3 book reviews + 13 books that helped me raise a reader + a kid-lit list to make you happy
Packed with goodness (and recommendations!) for every reading age and level!
Hello!
Yes, I did skip a week but what is time and frequency in the larger scheme of things? Last week slipped right out from under me. I was visiting my parents and celebrating my Dad’s birthday and completely lost track of time (and intent) If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen pictures of homegrown produce, visiting peacock families, and baskets of flowers — an atmosphere that is not conducive to writing! And so I spent my time filling gallery space on my phone and marvelling at nature’s bumper bounty to this part of the world.
I’m back home this week, so let’s return to books!
This week we have, count em, 3 book reviews! Plus, a special round-up of some favourite books to celebrate my newly-minted teen, and Indian children’s books handpicked by writers and illustrators guaranteed to make you happy!
Review: Can You Draw Love, Abbu?
Author and Illustrator: Alankrita Amaya
Publisher: The Little Dipper Publishing
Reading age: 4+
Zoya wants to draw the sweet taste of Ammi’s kheer, Nani’s melodious song, and the sound of her cat Billu’s purrs when he curls up on her lap, but she has no clue where to begin! How does one draw emotion? Her father has an idea and asks her to collect things from around the house that she finds interesting and to add them all in a bucket. When they do that, they sit down to work.
Her father spills the contents of the bucket and asks her to imagine what the taste of Ammi’s kheer feels like. Zoya finds she can replicate the magic and sparkles she feels when she eats a bowl of Kheer with soft cotton balls and creamy paint when she mixes them together. They use bits and bobs to replicate emotions and tiny things find their place on the page until Zoya sees that she has drawn love.
This is a book that will compel the reader to collect things around the house to create something beautiful on paper. Alankrita Amaya finds the perfect way to begin a conversation with a child about their feelings. Instead of the usual “good” and “Nice”, here is an amazing way to help a child articulate their feelings.
The illustrations are bare with a lot of white space on the pages in the first half of the book. Once Zoya starts to draw using the contents in the bucket, the pages fill up with colours and patterns, creating a visual extravaganza for the reader!
I love the thoughtful, tasteful books The Little Dipper publishes and this one is a fast favourite. Add it to your collection today!
Review: The Wall Friends Club
Author: Varsha Seshan
Illustrator: Denise Antao
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books
Reading age: 6+
If you, like me, are of a certain age then you definitely would have had a pen pal. Mine was a girl in South Africa. The joy of coming back home from school to find a letter addressed to you with an exotic stamp was unparalleled. I guess Gen Z feels the same way when they send and receive email.
The Wall Friends Club reminds you of your pen pal days but with a modern-day twist.
10-year-old Anandi finds a tiny crevice in a wall and decides to leave a little letter for someone to find. Sriya, a girl studying at a nearby school finds the letter and is excited by the thought of making a new friend through a pen pal! They are cautious at first, writing letters frequently, without revealing their names or addresses, but soon they become fast friends! Exchanging notes on what happens at schools, tiffs with friends, and even how to stand up to bullies. Their circle expands to include another friend and soon the WF (Wall Friends) club is buzzing with happenings. Until tragedy strikes and the identity of one friend is revealed to be a lot more than what the girls initially knew.
This book written entirely in letters was such a treat to read. Fast-paced, utterly engrossing, and altogether unputdownable. This book also tenderly draws the young reader’s attention to the differences we have in society and the importance of learning to empathise. Our children are growing up in a world very different from our own and there is an urgent need for kids to be able to interact and have conversations with a diverse group of peers, fostering inclusivity and broader social connections. Here is a book that helps them learn about inclusivity. There is so much for kids to relate to in this book— dealing with bullies, school projects, strict teachers, peer pressure, birthday parties and so much more! book
Varsha Seshan writes a book that is perfect to read with your child or simply for middle-grade readers to breeze through on a lazy summer afternoon! Get this book today!
Review: Becoming Bangalore
Author: Roopa Pai
Illustrator: Priya Kuriyan
Publisher: Hachette Books
Reading age: 12+
If there was ever a love letter to Bangalore, then this book would be winning hearts.
As a Bangalorean myself, I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint. Author Roopa Pai is a third-generation Bangalorean and this is an extension of her fortnightly column, ‘Beloved Bangalore’ that appears in the Hindustan Times.
Bangalore is a city that is easy to fall in love with, with its green avenues and year-round spring-in-the-air feeling. But Roopa is a rare Bangalorean who not only accepts the city with all its kinks and faults but can persuade even the harshest critic to fall in love with her city. Becoming Bangalore is a collection of non-fiction essays that she categorises according to the seasonal flowering of trees. March-May: Gulmohar, June - August: Champaka, September - November: African Tulip, and December - February: Pink Trumpet.
Bangaloreans love their greenery and flowering trees, but they are also fiercely protective of their Darshini culture, their local heroes, and their theatre culture. What are the stories floating around in an average Bangalorean’s mind? What insights can the outsider gain about this gorgeous city? Is there a way we can look beyond the traffic memes and Zomato ads to truly learn about the essence of a city? Yes and Howdhu pa! All that is possible by reading Becoming Bangalore!
Roopa’s essays are gorgeously illustrated by Priya Kuriyan, also a resident of Bangalore who somehow captures the softness and kitsch of Bangalore in her illustrations. The book cover and jacket are a strong decoction kaapi shot of colour and a brilliant smorgasbord of everything Bangalore is for anyone looking in from the outside.
Reading this book as a Bangalorean meant learning new information about places I had visited. It has been years since I moved away from Bangalore but reading her essays transported me to a time when I stood in the place she was writing about — smelling the air, taking in the flowers of the season, and listening to the sound of local Kannada. Bangalore is a city that has given me so much and this book brings it alive for me years later.
Highly recommend this book for every Bangalorean and to anyone who has always been intrigued by the city everyone wants to be a part of.
International Day of Happiness: How can YOU be happy?
A few years when I was writing a column called Reading With Children for Scroll.in, I wrote one commemorating the International Day of Happiness by stating with gusto that buying and reading a children’s book was the cheapest way to indulge in some self-love that guaranteed happiness. To that end I asked a few people from the Indian kid-lit community for recommendations of books that made them happy.
Read the complete article (FREE) here and I hope you buy these books and shelve them under HAPPINESS. ☺️
Celebrating turning 13 with 13 favourite books
Giggles, my older son turns 13 this week and I wanted to celebrate my newly-minted teen with all my readers. He has always been a good reader and over the years he has read books (and series) he has loved over and over and over again. So, here are a few of his favourites from over the years. 13 books to celebrate his years of reading. Hoping you find a few of your child’s favourites in this list. (There have been many more books he has loved, but these have been particular highlights!) I’ve added links to most of them, do let me know if you want a detailed review of why we have loved any book.
Nugget’s First Day of School: Molly Wogand (voice-activated and interactive)
Harry Potter: JK Rowling
I hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter, I know I had fun putting it together for you! If you like what you read, please consider sharing it with a friend who will benefit. Help a parent raise a reader and tell them about Mother of Readers. You will be blessed with good book karma for life! Love listening to authors talk about their latest book and the inspiration behind it? Listen to Tell Me A Story, a podcast that showcases some of the most well-known names from the Indian children’s literature world! Want to get a glimpse into bits and bobs of my life? Follow along on Instagram.
See you soon!
Rati Girish