Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghosh and Illustrated by Salman Toor

Review by Shwetha H S

Title: Jungle Nama
Author: Amitav Ghosh
Imprint: Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9789353379128
Genre: Mythology, Illustrated, Children, YA, Adults

If you are into reading books, then you would have probably heard of Amitav Ghosh. He is a prominent name in the Indian literary circles and is also a recipient of Jnanpith Award. I always stayed away from mainstream books. Amitav Ghosh’s books seemed so mainstream, I never thought of reading his works. But while browsing through a bookshop in Leh, Ladakh, a book cover caught my attention. It was Amitav Ghosh’s Jungle Nama. As you must have guessed, I bought that book to enter the world of one of the greatest Indian literary celebrities.

Jungle Nama is based on one of the chapters of The Legend of Bon Bibi. It is written in the form of poetry. This is a story of morals with a link to local mythology, anchored in reality, for both kids and adults alike. Particularly this story talks about greed – how a wealthy merchant makes a pact with a regional deity or a demigod, Dokkhin Rai, who often shape-shifts into a Royal Bengal Tiger and is restricted to the areas of Sunderbans, to leave his relative as food in exchange for honey and wax, but are punished by Bon Bibi and her twin brother Shah Jongoli.

I found it good to read Jungle Nama aloud. There are quite a few Bengali/Bangla words, so it is better to read in the same accent, for fun as well as it gives a sense of relevance. There are a few moderately difficult words used in the book, which make a good addition to the readers’ English vocabulary. Most of all, the Afterword of this book is as precious as the story. The last time I was so mesmerised by someone’s writing was while reading Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie. There was no need for a bookmark while reading Jungle Nama as I finished reading it in one go! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am no longer skeptical about reading a mainstream Amitav Ghosh’s book. While the writing is great, the illustrations aren’t so. Although the last few pages of the book praise the illustrations by Salman Toor, I thought they could have helped glorify the story better, especially because this is based on mythology. Nevertheless, I definitely recommend reading Jungle Nama.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Review by Shwetha H S

Title: The Velveteen Rabbit
Author: Margery Williams
Imprint: Doubleday, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
ISBN: 9780593382103
Genre: Children, Illustrated

I heard of The Velveteen Rabbit, for the first time, from Chandler Bing while watching him on the TV series F.R.I.E.N.D.S. It had stuck in my mind since then. When I found an edition of The Velveteen Rabbit in Goa, while looking for something else, I had to buy it. I had to read it.

A rabbit made of velvet cloth and sawdust stuffing feels insecure among other modern toys of a child, but another old toy tells it that a toy is not noticed by how it looks or what it can do, but by how much it is loved. The child eventually loves the velveteen toy so much that the two cannot be parted, making the rabbit look rather worn out yet making it feel like a real rabbit. But, when the child falls sick, all the old toys are discarded, including the velveteen rabbit. Does that mean the velveteen rabbit’s life has come to an end? What happens to the velveteen rabbit?

As I read The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, it taught me a good life lesson: sometimes, we are moulded/made by others, but our life does not end with what they do to us or how they see us, or when they pass away. This book is a precious one, written especially for children, but adults can learn from it too. I was so moved by this book that I don’t see this as a children’s book. Not to forget the beautiful illustrations by Erin Stead. She brings the decades old story to life.

Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman

Review by Shwetha H S

Title: Fortunately, The Milk
Author: Neil Gaiman
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 9781408873021
Genre: Fiction, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Children, Young Adults

Neil Gaiman is not new to people already submerged in the literary world. But, for those who don’t know, let me quote The Times from the back cover of this book, Fortunately, The Milk: “Gaiman is the nearest thing children’s books have to a rock star. If you enjoy fantasy, he is irresistible.” Well, he is not limited to children’s books. Go on, explore his world. Many of his books are with illustrations by Chris Riddell. If Gaiman’s words spark the reader’s imagination, Riddell’s illustrations bring the imagination to life.

A mother goes to a conference leaving the father in-charge of their two children; a son, the eldest and a daughter, the youngest. They trio are fine on day one. The next day, there is no milk to have a decent breakfast. Off the father goes to buy milk. The children wait and wait and wait. When the father comes back and is questioned about the delay, he tells his children how he got caught up in time-travel and went back and forth to the past and the future with pirates, dinosaurs, tribals, a demi-god, precious stones, unicorns, vampires, dwarfs, aliens and, of course, a carton of milk that he bought. What is this new breakfast recipe instead of milk with Toasties? Do the children believe their father? It is for you to find out by reading the book.

I finished reading Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman in one go because I couldn’t put it down. As the Observer has made an observation and quoted, it is truly an entertaining story for adults and children alike. Chris Riddell’s illustrations are an added bonus. Anybody can pick it up to read and nobody would be disappointed.

