Author: Anushka Ravishankar
Illustrator: Emanuele Scanzani
Ages: 3+
We discovered this book last week on a trip to Crawley. It was raining and the trains were getting delayed and so we retreated into the waiting room, annoyed, cold and wet. The annoyance, however, was short-lived and our faces broke into huge grins the moment we saw this new collection of children's books in the unmanned charity library / book sale corner inside. Suddenly, delays became the in-thing and trains were a thing of the past!
DS1 spotted a HP book that wasn't there in his collection, so instantly dropped off the change (the donation asked was a minimum of 50p) and settled down in a cosy corner of the sofa and was lost to the world. I and Milind were looking to take a picture book and read, and that was when this vibrant, nostalgic front cover caught our attention. With an overloaded cycle, bangles, sarees, cats and mice, colourful buckets and plenty of bold, beautiful colours, it was the Indian market in all its splendour!
A little girl gathers her pocket money and goes off to the market with mum. She has been given permission to buy anything she wants and she is eager to find out what she might get. But when she reaches the market, she is so taken in by its scents, flavours, textures and hues that she completely forgets her mission. She has so much fun just gazing and playing around that getting something for herself never even crosses her mind.
This was a nostalgic read for me and every small detail in every single picture brought back wonderful memories of trips to market or to the shops inside temples. Anushka has done a beautiful job of bringing such a simple theme to life with even more simple, yet catchy verse.
"Creeping creeping creeping, I am peeping, I am a spy"
"Tutti tutti tutti, I'm a fruity kind of dish"
It is, however, the illustrator who has poured so much life into the scenes. Emanuele Scanzani is an Italian illustrator who resides in the serene village of Auroville in Pondicherry, India. His familiarity, or rather, the acceptance of Indian culture is visible in even the tiniest detail. From the colourful rangoli powders heaped up in sacks to the Ganesha idol in black decked with flowers, the vibhoothi (sacred ash) and kumkum (vermillon dot) on the foreheads of most of the people, the many framed deities in golden frames and the demon faces hung in the front door to ward off evil eye, the rubber slippers in brilliant colours, the sarees, fruits, crows, cobwebs, bangle shops and hanging coir baskets, the detailing is so perfect that it teleported me right back to the stream of traditional shops inside Meenakshi Amman Temple in my hometown, Madurai. No doubt he is a very talented artist who has found peace in Auroville ashram.
Anushka is an award winning Indian writer whose books have been published internationally. She is popular for her "nonsense verse" and has won many international awards. I couldn't find any nonsense in this book though, but I suppose much of little children's healthy imagination is built on a foundation of remarkable nonsense!
In all, a brilliant book that will appeal to everyone with its colourful Indian backdrop and a bubbly storyline.
Illustrator: Emanuele Scanzani
Ages: 3+
We discovered this book last week on a trip to Crawley. It was raining and the trains were getting delayed and so we retreated into the waiting room, annoyed, cold and wet. The annoyance, however, was short-lived and our faces broke into huge grins the moment we saw this new collection of children's books in the unmanned charity library / book sale corner inside. Suddenly, delays became the in-thing and trains were a thing of the past!
DS1 spotted a HP book that wasn't there in his collection, so instantly dropped off the change (the donation asked was a minimum of 50p) and settled down in a cosy corner of the sofa and was lost to the world. I and Milind were looking to take a picture book and read, and that was when this vibrant, nostalgic front cover caught our attention. With an overloaded cycle, bangles, sarees, cats and mice, colourful buckets and plenty of bold, beautiful colours, it was the Indian market in all its splendour!
A little girl gathers her pocket money and goes off to the market with mum. She has been given permission to buy anything she wants and she is eager to find out what she might get. But when she reaches the market, she is so taken in by its scents, flavours, textures and hues that she completely forgets her mission. She has so much fun just gazing and playing around that getting something for herself never even crosses her mind.
This was a nostalgic read for me and every small detail in every single picture brought back wonderful memories of trips to market or to the shops inside temples. Anushka has done a beautiful job of bringing such a simple theme to life with even more simple, yet catchy verse.
"Creeping creeping creeping, I am peeping, I am a spy"
"Tutti tutti tutti, I'm a fruity kind of dish"
It is, however, the illustrator who has poured so much life into the scenes. Emanuele Scanzani is an Italian illustrator who resides in the serene village of Auroville in Pondicherry, India. His familiarity, or rather, the acceptance of Indian culture is visible in even the tiniest detail. From the colourful rangoli powders heaped up in sacks to the Ganesha idol in black decked with flowers, the vibhoothi (sacred ash) and kumkum (vermillon dot) on the foreheads of most of the people, the many framed deities in golden frames and the demon faces hung in the front door to ward off evil eye, the rubber slippers in brilliant colours, the sarees, fruits, crows, cobwebs, bangle shops and hanging coir baskets, the detailing is so perfect that it teleported me right back to the stream of traditional shops inside Meenakshi Amman Temple in my hometown, Madurai. No doubt he is a very talented artist who has found peace in Auroville ashram.
Anushka is an award winning Indian writer whose books have been published internationally. She is popular for her "nonsense verse" and has won many international awards. I couldn't find any nonsense in this book though, but I suppose much of little children's healthy imagination is built on a foundation of remarkable nonsense!
In all, a brilliant book that will appeal to everyone with its colourful Indian backdrop and a bubbly storyline.
