Myths and Legends from India- How and Why tales

Great book. Simple language. Charming stories that explain everyday rituals and practices in Hindu culture and the mythological beliefs behind them. Written from the perspective of a grandmother , the author, Rama Srinivas, committed to paper those oral folklores that gets passed down from one generation to another. Which is why not only they make a great read but are a valued contribution to the existing  repository of mythological Hindu tales. Also, 'Greystroke' a regular on the illustrator circuit has contributed to it. ( Bangalore peeps would probably have met him in the Bangalore Children's literature groups)











I like the stories  because they explain  the why and how of simple rituals practiced in our everyday life. For example, the origin of the practice of knocking on one's head while visiting a temple; or explaining why touching the ears or prostrating before God is common amongst some worshippers. Here is a nice story whose snapshot I attach about the 'One Eyed Crow'.  


Here is a nice note from the author explaining the origins of her book.




The copy I have is from my daughter's school library. It was published by MacMillan India Limited in 1997 and priced at Rs. 18/- However I find no internet trail and am wondering if it was reproduced. What a pity if it is not. 

 P.s. Sorry about the bad quality pictures on this post- taken from my mobile phone and shaky hand.

Holy Cow and Other Divine Beasts

Indian Mythological tales are to me the best form of story telling. Full of imagination, excitement, vividity, they contain a special appeal to children. They are also quite amenable to vivd illustrations so when I picked up this book and saw how its author and artist , Shiela Dhir has interpreted the stories in traditional Mithila style of art form, I was hooked.


And this Scholastic book written and illustrated by Shiela Dhir does such a wonderful job. The illustrations are also done by the author (since she is a NID graduate- this makes sense!)  in the Mihila art style making this book come alive with its colour and form. The simple narrative are like short stories describing mythical Hindu  figures ranging from Surabhi, Hanuman, Airavata, Manasa, Varaha, Narsimha, Ananta, Matsya , Garuda.Kurma. Very educative for parents like me who are very sketchy  with their mythological knowledge with a  kid  who wants to be very up to date!
Here is a sample page I clicked from my phone to give you an idea, my crude version of Look Inside"!



And here's some interesting Trivia about the author:http://scholastic.co.in/en/authors/sheila-dhir

Little Princess Tony Ross

HAHAHA to the 'Little Princess' books that always make us laugh.

We stumbled upon this series when we were watching BBC's channel 5 programs and Man! what a find! Ever since we have been squealing in delight on discovering  these books  in libraries or book shops here in Bangalore!

Tony Ross is the author/illustrator and here is a lovely write up about his other work (also illustrated the Horrid Henry series )

This adoringly impish princess is the main character of this book series; surrounded by grown ups of the royal household such as her parents- the king and queen, little brother, admiral, cook, nanny, prime - minister, and the doctor . Lovely illustrations;crazy illustrations- Little Princess wearing a saucepan on her head, the nose digger cook, a doctor with chicken pox , a delightful little girl with a crown---what's not to love and laugh!

Also, every 'Little Princess' story has some endearing thought attached. 

Take this book "I want to be" as an example. The cover has a lipstick smeared face and the story begins with her announcement of  " the time has come to grow up". The princess goes around asking "what is the best way to be?"

 "Kind like your father", suggests her mother; "Loving, like your mother", suggests her father; "Clean", says the cook standing in a filthy kitchen as he sticks a finger in his nose ; the prime minister, worried about his last piece of a puzzle says ``be clever''; and the doctor--covered with pox--advises her to "be healthy". Finally confused with all these replies she goes to her nanny who lovingly lifts her up in her arms and instructs her to " Be yourself"

At the end sitting on her potty she declares "I want to be tall" and in comes her little brother saying " You are already tall"!

Such giggles.

Princess Poppy

If you are a parent like me who cringes at anything related to Barbie but your kid is so into princesses and fairies and ends up looking at all sorts of books with a Barbie image on them then Princess Poppy is your answer!

These are a series of attractive books with great stories designed for a little girl reader and their Barbie hating moms!;))

Everything about the book will appeal to the 4-5 year old princesses who would love the dainty flowers, tiny golden stars, the little envelope with a note right in front, the colour scheme , the map of Honeypot Hill featuring in every book - everything!

