I have always been a fan of children’s books and movies, especially now, as an adult and as a mother to a toddler. Somewhere while growing up we lose the imagination that took us to places as a child; and it is a very sad loss. There are, however, children’s books that are largely didactic and too high on morals; I try to steer clear of those.
What would be the most ‘fascintresting’ way to introduce a ‘tremunglous-istly’ lovely story about Wizards, Warriors, and Witches? Would it be enough to mention the weirdly wonderful verbal concoctions some of the characters speak in?
Would you like your little girls to turn out into confident women who can be themselves in a misogynistic world? Then this book is for you. Would you like your little boys to turn into caring men who respect women and their freedoms in a world of toxic masculinity? Would you like your child to achieve irrespective of gendered expectations?
Simple yet evocative is the cover, and so is the book within. Novelist Nishant Kaushik, with several popular titles to his credit, lives in Australia with his wife and son. In his Acknowledgement he has thanked them as well his parents.
2 is an extraordinary 2-in-one graphic novel, written mainly over the internet across 3 continents—between the two co-authors Paro Anand (Delhi) and Orjan Persson (Gotland, Sweden) who wrote in Swedish, and translator Nina Winternheimer (Los Angeles, USA), his daughter.
Bula Comes to Montreal was created as it celebrates the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal founded on 17 May 2017. Kala Bharati, a nongovernmental organization is a centre for Indian culture, dance and music in Montreal. This child friendly Bharata Natyam repertoire has a book on learning dance called Shishu Sadhana, the cover of which was designed by Premola Ghose.
Vasantha Surya’s Mridu in Madras is an illustrated chapter book that is delightfully entrenched in Tamil culture and society. However, the book is not set in contemporary times and harks back to an era where large joint families were the norm, cycle rickshaws were common, and the price of commodities was way lower than what it is now.
Juggernaut Books could not have published Tales from the Quran and Hadith at a better time. India in 2016–17 is perpetually grappling with misconceptions about Islam. From ill-informed journalists to self-proclaimed defenders of the faith, it is an open season which has left the ordinary citizens of the country confused, and in some cases angry.
Amma, Take Me to the Golden Temple by Bhakti Mathur is aninnovative way of teaching and imparting knowledge by re-flecting on various tenets of one of the youngest and modern religions of the world with more than 30 million followers.
Three major deities of Puranic Hinduism, three tales about each of them. Well, not exactly. Three tales each about Vishnu and Shiva, but the collection titled Devi has a story each on Parvati, Durga, and Saraswati. These are tales that have been told and retold over countless generations, and Subhadra Sen Gupta, skilled storyteller that she is, recreates the old magic in language that the internet generation can quickly relate to.
I began reading this book expecting the usual compilation of events and dates. But the book offers a range—biographies, sports, the arts (especially classical music) and information on governments and political events. What emerges is a compendium that is much more fun to read than a bland chronological account of post-Independent India.
In conjunction with a travelling exhibition from its collection, the San Diego Museum of Art has compiled a lavish volume of medieval Indian paintings. Most of these are from what we call the Mughal period but not necessarily from the Mughal court.