A little word about Mythology

Whoa! In the first place, I did not expect so many people to be revisiting my blog a lot. While I am honoured and very touched, I really have to admit that this has added a responsibility on my shoulders. I actually started the blog as a simple pastime of writing about books me or my children loved reading. But when my dear friend went ahead and ordered a particular set of books for her little one, it got me thinking very deep indeed. And ONLY because it happened to be Mythology stories.

I remember my first history lesson in Year 1, when I was six. It was the story of Rama. And the last question in that lesson was " Who killed Ravana? with a simple answer "Rama killed Ravana". It did not affect me one bit learning it. I took it for granted, I bet my mother never thought about me learning about killings, because it is one of the many things forming the basis of Hinduism ( taught in a Christian school). Not the killing, but the honesty and righteousness and the victory of good over evil.

I remember seeing Vikram aur Vetal, Ramayana and Mahabharatha in TV, all having their share of vanquishing scenes and fights, loads of them. It never affected me or at least, most of our generation. It was simply taken for granted, never analysed or dissected. You walk into a temple, you see gory demons guarding the entrance, you see Gods and Goddesses with their armour and in most cases, standing over the vanquished, heads in hand and skulls adorning the neck. Good destroying Bad. Good wins, goodness is established by God, so God is the embodiment of Good. If anything, back then, I only had a feeling of having a safety net around because God can do away with evil and so protect me from anything and everything.

Even the movies had their fair share of gore, every single one of them. You can't watch a Rajini movie without it. You can't watch a Kamal movie without it, and I do remember watching them since time immemorial, again. I used to hate the fights, but then that was it. Almost all of those movies were U certified. Nobody really questioned.

But I remember, when I was telling the story of Krishna to my elder son, he promptly asked me why Kamsa harmed children. I told him it was because he was evil, and that's why Krishna destroyed him. Then he asked me how could Krishna destroy someone and be called God, when God was supposed to love everyone. And again continued with a " Anyway, if God is God, why should he ever create evil and let evil play around with good, and then destroy evil. If God has created both, then it sounds like he does not have a heart, it looks like he has made video games with all people in the world".

I stopped everything I was doing to explain to him that mum did not have an answer to that. Mum's knowledge was limited, and that it is something he would have to find out for himself, by constant questioning, by reading the religious books later in life. And I told him that in a way it was like this - Mum loves the children. Mum wants the best for her children. Sometimes the children, though they only come from mum and dad, who are good, try misbehaving. They break the trust, they do silly things, they hurt the feelings of mum and dad. Mum and Dad may then ground them, may cut off their privileges, but that doesn't mean they hat the children. They only love them more every day, but want a good life for the children, so they have to teach some lessons the hard way sometimes.

I tried telling him that these demons, fight with evil are all similes and metaphors. God's fight with them is like your inner struggle when you want to sneak an extra chocolate, but finally get over the feeling and choose not to do it. Demons depict fear, anger, hatred, jealousy. All things you always fight against in your mind. You have to destroy them to stay good, without harming fellow beings. That is what all these Mythical stories are trying to teach us. He did take to the simile-metaphor thing well then, he had just learnt them in school and it helped him see the point.

But he still wasn't satisfied. I wasn't either. We still discuss this a lot. And the older he is growing, the more he is learning about the human atrocities, the more he is questioning the existence of the Supreme Power. Auschwitz disgusted him, Hiroshima, Anne Frank's story and Jallianwala Bagh massacre moved him to tears and he came to me saying " Perhaps it is just as well God kills all these bad people. Is it wrong to think so?". I was speechless. I had no answer, yet again. But I knew he has been exposed to the real world. The hatred and cruelty and atrocities that we live with today.

Why I am saying this is that my post on Little Monk's series spurred a lot of discussions about gore in stories. I have read two of these stories and yes, there are mentions of killings, I don't think you could ever tell a mythology story without them at all, but I never considered them as shocking or disturbing. Maybe because my elder son was 8+ when he read these books ( I do remember mentioning 8+ for this series) and I know he is mature enough to not isolate them as scary or gory incidents and go with the flow of the story.

There might be no fairy tale softness in our mythology stories, but then there is no temple without all the gory similies and metaphors either! The motto of our school was "Fear the Lord and  get Wisdom". I was right against that even then, why FEAR something that is an embodiment of LOVE! But alas, we have all grown up pickled in these thoughts, we all carry it wherever we go. Religion, history and today's news all have killings and quite frankly, it is bound to exist as long as life exists.

All I would say is that if your child is ready enough to watch Anniyan or Enthiran or Karnan or even The Ten Commandments and Benhur ( which we watched as children, arranged by the school!), then your child is ready to read Little Monk's series. If not, maybe you would like to hold on a bit longer! Parents know their children best. While all of my reviews keep in mind the reading age of children, every child is unique and I would leave it to the parent to decide.

However, I do stick to my post, they are nice books with above average level of English efficiency and vocabulary, and my son has enjoyed reading them a lot. From now on, I will certainly consider adding a parental guidance note with the author / ages section.

