Noon Chai and a Story is a slim little book, beautifully illustrated which gently draws the young reader’s attention to what books mean to those who are deprived of them. But while the story is about books it is also about the world in which the young protagonist lives with her parents, her sister and her beloved grandmother, Deidi. Looking at life through the eyes of a little girl living in the remote area of Gurez, the book gives an authentic representation of life in this beautiful but little known corner of India. It engages the interest of the young reader and opens his or her eyes to different ways of living and to other realities they may not be familiar with. Right from the beginning, the reader is absorbed by this short but multi-layered story about a young girl’s innovative ideas about creating a library, about her grandmother’s secret and also about noon chai and how it is an intrinsic part of their life.
November 2021, volume 45, No 11