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Jaya Krishnamachari
CUT PIECE KUMAR (ENGLISH & HINDI) Story and illustrations by Indu Harikumar. Translated into Hindi by Dipali Shukla. Design by Kanak Shashi. Edited by Bharat Tripathi Eklavya/Parag Initiative, Bhopal, with Edelgive Foundation, 2020, 28 pp., 70.00
November 2020, volume 44, No 11

Cut Piece Kumar, a bilingual e-book in English and Hindi by Indu Harikumar, is meant for pre-teenagers who generally love to try their hands at creative arts. The book is about a young boy Kumar who can turn junk into beautiful and useful things. He has a creative mind and makes all kinds of things with waste materials so much so that his mother lovingly calls him her Cut Piece Kumar. When Kumar learns from his mother that he is going to have a baby brother/sister soon, his mind starts working on what he should make for the new arrival. He hits upon the idea of a Godhadi or a quilt.

The book is about how Kumar sets about collecting materials for the Godhadi and how he completes his project just in time for the baby’s arrival. The author has used a lot of illustrations to tell the story.  The text is brief on each page, so the children will find it easy to read. A very innovative way to get small children interested in creative activities. It  would be  of   interest  to children  who are interested in arts and crafts  and who like to create  nice  objects with materials found at home like empty match boxes, bottle lids, pieces of cloth and so on.

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