The book What Could It Be? is the story of a young girl, Diya, who finds her father terrified of something in the bathroom. Her imagination soars to demons and ghosts lurking in her bathroom. However, she later discovers that it is a lizard. Along with her friend, Farah, she sets out to shoo the lizard away, only to have the even more scared lizard shed her tail. At this, her mother scolds Diya for disturbing the non-troublesome lizard. The two girls decide to keep the lizard as a pet, and soon, her father also overcomes his fear of the small reptile living in their home.
The story is simple, age-appropriate, and colourfully depicted with well-designed illustrations which indicate a middle-class household. The print quality and the font size are age appropriate. There is enough mystery in the story to keep young readers engaged. The last page of the book introduces the concept of alliteration to the readers using an example from the story, and giving an interesting follow-up exercise that parents and teachers can use with them.
Singh, subtly but definitively, challenges gender roles and stereotypes through the characters in the book. The father is scared of lizards, while the mother is not. It brings in the idea to children that men, even grown men, are allowed to be afraid. Later in the book, Diya shares her experiences with her bus driver, Rani, and her friend, Farah. By choosing to portray a woman bus driver, Singh has again broken the stereotypical notion of male bus drivers.
Friendship between Diya and Farah is a significant point of discussion for forging a friendship that breaks the barriers of religion. It is subject to debate, though, whether children in their early years of education can categorize people into religious groups based on their names. If they are not, should this concept be introduced to them? Answers to this question are based on the religious exposure of children. Unless the notion of friendships being divided by religion has already been introduced to them, there would be no need to point out the variation, and the possibility of forging friendships to transgress religious boundaries would be unnecessary. By weaving the friendship of Farah and Diya into the story, Singh has normalized the idea of interreligious friendships.
When Diya’s mother tells the young girls to leave the lizard alone, it brings in the idea that animals should be treated with compassion as well. Diya goes as far as to apologize to the lizard for causing it pain when it shed its tail. This episode also presents an opportunity for discussion on the environment, human-animal relationships, and evolutionary biology.
Considering the instinctive aversion that many feel towards lizards in the house, the book will be an unlikely choice for parents and educators, unless they overcome their own discomfort. However, as has been mentioned above, the book presents many opportunities for discussion and learning.