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.