Tag Archives: Children’s Fiction

Does the M4 remind us of the Five Found-Outers and others of the kind inspired by Enid Blyton? The additional nuance here is that of the social angle. As mentioned, Shimplya is a fisherman’s son. Mirchi is the local scrap-collecting boy, and it is he who leads to the exposure of the kingpin of the wildlife mafia in Maulsari and the release of 1280 endangered turtles (minus the 110 which had suffocated in captivity)(p. 224).

A notable feature of Maitra’s translation is that most of the animals and birds acquire the names of their species in Bangla as a proper name, e.g., Tuntuni (tailor bird), Beral (cat), Chhagolchhana (baby goat), Bagh (tiger), Kumir (crocodile). These improvised proper names give an immediacy to the context and contribute to a fluent reading. But why are only the buffalo and the cow referred to by the common English names of their species?

The illustrations in the book are contextual, but in my view, they could have been better. For a book that is about an artist, the illustrations are bland. They could have further extended and enriched the theme of the book. Mehar’s illustrations should have found more place.

Arjuna’s question is wisely tackled by Krishna. Another natural feeling that Arjuna expresses is about the winning team’s happiness in getting the trophy and the other team’s sadness in losing it. Here, too, the child-comprehensible words spoken by Krishna are commendable. They showcase the philosophy of the Gita in a simple way.
Meaningful words in rhyme,

At the end of the book, the author writes a coda in which she talks about why she wrote the story of Divya. In her childhood, she had not washed her hair for ten days. In this period, she made many imaginary friends. This experience has kept the narrative alive in her mind, giving her the conviction that telling it is critical.

Ostrich Girl opens up with a bird call. ‘CHA-KE-KE-A-KE-KE-AAAAAA….’ echoes through the pages of this irregular narrative. Biswas tries to look at worldly issues through the lens of children. What Ostrich Girl deals with is the ask of the century; the question that environmentalists have seldom answers to. Integral to children’s literature, the author provides ample agency to the characters of her narrative.

Technology and tradition unite in this picture book to inspire confidence in a little girl. Priya lives in the western world but is ethnically a Kodava from Kodagu in the lush rainforests of the Western Ghats. She has a dance recital coming and will perform as a ‘jungle dancer’ thanking