All the other books that I have so far written about are completely harmless and tame for even babies :o)

And while I am writing all of this, I just couldn't help thinking about the families in the middle-east whose children are right now living through all of the things that we are even scared to mention to our little ones in stories. My heart goes out to them, and only think " Why this bloodshed? Why children? Why at all?". But that is the truth. Not Goldilocks or Snow White. Not even a Spiderman or He-man or Rama. Only Demons.

I sincerely apologize if I have misled anyone with my reviews. I do hope you would continue to enjoy the books as much as we have enjoyed, and yes, I do realize we could have difference of opinions... I respect that a lot, and invite as many discussions and experiences that could make me amend my views with a better understanding.

Thank you all for all of your support without which I would have long resorted to my self-criticism and laziness and stopped blogging!
 

Glenn Murphy and the Science Museum series

Author: Glenn Murphy
Ages: 8+

Let's admit it. There is just NO WAY you can ever succeed in curbing the kids' enchantment with the B-word and all its by products thereof. If you haven't guessed it, I am referring to "the bottom" and the various other B words (and A!) associated with it. It is just every family's safely guarded secret, I guess - these B-word substitutes in multi various languages and associated jokes. Well you can go into denial, but the sparkle in your kids' eyes on the slightest mention of anything related to B would shout "Gotcha!" in your ears!! And the endless giggles that would follow would make you wish you'd morph into an ostrich and bury your head in earth. ( Of course they actually don't do that, you should know that by now, really. Only figuratively speaking...) Particularly if said event occurs in front of just the very people you to whom you were trying to show off your thorough-bred breed :o)

Glenn Murphy certainly understood this. And proved it right by writing his famous Science Museum series books with enough info about all these things.  And also every kind of output from the human body. I bet more boys read this than girls, this fascination has always been a boys' thing, I'd say. Nevertheless, these books are hilariously scientific and the kids simply giggle away without realizing they are learning!

Glenn Murphy is a British-born author residing in the US. He started writing the science museum series while working for the London Science Museum. He says most of the info in his books, which is in the form of questions and answers, have been doubts he had been having in his childhood. His books have since been nominated for various awards and is a winner with children of all ages.

The titles are very "inviting" for children - like "Why is Snot green" and " How loud can you burp" and "Stuff that scares your pants off". Very informative (!) - kidding, they really are and written in a style that manages to keep even the kids with short attention span heartily occupied.

These books have fuelled many "smart" family discussions and I love getting these books for my boys. Needless to say, Glenn Murphy is a mega hero for my little ones!

He has also written a slightly serious book about our carbon footprints and how kids can do little things to reduce the same. Printed on forest friendly paper, this book is bursting with lovely bits of info, most of which apply to adults as well. I found it a very engaging read as well. It also has a set of cards included, one of which is my favourite that reads - People need lights. Rooms don't. Switch off when you leave. This just about sums up the whole book!

Science Museum series. Rip-roaring read ;o)

Little Monk's Tales of Wisdom

Author: Various
Publisher: Wisdom Tree
Ages: 8+

When you want the kids to learn about morals and good values, there is no other thing better than our Mythology stories. Their profound, yet simple and easy to understand values are a very strong foundation for any child to develop on. I consider them a must-know for my children. And I have found that no matter how much children love other authors of the world and their work of fiction, they are deeply touched by our mythology and it gets them thinking really intensely.

For Tales of bravery, wisdom, wit and tales of Gods and Goddesses and famous lives, I generally look no further than Amar Chitra Katha. No Indian household should be devoid of one. I remember the days when we had subscriptions running for Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha when we were kids, and how me and my sister always tried to beat each other to snatch the copy from the postman! Our Dad would then get the copies bound into volumes, and many of our evening snacks were eaten over these bound volumes. Sadly though, these were also the books that people borrowed and never gave back and to this date, the loss has been  totally inconsolable! These books reminded me of my collection very much!

Little Monk's tales are a collection of books of beautiful titles - Hanuman, Buddha, Krishna, Lakshmi, Saraswati and many more. They have been very neatly written by famous Indian authors and tell the stories in a short and sweet yet complete way. The real nice thing about these books is the very clever camouflage of some good vocabulary into the story. These words are cleverly highlighted, and there is a glossary with all these tough words and their meanings, so it is a wonderful way of expanding the childrens' vocabulary in their formative years when they are able to absorb them easily. More so as it is associated with a nice story that they are bound to remember.

I got introduced to these books when my sweet sister ( I really have LOADS of them, all too sweet to be called cousins!) gifted "Little Monk's Hanuman" to my elder son. He instantly took to it and has been reading and re-reading it many times. So when he saw "Little Monk's Buddha" in the shop, he recognized the publication and the book made its way home!

The illustrations are bold and beautifully Indian and very nostalgic. These books are certainly worth a purchase and even if they are a bit tougher for the younger children to read by themselves, I would recommend mums to read them first and recite to the kids. You would surely have all their attention!

