Woop Studios

Much like the book above, this book goes one step further and presents the collective nouns in alphabetical order rather than the creatures as the book above does. (Aurora to Zeal)

So we start with an Aurora of Polar Bears, a Bale of Turtles, and work our way up to a Zeal of Zebras. Of course, it is inevitable to not end with Zeal of Zebras as there aren't many 'Z' animals.

The illustrations are gorgeous, quite stunning.




VII. Homonyms & Homophones


The King Who Rained
by Fred Gwynne

Words that are spelled differently but sound the same and have different meanings can be confusing.
Although over a quarter century old, the book still has its appeal to this day. Fairy tails, king who rained... you get the idea. The pictures show the literal image, making it completely giggle-worthy for the kids.



The Dove Dove: Funny Homograph Riddles
by Marvin Terban
illustrated by Tom Huffman

Two words spelled the same way, but pronounced differently and have different meanings are quite a challenge for new readers. The riddle format is presented as a sentence with boldface for the homographs. Example, Living animals dwell here. The answer is Live/live - Live animals, live here. Another example, The bird of peace plunged into the water. The dove dove into the water.

A bit challenging for the seven year old, but the nine year old had fun with most of the riddles in this book.




VIII. Similes

Crazy Like a Fox: A Simile Story
by Loreen Leedy


Rather than isolated listing of similes, incredibly talented writer, Loreen Leedy, presents an adventurous tale of Rufus fox who scares Babette the sheep by roaring like a lion; she then gets mad as a hornet... and so the story goes, with one simile after another adding spice to the story.

The figure of speech is explained, and kids are encouraged to come up with their own similes.

Five Picture Books to Celebrate Patterns in Nature

Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails
Patterns & Shapes-- Naturally
by Betsy Franco
illustrations by Steve Jenkins


Author of Curious Collection of Cats and Dazzling Display of Dogs, Betsy Franco, has written over two dozen books for children, among other things. Plus, the kids and I are huge fans of Steve Jenkins. So, when we found this book in the library by two wonderfully creative and talented people, we had to bring it home to savor at our leisure.

In the day and the night,
on land and in flight,
tucked in hollows of trees,
in the tide pools and seas,
you'll find patterns and shapes--
from the snakes to the bees!

Thus starts this book which has Jenkins' trademark cut paper collage complementing the lyrical text.

We learn about Moth's kaleidoscopic shapes, spider's delicate tapestries, peacock's patterned train, and even the beautiful spirals on topshell snails. The text is elegant in its simplicity, highlighting the very aspect that is distinct and discernible in each creature.

Study a beehive and you will see
the mathematical genius of the bee.
The hexagons you'll find inside
fit side by side by side.
This math is passed mysteriously
from worker bee to worker bee!

Each page is a work of art, inspiring and stunning. Kids particularly liked the pufferfish page! The pages with ants marching diligently and the sea stars in a tidepool cannot be read in a rush.



Swirl by Swirl
Spirals in Nature
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Beth Krommes


From coiled up snake that is ready to spring, to chambered nautilus that grows bigger and bigger; from rolled up lady fern leaves ready to unfurl, to spiny sea horse's coiled tail that grabs on tight to seaweed so as not to drift away; and all the way to spiral galaxy, we are treated to the many aspects of spirals we see in nature.

A spiral is a snuggling shape.
It fits neatly in small places.
Coiled tight, warm and safe, it awaits...
For a chance to expand.

Full page scratchboard illustrations with just a hint of color from watercolor washes are gorgeous. Each example shows the many aspects of spiral shape that makes it unique and useful. With minimal text, the book conveys the idea gracefully - that no matter how we look at it, be it rolled up and full of potential or fully expanded infinite in the universe, spirals can be powerful and elegant.


Growing Patterns
Fibonacci Numbers in Nature
and
Mysterious Patterns
Finding Fractals in Nature
By Sarah C. Campbell

With photographic illustrations, Growing Patterns introduces Fibonacci numbers in nature - starting with the number of petals in Lyle-leaved Sage and Calla Lily to Crown of Thorns to Trillium to Vinca to Cosmos.

The back of the book has  More About Fibonacci Numbers where we learn about Fibonacci, the man, as well as the fact that this series of numbers was known to ancient Indian scholars even before Fibonacci spread the word about it. Glossary explains the golden ratio and the golden rectangle.

From Pinecones and Pineapple to Sunflower Centers and Nautilus we see the beauty of Fibonacci numbers. But the book also ends with the note that not all numbers in nature are Fibonacci numbers, and encourages us to look for spirals, Fibonacci numbers, and other patterns.

We know spheres (oranges, tomatoes) and cones (icicles and traffic cones), even cylinders (pencils and cucumbers). But what do we call the shape of broccoli or branch of fern leaves? We didn't have a name for them until 1975, when Benoit Mandelbrot noticed patterns in these natural shapes.

Mysterious Patterns is all about fractals. Using a drawing of a tree - starting with the bare trunk, add a 'V' branch, then add a 'V' branch to each arm of the first 'V' branch, and so on till we get the shape of a typical tree, or broccoli - we learn about identifying the smallest unit/pattern which when repeated, gives the complex shape for which we don't have a single precise name, but call them fractals.

Leaves' veins and flower heads of Queen Anne's Lace are simple examples of this repetitive pattern that makes up some of the natural shapes in nature. The pattern of small rivers and streams that feed into one larger river, the lightning bolt, human veins,even human lungs are fractals.

The book ends by showing what patterns are not fractals - even though they are repetitive - like skin marking on swallowtail caterpillar or the outside of the pineapple.

Make Your Own Fractal section at the back of the book was a big hit with both the nine and seven year old. The Afterword suggests that Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak would have been made of fractals!


Echoes for the Eye
Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature
by Barbara Juster Esbensen
illustrated by Helen K. Davie

Organized in five sections titled Spirals, Branches, Polygons, Meanders, and Circles, the book presents examples of natural geometry and repetition of shapes in nature in the most unexpected places.

Tornado and spirals? From cochlea to bighorn sheep's horns, we see some examples of spirals in nature. Snowflakes and turtle shells show us polygons in nature. Meanders talks about the winding curving esses in nature like the slithering snake and sliding glaciers.

Like a frozen white river
locked in time
the glacier
slides
slow
ponderous
inch by heavy
inch
powerful
grinding--
a heavy unfolding
ribbon of snow and ice.

Some knowledge of basic shapes and geometry is required to appreciate this book. The shapes are not explained, but the illustrations complement the poems to help the young readers get the idea.

[image source: multcolib.org]