All the characters have such kind faces and the focus is on the story and less on the dress/ hair/makeup or looks of  'Poppy' and her friends and Family. The stories are about friendship,  sharing, feelings, standing up for yourself -such lovely themes!
However, my favourite part is their tag line, "Every Little Girl is a Princess".

Here's a nice interview with the author, Janey Louise Jones : http://clubs-kids.scholastic.co.uk/clubs_content/2170
Veronica Vasylenko does  a fabulous job of illustrating the stories but seems to have got little mention of her work on the web.
Ah! Also! The Random House group has developed a nice website for your kid to tinker around after she is done with the reading. http://www.princesspoppy.com/

Today Was a Terrible Day-Patricia Reilly Giff

Absolutely delighted reading this book!

On first glance it does seem it is in line with Judith V's book, 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day' but it differs with a twist in the tale and its classroom setting.
Susanna Natti has done a wonderful job of illustrating those frustrating emotions and feelings as well as school life. I loved the hand written note-it looked so real with the blue ball point ink!
In my internet search about Patricia I came across her blog and understood the book better. Patricia was a teacher for 20 years. As part of a write up on her here, she says,
"All of my books are based in some way on my personal experiences, or the experiences of members of my family, or the stories kids would tell me in school."
I liked this book even better when I read this as well in the write up: "I want the children to bubble up with laughter, or to cry over my books. I want to picture them under a cherry tree or at the library with my book in their hands. But more, I want to see them reading in the classroom. I want to see children in solitude at their desks, reading, absorbing, lost in a book."

Worth recommending for talking to your kid about having a sense of humour. My kid laughs loudly every time we go over the , "Hello Michael? This is Snakey." bit in the end.
Worth recommending also for narrating how school life really is-being called names, being laughed at, feeling left out , and then happy times because I really do believe children live in the moment.
But most of all worth recommending for the delicate teacher-student bond that shines through in this book.

Our School. "Amchi Shala"

It has been such a pleasure to discover Madhuri Purandare's work. She illustrates and writes these wonderfully simple books for children and you instantly connect to her because in her every illustration you see your everyday life . To me, its very middle class Indian. Its very me.

Amchi Shala (Our school) is one such book. It is a book to read out and show  pictures to a child who is about to start pre-school (a balwadi). The myriad emotions that the child goes through in her first year of school - the conditioning , the tantrums, the fuss, the cajoling, the hesitation, the chaos, the wonder and awe, the stress, the joy- its all there! I feel this book encourages the child to get to like her school in the most gentlest of ways.

I like it that Madhuri Purandare's books have a whole lot of family/ extended family/ neighbourhood/ school/ friends as part of the story line. I picked this nuance up immediately and it was re-confirmed when in an interview published here : www.eklavya.in/pdfs/Sandarbh_64/01-03_Madhuri_Purandare.pdf , Madhuri P. wrote "People in this field need to see the children’s world in totality. Children do not live in closeted and compartmentalized existence. They are surrounded by adults and constantly interact with the adults’ world."

I own a copy of this book in Marathi but it is also available in English. Very reasonably priced (Rs. 50/-from Jyotsna Prakashan); it is available online from Flipkart. I have seen it in stores like Sutradhar, in Bangalore and in some book fairs. I brought my copy from the Ideal book store in Dadar and I know its easily available in bookstores of Pune.

Gruffalo

It was a Sunday lunch with Nicole in Noida that led me to discover Gruffalo and its author Julia Donaldson.
What can I say about Gruffalo which has not been said before? BBC has rated it to be the most popular children's book and its reviews abound on the internet.

With its fantastic illustrations by Axel Scheffler and memorable rhymes this book is an investment- it makes children laugh, imagine, spin more stories, talk endlessly about Gruffalo and the mouse, and demand Gruffalo shaped birthday cakes from their parents!!
I am a fan of Gruffalo, of its website: http://www.gruffalo.com/index2.html, of Julia Donoldson's songs: http://www.gruffalo.com/section.php?s=html/clips.html and of other books written and illustrated by the pair. More on those in other posts!