Little Monk's tales of wisdom.  Definitely a wise buy.

Tea Break - Mint

A perfect medicine for tummy aches, period pain, headaches and not to mention, a grumpy mood!

There is a saying in Tamil "Uppittavarai ullalavum ninai" ( one who gives salt to you, meaning one who feeds you, should be remembered till the day you die). The caretaker of the school we live in ( oh Yes, we do!) is the one who has gotten into our uppittavar list, by feeding salt. Not to us, but to our doorsteps and front path. He has been gritting our frozen steps every single day before we get up without us even asking. How sweet! He is the sole person who has saved the bones in our bodies when we dart out of the house every morning at a maddening speed and of course, we will always remember his unconditional act of kindness. I wish I could do such random acts of kindness as many times as I can.

Finally, looks like a thaw is on the way. Good news, because what starts off as pristine white snow ends up like vomit by day 3, and as a perfect replica of spit by day 6. By which time you really wish you could shout " Land Ahoy!" and get rid of the vestigial white stuff. In Edinburgh though, we had a worser problem when the thaw set in. It would resurrect the hibernating dog poos ( plural of poo as there wasn't ever just ONE, you know!) that were snowed in. Not a sight to behold, that one! But if you didn't behold, your shoe would hold! UGH.

In any case, another weekend and another major cooking exam - to cook healthy, different varieties that boys would love and not consider boring. This is not a territory that I love crossing, and I am always looking out for fresh ideas of others to piggy back on. And I have to tell you that my friend Roshni's Kitchen is just the place I always end up in! A lovely blog by a lovely girl with just the recipes that would help you out of Saturday and sunday blues and make your day. You should really check it out to believe it. I have tried many of her recipes with great success. And her blog is so beautifully maintained and bursting with goodness. You could perhaps subscribe to her "Arusuvai Kurippu" blog page in FB to keep abreast of all updates.

It is funny, I always want to say something, but always digress so much from what I intended to say. Which is certainly not what I meant to say now, but anyway. There was this nice Kids' Book Event happening in "The Works". It is a "Buy a book for £1.99 and get another for 1p" sale. I have to say the books are GORGEOUS! All famous authors and I even spotted "Owl Babies". Most of the £1.99 books are originally priced at £4.99 or above, so basically for £2, you would be buying about £10 worth of books! I mostly buy books second hand for personal use, but when I saw this, I had to snatch a couple! Also picked up a Michael Morpurgo boxed set of 8 books for a mega bargain. All set for the weekend now :o)

I usually pick my books from charity shops and used, good quality books from ebay most of the times. If I am buying as gifts, I usually do them here: Red House Books or The Book People.
The books are sold brand new, at 40% to even 90% reduction in price and these are great brands I really trust.

But I have noticed that books are mostly cheapest in India. I picked up loads of Agatha Christie and Enid Blyton books priced between 80 - 150. Mera Bharat Mahaan :o)








 

Tangramables

Author: Judi Martschinke
Illustrator: Janet McDonnell
Age:4+

If there is one possession that I can never bear to part with, it is my book collection. This hold good for my boys as well. The moment a Summer Fair table top sale or a charity sale turns up in school, I ask the boys if we could do one and with books that they've outgrown, but the answer would be a top-of-the-voice NO! And every time we go back to Chennai and Bangalore, I ask them if we could give some of the books to their younger cousins, and the answer would be a "only if they promise to give them back!". Then I have to sit, teach and make them see through the fact that people mean more to us than books and that it is a noble deed to share your things to people who mean a lot to you, it is how you show you love them.

Easier said than done. You have to be a believer first and a doer as well before you can preach, you see!

So if anybody has ever got a used book from me or my kids, know that you are being loved in abundance, so much that we were ready to part with our most precious possessions!

And the converse is very true as well. If someone gives us one of their much loved books, and that too without even hesitating once, they sky rocket in our TRP ratings. Right to the top :o). And stay there forever!

That is just what my lovely sis and her little boy from US did when they visited us - gave away the "Tangramables" book ever so readily, even though I could see that they loved it so much that it got to travel with them! And they have set a very beautiful example for my kids, as they always point out to me whenever they use the book.

This is a very versatile tangram activity book for ages about 4 - 8. It might appear a bit too easy to look at, but it needs quite a bit of logical reasoning for their age. As the puzzles start getting more and more complex, they involve loads of imagination and is a very good vent to the excessive energy and restlessness of little ones when they are indoors.

The book comes with 7 tangram pieces (a square, a parallelogram, 4 triangles) which the children would need to use ( either some or all of them) to solve the puzzles in the book. The initial ones are quite easy involving just geometrical shapes. The next set is more for the imagination. Like building familiar objects, animals etc with the tangram pieces. The final section is to create familiar geometric shapes using the pieces, and this is the trickiest bit!