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? By Dr. Seuss

Review by Shwetha H S

Title: Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Author: Dr. Seuss
Imprint: Harper Collins, UK
ISBN Number: 978-0-00-824000-4
Genre: Children’s Book, Onomatopoeia

Most of us don’t need an introduction to Dr. Seuss, but I will still give a brief introduction to this great personality for the benefit of others who are not aware of him. Dr. Seuss is a pseudonym or pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Apart from being a writer, he wore many different hats like animator, political cartoonist and poet to name a few. Even if you have not read his books, you would have definitely heard of or watched the movie based on his books Horton Hears a Who!, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and The Lorax.

There is no story in Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? It is more of a booklet to help children learn to read and progress with their pronunciation skills. While reading this book, I couldn’t help singing along. Why? Because all the lines in the book rhyme!

I recommend Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? to parents who are reading to their children who have begun to speak now as well as to children who have learnt to speak/read on their own. Enjoy the book!

Orson’s Farm – Sows The Seed and Cuts The Corn by Jim Davis

Imprint: Ravette Books Limited                                                       Review: Shwetha H S
ISBN: 1853041122 and 1853041769

US Acres, known as Orson’s Farm outside the USA, is another creation by Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield and friends. Though it has the word farm in its title and similar characters, it has nothing to do with George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

The title character, Orson, is a pig. Booker is a chick and Sheldon an egg that doesn’t want to hatch completely and walks on two legs. Because Orson incubated these two while they were still eggs until they each completely and partially hatched each as he read his books, Booker and Sheldon call Orson their mom though he is a male. This farm also has a rooster by name Roy, two sheep siblings Bo and Lanolin, a crazy and cowardly duck called Wade, Cody a puppy, Blue a kitten, and a colony of random worms that keep taunting Booker often.

I remember reading Orson’s Farm books as a child. I used to laugh a lot. Sometimes, I even used to act like the characters in these books. Now that I am reading them as an adult, I find them less funny, but they are still as precious as ever. I feel like picking up my colour pencils and colour the cartoons. These are the books, the steppingstone, to my bibliophilic adult life. No matter what be the title, all the comics under US Acres/Orson’s Farm are random depictions of each characters’ lives in the farm and their interactions with each other.

Orson’s Farm is a good start for hooking children to books and to avoid video games. Adults too will not be disappointed.

Pop the Bubble Written and Illustrated by Mary Eakin

Review by Shwetha H S

Genre: Chidren’s book
Imprint: Sweet Lemon
ASIN: B01GGMJ57Y

Mary Eakin is a graduate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. For many years she worked as a graphic designer for companies across the U.S. including Hallmark’s Gift Book division where she designed over a hundred books. She co-wrote the children’s book The Amazing Journey to Grandma’s House with Cheryl Hawkinson. Mary was the designer on several Hallmark Interactive Storybooks, which earned a Dr. Toy award. Recently, Mary moved to Bethesda, Maryland where she continues to design, write and illustrate. The most recent book she illustrated entitled Truly, Madly, Carefully by Molly Wigand is now available at Hallmark stores and online.

Pop the Bubble is a children’s book in which a girl is seen making a bubble and playing with it. The illustrations in the book are good, but nothing much apart from that. If you see it as a parent, there are a thing or two for your child to learn from this book, like numbers from 1 to 3, hand movements, and directions. If you see it is a child, then there is no purpose necessary. When the writer saying blow the bubble or brush away the leaves, the child might just keep doing it on the pages without any changes, in vain.

I would not suggest this book but if you have already bought it, then it is not a total waste.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Review by Shwetha H S

Genre: Children’s Book, Fantasy

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson used the penname Lewis Carroll to write. He was an English writer, mathematician and photographer. After writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, he next wrote Through the Looking Glass with Alice as protagonist again.

A young girl called Alice follows a talking rabbit down a hole that leads to a magical land that Alice calls Wonderland. Here she meets weird characters. Mostly they are talking animals and crazy looking and behaving humans. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland comprises of all the events Alice endeavors there.

Lewis Carroll must have been high when he wrote this book. The narration is good for storytelling for kids or picturization; not for reading to self. Alice is always either growing tall or short, talking nonsense. Was there a necessity to write this book? Reading this book is a great agony. ‘As soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it (which was to twist it up into a sort of knot, and then keep tight hold of its right ear and left foot, so as to prevent its undoing itself), she carried it out into the open air.’ This is how handling a baby of unknown species described in the story. What kind of sick mind would do this? It is only when the Mad Hatter appears, that the story starts to make some sense. By the end of the story, you will sure of one thing: one of the 3 people – Lewis Carroll, Alice and her sister – were high. Or all were high indeed. When you finish the book, if you are my kind of a reader who doesn’t quit a book just because it is boring, you will let out a sigh of relief.

