Book Review - The Enormous Crocodile

BOOK PICK OF THE WEEK - 15/9/2014

NAME OF THE BOOK - the enormous crocodile
AUTHOR - Roald Dahl
ILLUSTRATOR - Quentin Blake
PUBLISHER - Puffin Books
AGE GROUP - Read-aloud : 6+, Read-alone : 8+

          13th September being Roald Dahl's birthday, I had to pick up his book for the coveted BOOK PICK OF THE WEEK. You do not need any introduction to Roald Dahl. The most-loved children's author, why do I say that?, (Because our new members always pick him up before trying anything new!), he has carved a place in everybody's heart.

          The enormous crocodile is a short novella about a humongous crocodile who decides one day to eat juicy children. She has reserved some tricks up her sleeve to entice the children to come near her. All the animals of the jungle are aware of how wicked she can be since she has already tried eating one child before but in vain. This time, each of the jungle animals tries to convince her to not go after the children but she doesn't listen. In turn, they call her 'horrendous, nasty, bitter, greedy, grumptious brute etc. But, she just ignores all of them, injuring a bird with long feathers and reaches at the town.

          What happens next is a full roller-coaster of humour. The crocodile disguises itself in various situations but all the other jungle animals come to save the innocent children from the ravenous beast.

          Quentin Blake truly made me stop reading at each page and admire his illustrations. He has illustrated the crocodile beautifully. Many things like a dragon, a coconut tree, a see-saw look real and do not look like a crocodile at all!

          A little longer than a picture book but truly, one reading at least recommended for the kids. Either read aloud to them in various tones or let them read quietly. You will surely see a smile on their faces after they finish it!

Till next week,
Happy Reading!




Image Courtesy : Google

Book Review - The Best Days Of My Life

BOOK PICK OF THE WEEK - 1/9/2014

NAME OF THE BOOK - The best days of my life....childhood stories of famous people
AUTHOR - Scharada Dubey
PUBLISHER - Scholastic
AGE GROUP - 9 +


         We all know that September 5 is celebrated as Teacher's day in India on account of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday. My childhood was blessed with amazing teachers who shared their knowledge selflessly sowing in me the seeds for teaching. Seeing my teachers, I knew very early what I would like to choose as a profession. And today I am very happy to say that teaching is indeed a very noble profession and also which creates other professions!

          Teachers have a very important role in formative years of a student. Liking and favouring one subject is directly proportional to liking a teacher and being a teacher's pet! This is my experience and I'm sure you will agree with me.

          So, this week, I thought why not to inspire and influence our young readers with teachings and childhood lessons learnt by very famous people who walked this Earth? And therefore, I chose this book as this week's book pick.

         

          As the title suggests, this book contains a brief history about famous people and their childhood anecdotes explained in a simple language. The author has a done a great job of combining personalities from various fields of science, sports, education, literature, music, politics etc. Many stalwarts are included like - Gautama Buddha, Kabir, Mahatma Gandhi, J.R.D. Tata, Kapil Dev, Satyajit Ray etc. Not just Indian but foreign personalities also find a mention here - Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, Brian Lara etc.

          This is a very inspiring book and a must-read for children. I would also recommend it to parents. Read. Get inspired. Make a difference.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
          Scharada Dubey is an award-winning author of books for children and adults. She won the First Prize in the Commonwealth Essay Competition in 1973 and second place in Outlook-Picador Non-Fiction Competition in 2000. She has also won several prizes for her children's books. Her earlier books include Icons of Social Change and The Hanuman Heart. She lives and works in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Till then,
Happy Reading!

Book Review - We, the Children of India!

BOOK PICK OF THE WEEK - 11/08/2014

NAME OF THE BOOK - We, the children of India! The Preamble to our Constitution
AGE GROUP - 7+
AUTHOR - Leila Seth
ILLUSTRATOR - Bindia Thapar
PUBLISHER - Puffin Books

On this 15th August, we complete 67 years of Independence. Though so many years have passed since we became free, still, we are not free in the true sense of the word. Our citizens do not have access to basic clothing, food and shelter which are deemed necessities of life. Our Constitution clearly states equal rights to men and women, still women are degraded and receive inferior treatment. So, how can we improve this situation?

By educating our future citizens about their rights and duties. The author has explained beautifully the Preamble to our Constitution which is the most important document of our country. The Preamble, i.e. the introduction to our Constitution, the first sentence consists of the rights bestowed upon the citizens and how do we run our country. Tough concepts like Justice, Liberty are clearly explained in a child-friendly manner along with numerous illustrations.

The book starts with a short introduction of our History - British Rule, Fight for Freedom etc., going further about how the Constitution was drafted, original black and white photographs of Pandit Nehru signing the Draft, etc. Then, it goes onto explain the concepts of the Preamble, the makers of the Constitution with their photographs and their short profile. Thrown in between are small snippets of information like who makes our laws?, who runs the Government?

She concludes the book by telling us what we need to do right now and how can we bring in change.

A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR -
Leila Seth was the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court and the first woman to be the Chief Justice of a state in India. She retired as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh in 1992. She was a member of the 15th Law Commission of India and responsible for the report on Free and Compulsory Education of Children. She has a Diploma in Montessori Education.

A NOTE ON THE ILLUSTRATOR-
Bindia Thapar is an architect by training and an illustrator by choice. She is best known for her wide variety of illustrations for children. Sadly, there will not be any more books from her. She passed away this year on 18th April.

A must-read for every child!
Till next week,
Happy Reading!