This book has been used and reused so many times and I have see my younger boy growing in confidence in solving the puzzles. He also started appreciating the wooden tangram puzzle his dad got for him from India ( Landmark, I think) and now even tries to draw animals and objects from real life using the basic shapes and playing guessing games with his brother as to what is being drawn. For once, being snowed in is fun!

I guess this book is used as a learning resource across schools in the US. I have seen lots of tangram activity books in both UK and India. This book is on Amazon for £2.99 (used), but looks like it always gets sold out pretty fast! Being a US publication, the original books seem a bit too costly in ££s. Landmark ( or perhaps Odyssey) has loads of square wooden puzzles with many little colourful pieces and a book of shapes that could be made. Guarantees hours of concentration and a quiet house for mum. Well, for a while, at least!

Tangramables. Truly food for thought!

P.S: The day me and my boys readily give away all our books would be the day we have attained absolute Nirvana!

Funnybones

Author : Allan Ahlberg
Illustrator: Janet Ahlberg
Age: 3+

I have noticed that stories that strike a chord with our daily life experiences get to become a great hit with every member of the family. Funnybones is just that type of book. Written by husband Allan and illustrated by wife Janet Ahlberg, this was created in the 80s and is still going strong.

From all my unique experiences of living with an Aquarian husband, I have learned to accept and enjoy the fact that unplanned outings can be so much fun, too. And it is a very tough proposition for a strict Capricorn like me who is a stickler for routines and HATES surprises!

Once DH asked me to get dressed and get into the car with the kids and said we were going on a long ride. The long ride turned out to be a 3-day, 300 miles trip all the way up the breath-taking Scottish Highlands! Good thing I always have a spare set of clothes for everyone, but still we had to pick up underwear and some tops to go with our live-in Jeans and other toiletries and essentials on the go :o). Stayed in hotels in remote places and the memories of that trip linger on even now, the best trip I have ever had in my lifetime. No sticking to time, no ticking off places, no packing stuff, no breaking heads over routes and stops. It was daring, chilling, thrilling and it tasted precisely like liberation and freedom, even heaven!

The mantra is to let go of plans but not the fun mood and just flow on. Every once in a while, at least.

This story is just about that.

On a dark dark hill
there was a dark dark town.
In the dark dark town
there was a dark dark street.
In the dark dark street
there was a dark dark house.
In the dark dark house
there was a dark dark staircase.
Down the dark dark staircase
there was a dark dark cellar.
And in the dark dark cellar……some skeletons lived

A big skeleton, a little skeleton and a dog skeleton. One day they feel quite bored and plan to go out in the dark with the agenda of scaring people and having fun. They go outside and enter a park. They start playing around and in the process, the skeleton dog crashes and gets all his bones dislodged. The little and big skeleton try assembling, getting it wrong several times before fixing it back the right way.

Which brought to my mind a fresh picture of the tent pack-up distaster we had: me screaming out the instructions, frustrated Dad not really getting the hang of it, boys chasing bunnies with obnoxious screams and finally us realizing that all it needed was a "Hips don't Lie Shakira style" shake and flip of the rim to get it back inside the bag :o) . Funny they never let you in on these cheats in the instructions paper.

Anyways, the skeletons don't find anybody to frighten and end up in a skeleton zoo and have fun again. Finally they realize they haven't really achieved the purpose of their outing, but there's just nobody on the streets to scare! So they decide to scare each other, but fail miserably, albeit enjoying themselves a lot.

In the end is a little twist to the story. A frightening thing does happen, but who scares who?!? Eventually they go back home ( and I loved this bit so much, it is always just the thing we say when we open the doors and get in after a nice trip!) and unanimously agree that " That was fun!" even if they hadn't quite succeeded in what they planned to do. They then realize it is getting light and they should be in bed. The skeletons wish each other good morning and go to bed for a tight sleep.

There is enough repetition that will appeal to little ones and they will love the pictures and the friendly skeletons. There are many Funnybones books featuring these skeletons and my son would always ask me to pick one if he saw them in the library. We also discovered it was a hit television series as well.

Funnybones. Rib-tickling read!

Tea Break - Ginger

The freezing temperatures and long hours of snowball fights demand this throat and tum warming tea for sure! Bye bye colds, sore throats and sinus pains!

It has been a while since my last post. I got into that zone where you think all that blogging or FB activities or twitter posts or any social appearance you had made online are mocking at you. And you think why you ever started it all in the first place and made a fool of yourself.  Perhaps you have been a bit too over enthusiastic?

But it is a passing phase, I realized. That familiar feeling of gloom that hits us every now and then.

Then the Snow came. Nothing much. Only a few odd inches and yet it brought out the child in everybody, as always. It is a always feeling of great ecstasy to behold the snow that blankets the town in shimmering whites. There is certainly something so mesmerizing about the snow.

For the first time ever, I started looking at the snow extra closely just to see if I could make out the famous no-twin-anywhere flake patterns. And what a successful treasure hunt it had become! So many crystals, so beautiful, so alluring! So hypnotizing!