Don’t bother reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance by Niranjan Navalgund

Review by Shwetha H S

Genre: Children, Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy.
Imprint: Readomania
ISBN: 9789385854156

The Lively Library & Unlikely Romance is an appreciable debut novella by Niranjan Navalgund, an author and a chess player from India.

Nayan, an arbiter in the chess tournaments, is now looking after a library that his father has left behind. It was Nayan’s father’s last wish to reopen the library which was very special for him. Why was it special for his father? Nayan doesn’t know. In absence of humans in the immediate surroundings, the books of the library come to life. They have their own world in which they are equipped with all the counterparts of human world. These books fall in love and get married too. Like humans, they too face curses. And they have their own gods too. Pakshi and Helmine are the cursed divine entities of this lively library. While the books are going about their day-to-day lives, they get to know of an upcoming danger. What is that danger? How did they get to know about it? What will they do to protect themselves from this unknown danger? Read the Lively Library & Unlikely Romance to decode the codes of this book world.

For a novella, The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance does good with the brief descriptions and scenes. But as a reader, I felt that the concept of this book, though beautiful, got wasted without the elaboration into grandeur. This concept honestly had such potential. A grand fantasy world got shrunk to a tiny segment. The author could have built on each chapter with more details to cater to the imagination of the readers. I am disheartened by the shortness of this life of the lively library. The calculations in between the narration distracts the flow. And the curses could have been explained in detail too. It is such a loss to the readers! Nevertheless, whatever is narrated is enough to give you a peek into the lively library as the book also has illustrations to aid to your imagination.

Secrets of Zynpagua: Search of Soulmates by Ilika Ranjan (Secrets of Zynpagua #2)

Review by Shwetha H S

Genre: Children, Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction.
Imprint: Partridge India
ISBN: 9781482886672

Secrets of Zynpagua: Search of Soulmates is the second book in the Secrets of Zynpagua series by Ilika Ranjan. The first book, Secrets of Zynpagua: Return of the Princess, garnered great reviews and the third book, Secrets of Zynpagua: Birth of Mystery Child, is out now and is up for grabs. Ilika Ranjan is not only a children’s book author. Her first book was a fiction about corporate life called “Puppet on the Fast Track.”

Search of Soulmates starts with Anika, the princess of Zynpagua, getting a premonition that Zynpagua is going to be under a threat again soon. Her premonition turns true when Drudan, the evil scientist, returns with the support of magic of a mermaid to rule of Zynpagua and also rule over the Earth. The demon planets help the evil to reduce the goodness blessed by the good planets and everything falls into place for Drudan and his mermaid. But Anika, with the equipped with the teachings of Venus, fights Drudan, mermaid and their army of evil people and disgusting sea worms, with the support of her mother Sussaina, brother Vivian, Lady Carol – the queen of kingdom of clouds, her grandson Leo, a snake Romeo and a tortoise Mootu along with a flock of magical rainbow birds and peregrine falcons. Femina, who was turned into stone, comes back to life thanks to Anika’s uncle Frederick. To know how an eleven year old princess Anika fights evil, how Femina comes to life and whether they win or lose, read Secrets of Zynpagua: Search of Soulmates.

Secrets of Zynpagua: Search of Soulmates is a good sequel to the first book, but needs heavy editing to be done. Apart from that, the story is good enough to cater to children’s imagination. It is a good progress in the Indian scenario for children’s books. It is also an attempt to have both religion and science in one place. Children will definitely enjoy this second book in the series.

If You Were Me and Lived In the American West by Carole P Roman (Illustrated by Paula Tabor)

Review by Shwetha H S

Genre: Children, Nonfiction, Educational
Imprint: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, North Charleston, SC
ISBN: 1532877846

Carole P Roman, a children’s books author, is best known for her series “If You Were Me and Lived In…” that tells children, and adults, about how life was at different places during different times. She collaborates with different artists for illustrations of her books.

In the book If You Were Me and Lived In the American West, Carole P Roman tells us what it was like to live in the times of the Great Migration, with the help of neat and appealing illustrations by Paula Tabor. The author tells us about where the people started from, how they travelled during migration, what happened throughout the journey, what they did once they reached the west, what they ate, what they wore and where they lived. It must be appreciated that the author also talks about the Red Indians and has tried to explain as much as possible keeping the children in mind.

As usual, the books of “If You Were Me and Lived In…” series by Carole P Roman are informative for both children and adults. Yet another good book from the series.