Tag Archives: Children

Adventures of a Pre-teen by Shaha Ghosh is a collection of ten short stories that deals with the adventures of a twelve-year old American girl of Indian origin. Gia, lives with her parents in Berkeley Heights, a neighbourhood situated amidst rolling green lawns interspersed with whitewashed houses.

Take a deep breath and open this book and journey into a country you have never visited before. If your only knowledge of Afghanistan has been through news clippings, Hollywood and Disney films, or books written by American soldiers, journalists and writers, then you are in for a treat.

As a teenager, one of the innumerable books that I read was The Diary of Anne Frank which made an indelible impression on my mind. Six decades later, to come across the Hindi translation of Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine, and reading it in one sitting, gave me goose pimples.

The latest book about Mayil Ganesan darts at you with upper cuts and feints that land strong but leave you warmed for having met her. Surer than ever of being Mayil as the title suggests, Mayil writes her diary in prose, in verse, in art, in every way that leaves you in no doubt about where she stands.

To read Ruskin Bond’s fiction is to feel the transforming Indian society post-Independence, combined with the inimitable knack of storytelling with which Bond characterizes daily life in a small town. An astute observer, Bond paints a vivid picture of the overlooked sections of the society, while maintaining a leisurely pace with attention to minute details, which reminds the reader of RK Narayan.

Stories express experiences. Experiences are lived memories. Memories, beautiful or dull, when read back, contain the power of unleashing umpteen emotions. These emotions when expressed well become stories for keeps. However, short stories are always quite tricky.

Gender-based violence has taken many forms. One of the worst depredations has been reserved for the transgender community. Awareness about varying gender identities have increased, but mistreatment has not necessarily reduced. Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom is a bold and raw novel that brings the tragedy of marginalization of the transgender community, particularly of trans women, to light.

Blessed is the fascinating story of Selentra, the fourth child of a poor village weaver who possesses an extraordinary gift—she can read the ancient ‘forgotten tongue’, the Nor-dorok language. ‘Selentra found she could decipher the letters and the strange white shapes just by looking at them.’

Since the l960s, children’s books in the West have tended to ‘critically address tendencies to assume that the world is white, male and middle class’ (John Stephens). Those children’s stories in Bangla that reproduce real life situations, too, have been peopled by the middle class, espoused its values and focalized on the ubiquitously urban and urbane male child protagonist.

Reaching adulthood by overcoming a challenging situation is the predominant theme in Young Adult fiction. This is exactly what the protagonist, seventeen-year-old Irfan Ahmed accomplishes in The Lies We Tell.

Apart from author Gita Wolf, the two books by Tara have little in common. One is a children’s introduction to Pithoro, a Rathva ritual art form; the other is a DIY book for children on traditional toys. Yet, such a reduction would be unfair to the two books. In the grand scheme of things, both the books are about the joy of creation, about our everyday reality and using material from quotidian life in the act of creation.

Parenting has no hard and fast rules and that’s what makes it the toughest job on earth. Parents who say parenting came easily to them are not being honest with themselves, it is by far the boldest and most daring adventure of life!

‘In a world where there is always going to be someone better, faster, stronger, we need to make sure that they do not measure themselves against some impossible yardstick of expectation.’

The book starts with the introduction of the continents of the world and ends with the lakes of the world. The book takes us on a ride where we can experience many beautiful things around us. Every chapter of the book is as thrilling as the title is.

Anu Kumar’s book falls under an emergent and popular category in children’s publishing, namely collective biographies. Ever since Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo stormed its way into the bestseller lists in late 2016, writers and publishers have rushed to publish short inspiring biographies of famous women, men, scientists, sportsmen, and other achievers.

‘Be amazed. Be informed…

Sreelata Menon has engaged…

The book is a quick run through…

After reading the second line…

The debate on the economy…