If only I had a proper camera to capture them. I have heard of flakes being enormous and the pictures some folks have taken make me so jealous! But the flakes here were really tiny, about a fifth of a small mustard seed. The patterns, though, were just out of the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were the only pics ( and many of similar quality) I managed to take in my mobile phone, which is quite primitive. But I was so glad I took the time to look into the snow. Every bit that shimmered like sequin was a perfect geometrical wonder. I close my eyes now and I can only see little patterns in my inward eye ( If Wordsworth hadn't written about the Daffodils, I swear I'd have written the poem to mean the Snow flakes :o) ). It is most certainly the bliss of solitude!

Then I had to trade my solitude for the infectious enthusiasm of my boys, and went sledging with them. This time I did see that flash upon my inward eye again, but it turned out to be the after effects of hours of innumerable bumps and tumbles and the painful beckoning of my barely-there bottom!

Came home to a hot bath, tea, hot chocolate and plain buttered toasts. And a Wodehouse for me and Tinkle for boys!

So much of contentment meant only one thing. Snoozing off and drooling even before you knew it!

And That accounts for the missing blog posts.

 

 

Mega Manga

Author: Keith Sparrow
Ages: 8+

As the boys grow, it is so hard to find a gift that would resonate with their likes. I had 200% luck with this book!! Well, I admit, I was more or less forced to buy it owing to subtle "hints" thrown in by my son here and there. Okay actually EVERYWHERE :o).

Manga is the Japanese art of storytelling with cartoons and graphics. They appeal to almost all ages as all kinds of genres. Think Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh and you'll know what I'm talking about. If you can't think but have a pre-teen behind your aching back, don't worry, you'll be made to think pretty soon!

At first when I heard about this book (it is the recent craze in his class and every boy has his revered copy, I found out), I was horror-struck. I thought it was like an adult-ish book with some shocking images not to mention so many weapons. But I looked inside one and realized it is just what it claims to be - the perfect guide to drawing some human characters, super heroes and some really cute animals. Yes, they also had a section for drawing weapons but hey! we grew up playing with " cape thuppakki" as well! And every legend in our very own Epics had a unique weapon as well (Rama's bow, Hanuman's Gadha or Vishnu's Chakra, for example).

There are sections dedicated to drawing every part of the body in the perfect comic-strip sense. There are sections for attitudes, emotions, accessories, vehicles and even cute animals like Pikachu ( and that is the only Pokémon character I know of!). There is a whole section on materials and equipment as well and it is thoroughly written. You could draw yourself as a boy with super cool attitude, baggy trousers on a skateboard. Or a sleek girl with a geeky attitude!

If you have Manga fans at home, look no further for a very wonderful gift that would be used every single day and provide hours and hours of fun ( and you can look forward to solving the mystery of the A4 sheets that go missing from the print tray!).

Here was one such art by my son  that my "DH" converted into a comic trip type image.

Mega manga.  A Mega Hit.
Note: My son's drawing has only been added as a reference. I am still striving to be Thiruvalluvar-friendly!

Dogger

Author: Shirley Hughes
Ages: 3+

Toddlers love cuddlies. They have their own favourite which is inevitably the tattiest of the lot that gets paraded to every single place they have been to.  For years. They take joy rides in prams and strollers and then trikes and scooters, get fed all sorts of sticky things, jump puddles, have little "accidents" and get mended, get baptized in muddy ponds, share the couch for TV shows and demand theatre and air-travel seats, get sick with the kids and finally get turned a new leaf by the warm tumbles of the washing machine ( but ONLY when the toddler is not clutching on to it dearly, which is not a daily, not even a monthly occurrence, and hence the tattiness!).

If the above strikes a chord with you, Dogger is just the story you'd love! Dave loves Dogger, his little toy puppy dog. His sister Bella has loads of toys and shares her bed with all of them, but Dave loves Dogger and only Dogger. On a sunny day, Dave goes with mum ( and Dogger, of course!) to pick Bella from school, then they have some leisurely fun and by the time they get home, Dogger is long lost! Nothing could console Dave, not even the generous offer of one of her precious teddies by Bella.  Mum turns the house upside down ( oh! that frantic search that has happened so many times!) and Dad searches the garden, but to no avail. Dave goes to bed a sad little boy (and your heart goes out for him).

The next day is School Fair day. Dave and Bella get taken to the stalls and fun is in the air. Bella has some luck with the raffle draw and wins a huge Teddy and is beside herself with joy, but Dave remains forlorn thinking of his beloved Dogger.

Right then, what do they see in the toy sale table right behind all the toys - Dogger, with a price tag of 5p! Unable to find Mum to get the money, Dave is dejected because he is close to losing the toy. And lose it he does. To a little girl who jumps ahead of him and pays for Dogger. What happens next is a very brave and compassionate display of sibling affection saving Dogger. And all is well that ends well with a happy Dave taking Dogger to bed that night!

It is hard to believe that this story was written  decades ago and has rightfully won the test of time. Dogger still features in all the "Best Childrens' book of all times" lists. It was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1977, the exact year I was born. Shirley Hughes has not just written a story with children at the heart, she has also illustrated it so! The beautiful pictures tell the story themselves and take you to those good old days when life wasn't as complicated and children had unadulterated, simple play times and fun.  But the core values in the story hold just as good even now, and is something to quote to children as an example, a message of selfless love and affection that they should carry for a life time.

Here's a nice reading of Dogger online.

Dogger, Puppy love at first sight!

Tea Break - Darjeeling

My dear Patti is no more. She passed away quite peacefully three days back, surrounded by loved ones. While I continue to miss her, I have a repository of wonderful memories from childhood of Patti.

It was, along with my Dad, my Patti who induced in me the love of stories from a very impressionable age. While my Dad would read everyday to me, Patti told me tale after tale every night. It was almost always a tiniest branch of the two great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Not the main story, but really interesting titbits and side stories that all added up to the grandness of the Epics and made sense in a big, special way that is only possible with her enrapturing story-telling methods. And the best part of it was that she never ever repeated her stories!

So every night, dinner in hand, I would sit beside her and coax her to take me into that mythical realm where good always defeated the bad. And if good did fail, there was a good reason behind it and hence, another story!

When my brother sent around a recorded rendition of one of Patti's many stories, it brought back fresh memories of the story she told me long long ago. Patti's different takes on Ramayana and Mahabharatha always amazed me. They were such stark  twists to the version we know and made you ponder a lot. I guess she just read and read and read so many versions of them that she kind of was like a satnav for the Epics, knowing every single twist and bend and even the unlisted side roads! Here's one such story.

Rama had finally defeated Ravana and decapitated all his heads but one. Ravana lay on the ground, all hands cut off, unable to move. He looks at Rama and wants to touch his feet. Unable to do so, he remains helpless and desolate. Rama looks at Lakshmana and asks him to go and get Upadesam from Ravana. Lakshmana (probably snorts!) asks Rama why in the world would he even go near such a lecherous person who went after Sita like he did. He obeys his brother nevertheless as he knows Rama is always right.

Lakshmana lifts Ravana up in his lap and Ravana starts talking. He first asks for forgiveness from him and says "Lakshmana. I never lusted after Sita. You see, Sita is my daughter. When she was born, I was told that Lanka would burn and I would die because of her. So I sent her away in a little basket, along with the Shivadhanush".

Lakshmana again sniggers and says " It is indeed unbelievable to hear that you, who shamelessly proclaim yourself to be the King of Kings, were afraid of a small helpless child and threw her away so you could save yourself and your kingdom".

Ravana says " There, you are wrong. I sent her away not because I was a coward or I hated the child. I did so because I knew the eventuality. That Lanka would perish. But I did not want my precious child to perish with it. I loved her from the minute I saw her divine smile and knew she was the Goddess herself"

"I had to make sure she would have an able protector, so I sent the Shivadhanush with her. Rama broke it and married Sita, and then I knew she was in safe hands. Fate still played through, and I was taken by a very great desire to have my child back with me. So I carried her all the way to Lanka in my lap and even then, just like how a father would. While here, I tried to please her and pleaded with her to stay with me in Lanka. But she is a perfect "Pathivratha", as pure and chaste as my wife Mandodhari. She would only be by the side of her dear husband. And that minute I knew the prophecy was coming true, because the great Lord himself would be coming to take what belonged to him. And that I would be vanquished by the only person who can protect my dear daughter for eternity, thus attaining salvation"

"My duties in this world are over now and I am at peace".

Lakshmana realized why Rama wanted him to listen to Ravana. He bowed down before a father's love that was so great it gave it's own life to save the daughter.

This different take portrays Ravana in a completely new light, and even makes you love the character and feel for him. It makes me think of my Dad so much. The very same sacrificing, selfless, unconditional person ready to turn the world upside down, fight every single obstacle and give up everything, and I mean literally everything, just so his daughters were safe and happy.

This is one time where I find myself taking the side of Ravana. No matter what he was to the world, to a daughter, he will be a hero. Forever.

Patti, this very minute, I miss you, I love you, I thank you and yes. I will always remember you and all our very special story times when we were both so lost in a totally different world, beyond time and space. May your beloved soul rest in peace.
 

Moomin and the Winter Snow

Author: Tove Jansson
Ages: 4+

The Moomins, a bunch of white, chubby trolls, and their friends are the creation of Tove Jansson, a Finnish-Swedish author. She has written many comic strips and adventures with the moomins and all of them are extremely popular. They have also been made into a TV series.

Moomins are very cute characters that are friendly, mystical, philosophical, gentle, kind, adventurous and appeal to all ages equally. I have been such an ardent fan of the Moomin trolls and their friends ever since I started reading them, and am so glad that my kids like them as well!

In "Moomin and the Winter Snow", little Moomintroll becomes very sad when his friend Snufkin leaves Moominvalley and travels south in winter in search of warmer places. Moomintroll misses his friend a lot even though it is snowing and the whole town is very happy about it! He wonders if his friend would miss him just like he misses his friend. And then he gets just the confirmation that he needed, a sweet gift with a note from Snufkin! It cheers Moomin instantly and he prepares to hibernate happily until spring, when his best friend would return back to him.

Aren't we all so familiar with such a situation! Leaving friends behind and embarking on our journey of life, wondering if they would miss us and getting comfort from even the slightest confirmation that they are missing us as well! This book is a celebration of friendship and how very important it is to express it to friends on time rather than keeping them guessing.

The story comes to life with some very touching drawings that emote so beautifully. Snufkin is my favourite character of all. He is so philosophical, a really free spirit who loves traveling around the world with just the bare necessities packed up in his bag and no desire or strings attached. He is everything that you would have loved to be and so he remains etched in your heart long after the story is over!

No wonder Moomin books happen to be such prized possessions that are hard to part with!

Moomin and the Winter Snow. Please do read it the moment you set your eyes on one. Pee-hoo!

image courtesy : http://www.puffin.co.uk/static/spreads/all/3/9/9780141340593L_006.jpg

Snow Tales

Author: Michael Morpurgo  Illustrated by Michael Foreman
Ages: 5+

Michael Morpurgo's books are wonderful entertainers. So much so, that Spielberg created a classic movie adapting Morpurgo's "The War Horse". Snow tales is no exception.

This book has two stories both involving creatures of the Arctic - the Polar Bear and an Albatross family. The settings for the story spring right out of the book with Michael Foreman's cool illustrations in arctic hues and you can almost hear the soothing voice of Sir David Attenborough narrating about life in the north pole in the background, like his episodes in Natural History channel.

The stories themselves are very warm and engaging. While the Polar bear dreams the impossible during hibernation, the Albatross family face a few challenges in their brave fight for survival in the frozen north.

Snow tales... a melting composition.

Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth

Written and Illustrated by Eric Carle. Ages: 3+

The magical world of Eric Carle needs no introduction. There wouldn't be a school or a house without a copy of  "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Ever since he illustrated first for "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see", he has been creating his own stunning picture books that have been translated into many languages and have sold millions and millions of copies world-wide.

I adore his rich illustrations that are basically collages of tissue papers that he paints in different colours. They create such unique, vivid backgrounds for his stories. And his stories are great picks from nature itself and so, are interesting as well as educational! He is also such a benign, sweet person and a nature lover himself. This really shows in all of his books.

One of our favourite reads of Eric Carle is " Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth". It is set in a luscious amazon rainforest setting and the main character is the slow, slow, slow Sloth. While all the animals pass him by and question his sluggish attitude, the sloth simply hangs on unconcerned and unaffected by it all. Finally he delivers one of the best "punch dialogues" ever that has to be read to be relished! It is the perfect punch for pushy people who are always rushing through life and also just the right attitude to carry!

This book really made me introspect my impatience with kids. Children are learning all the time and catching up on new things every day. Every child is different and takes his/her own time to grasp and do things. But all parents tend to hurry the children up in anger or exasperation sometime or the other and simply accuse them as being lazy. And how so wrong we are!

The kids loved the different words they can use to defend themselves when mum shouts "lazybones, hurry up!" And I have to admit, I learned a word or two from the sloth as well! As if it is all not enough, the closing page has a collection of exotic rainforest animals in striking collages and is a great hit with the inquisitive kids.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, but quite steadily, the Sloth has captured our hearts!

Here's Eric Carle talking about his inspiration for this book.

And here's a reading of the book itself in Youtube.

Finally, here's an example of how slow (but cute!) a sloth is...

Tea Break

I thought it would  be a good idea to take Tea breaks every now and then between book reviews. I bet all mums survive on that life-saving supreme thing called Tea Break. Be it masala or plain Tea or a tumbler of strong (Narasus) Filter Coffee, it is a mother's own bit of 5-minute paradise! A teeny break from the otherwise chaotic and forever busy universe that we survive on (wonder why we are always so busy, sometimes even with nothing to do!).

 

I can remember my mum doing it. My mother-in-law wouldn't even bother thinking of anything else until she sits down to savour her morning cuppa. And I am no different. The only company I prefer having during any such break is a good book and plate of biscuits ( but only on those days when I am not in a diet conscious frenzy and imagining I am about to explode. Also on those days when I am in a "Well what the heck, I'll have the biscuit anyways. Two hoots to dodgy diets" mode :o))

 

I go through at least 4 mugs of Tea every day, more in winter as the hot cup is a great hand warmer. Between 2 mugs of proper tea that I somehow manage to extract from hubby, I thrive on green teas and I have started loving them. Just the signs that I am growing old, you think?!? Or perhaps it is just a lazy me, as all it requires is getting the kettle on for hot water and dropping the tea bag in it! Whatever it is, I only have to imagine myself all propped up with cushions and toes tucked inside warm blankets, with a cup in one hand and a juicy book on the other, and I am already relaxing those stressed shoulders!

 

It's a different story that just when you've done all of that quintessential preparation and easing your back on the cushion, your little boy needs the potty immediately!!!

 

Do you worship your Tea breaks as well? I'd love to be reassured that I am not the only crazy gal out there! Go on and confess :o) :o) :o)

Wonder

Author; R J Palacio Age group; 10+ years

Don't judge a book boy by it's cover  his face.

After a long time, I actually happened to pick up one of my elder son's favourite books, and actually ended up reading it till the last page. And pondering for a long time afterwards.

Wonder is a wonderfully poignant story of Auggie, a boy with extreme facial deformities. There would have been many stories about differently abled or disadvantaged children or children with life-altering disabilities and diseases. What makes this book really stand out is the fact that not only does this book carry the perspective of Auggie, it also brings in the viewpoints of his near, dear and not-so-dear ones. That is even more touching. We all look at the disabled person, and think of his struggles and fights, but we seldom think of the brother or sister who ends up slightly ignored by all even though he / she might actually love the sibling a lot. Or how about the perspective of the friend who is sniggered by all in school just because he chose to be friends with the "freak"! What about the mum and dad who constantly struggle to protect their vulnerable little one from the cruel comments of the society, yet want to give him independence and a life of his own!

The narration is gripping and there are parts in the book that question our conscience and flood our eyes. Like when Auggie asks his mum why he was born so ugly. Or when he describes how people look at him, and either stare or look away and pretend not to notice. It made me think of all those times when I might have done exactly so, thinking a direct stare would be rude. It made me realize how, unknowingly, we affect people we come across and simply walk away not know anything about it!

Wonder is indeed a heart-wrenching read. Yet, this is a very positive story with a lot of takeaways and ends on an enriching and inspiring note. It also has the perfect tones and settings that a child would relate to, making it a lovely, uplifting read for kids as well.

Wonder. It really is one. A must-read for every kind soul!

Owl babies

This was the very first book I bought after we came down to UK. I was just browsing the shelves and warmed up to this one the moment I laid my eyes on it. It is the heart tugging story of three baby owlets who wake up to find their mother missing from their home. They think out loud all their baby fears ( all owls think a lot, says the book!!)  and huddle together wishing their Mum would come back. And back she comes, of course, much to the joyous flapping of the wee ones! And then in that unique mumsy way that we would be so familiar with, she asks them what the fuss was all about!

A beautifully written tale with warm illustrations, this is perfect for the kids who start school or have to stay away from mum for any reason. My little boy found this reassuring when he started Nursery. He was such a fidgety little one and could never stand a moment away from my sight (ah those days! sigh!). It was so hard to leave him wailing at the class entrance. Then I read this to him and surprisingly, he related to the owlets so well and it was like a reassurance that mum would always come back for him. Eventually he did start enjoying school, but three years on, we still read this book and worry, wish, flap and dance with the owl babies!!

This book was also one of the Story themed lessons for my elder son when he was in Year 1 and he enjoyed learning all about owls and their habitat and nocturnal ventures alongside this book.

Recently,  I stumbled upon the book online and thought it was such a wonderful gesture by the Bookstart team. There are many other books on the online shelf as well that are worth checking out if you have a little one.

This story is also on YouTube.

Picture Books

I, for one, am a sucker for Picture books. I come across Mum conversations about how best to wean a child from Picture books and move on to chapter books and I wonder, "Why the big rush?".  You push a child to read, and he ends up running as far away from them as possible. The best you can do is to unlock his imagination and tempt him to explore that wonderfully enthralling world all by himself. Lead him into it by holding his hands, watch him get interested and slowly let go.

Books are to be cherished. To be relished. Read and re-read and reminisced. And picture books certainly tick all boxes for me even at the tender age of 35 :o).

This is one reason why I can't push my 6 year-old from picture books onto chapter ones. He reads chapter books alongside his brother ( most of the times just to show off as being equal and big enough!). But when I pick up a picture book, he comes galloping to my side. My 11 year-old is too proud to blatantly show he is interested, but when I start reading the book, I know an extra head would butt in silently!

This is why I can never have enough of picture books. Every night, we have to read at least 4 of them ( without counting the "one-more-time" s) before the kids nod off. And it is one routine we simply LOVE! This ritual of ours has made us run to the library to bring home a delicious stash every week, come what may. Our library allows 10 books per card and the boys always pick up at least 16 books between them. THAT, is a big number, and it has made us come across some of the most beautifully written and illustrated books, so beautiful that I felt so compelled to write about them somewhere.

I am sure all mums would already have their own special picks and favourites for the bed-time. However, there have been times when I delve into the blog world to read reviews about books that I want to buy. And I thought I could share my experiences as well, maybe there would be someone interested enough to read on! This is just a moment of sharing the joys that we have experienced and also a record for the children to look back on and chew some cud :o).

Thus begins my journey...