Bookaroo - You are invited...

Jodo Gyan Pitara Fair

Tulika in The Book Review

Good news: The November 2010 issue of The Book Review has a focus on Books for Children. Better news: Many, many Tulika books have been reviewed in it. Yay!
The children's books issue of The Book Review does review several Tulika titles usually. But looking at the reviews this time around, we are quite happily dazed at the range of our books. Mother hens likely feel the same way about their many chicks, all unique. Or something. But look at them, dear reader: picture books, adventure novels, fold-out books, books that use fiction to teach history, wordbird books, puzzle books, story books, just-for-fun books...what joy! And here are some quotable quotes from the reviews.

Mohua Bhattacharya calls Pond/Talaab and Blackboard/Shyampatt 'a godsend for the repatriated parent'. She says, "Both Pond and Blackboard match delightful pictures with simple nouns and verbs that are so relevant to a child...They can also be used to teach English to children whose first language is Hindi. I particularly liked how the 'secondary' words flow out of the 'main' word in Blackboard...My son was also fascinated by the fact that in Pond, a bit of the picture from one page actually continued on to the next, so when the crow drops the biscuit in the 'crow' page, it actually falls on the worm's head in the 'worm' page."

Sumit Tripathi points out that art is not confined to artists and their works but often exists as a network of curators, galleries, critics, connoisseurs and art historians. It makes sense to introduce children to some of the pathways through which the artist and their works travel. "The four books of the set titled Looking at Art can be expected to do part of this job. Taking four painters of eminence..and weaving simple narratives around their works, these books introduce children to vital but often overlooked aspects of art like the restoration of paintings, fakes, archiving and seemingly mundane but actually crucial biographical details...The author and publishers must be congratulated for selecting an area as this for children's books and for having managed to do so with an attractive cover and design, good quality paper, nice illustrations and an extensive selection of the artists' works," he says.

Arna Seal introduces Home as a book in which "the physical structure of the device merges with the thought process that there is no beginning or end to our unfolding identities...From each fold jumps out something new, each turn promises a surprise...Home helps to celebrate the differences in life and living and drives home the point that everyone while being unique and special is connected to others through this thread of uniqueness."

Gopika Jadeja says of The Snow King's Daughter: "Rajendran exploits the childhood sense of wonder at discovering new places and the child's ability to make leaps of imagination to weave a charming tale, which is real and credible...the illustrations subtly and with very real detail add a more political dimension..."

Sowmya Rajendran declares that "Same and Different will keep you hooked, doesn't matter if you are well over 3 years old. [It] is as valuable as it is fun. Not only does it teach one to look and not just see, it carried with it an important and affirming message: you can belong to a group, no matter how similar or different you are to everybody else."

About My Brother Tootoo, she says "If one were to fit My Brother Tootoo into a genre, one might pick 'adventure'. And yet the book deals with several issues that are rarely touched upon in the average adventure novel for children...Suitable for children and adults alike, this is an adventure with a difference that you should plunge into."

Niveditha Subramaniam reviewed three Tulika books. She finds the illlustrations in Gajapati Kulapati endearing. "The special effects are particularly fun and will tickle readers old and young. The repetitive words make it great to read out loud," she finds

She also reviewed two books from the Aditi series. "If you are in the mood for an intergalactic adventure, the eleventh adventure in the Aditi series, Siril and The Spaceflower is a good read. Suniti Namjoshi keeps the plot simple, but gently and effectively explores trust, taking risks and how friendships can be made in the most unlikely of places," she says. "The next adventure, Beautiful and the Cyberspace Runaway, is probably Namjoshi's funniest yet...Humorous, insightful and thought-provoking, Beautiful and the Cyberspace Runaway blurs the boundaries between real and virtual, raising questions for new-age readers."

Sujata Noronha has also reviewed three Tulika books. Little Fingers "...allows for participatory action with the storyline that comes spontaneously to children and makes reading a joy...we were attracted to all the pictures, and proud to see brown hands in print," she says.

The illustrations in Ju's Story "...gracefully show homes that are not cluttered with middle class trappings so familiar in picture books...For children who are emerging into literacy, a letter that is part of most classrooms, a letter that is part of most classroom syllabus teaching might assume a new importance when seen through Ju," she says.
Of the third book she reviewed: "Sabri understands and records her world in pictures...How could Sabri not have any colours?...Sabri's Colours is a book that allows us to look carefully at the colours in our own image of the world and to colour again," she says.

Bageshree Subbanna reviewed A Silly Story of Bondapalli. "The story by Shamim Padamsee is complemented by the witty and amusing illustrations by Ashok Rajagopalan...those of us who are never content until we squeeze some moral out of every story could argue that A Silly Story of Bondapalli is a welcome break in an age obsessed with Size Zero..."

That's all, folks! Of course, if you would like to read the articles in full, all you have to do get your own copy of The Book Review:-)

Bal Sahitya Puraskar

Remember we had announced that Just a Train Ride Away by Mini Shrinivasan had won the newly-instituted Bal Sahitya Puraskar? Here's the official announcement of the awards ceremony in Delhi and the full list of winners in all the languages. Congratulations again, Mini! 

Books+

Good news! Tulika now partners Mother Earth to bring out the BOOKS+ range of products and gift ideas, based on art in Tulika’s books. Besides being part of a brilliant plot to get children addicted to Tulika’s books, this unique range gives children products that they can relate to through books they have read. BOOKS+ also sensitizes children to worlds outside their own by connecting them to arts and crafts and the people who create them.

Tulika and Mother Earth both believe in producing quality products that represent, respect and nurture diversity. Which means this is a truly organic, pesticide-free, natural collaboration. We are excited by the possibilities that working together can open up.

We invite you to the release of the bilingual Panchatantra books and BOOKS+ products at the Mother Earth store in Domlur, Bengalooru, this Saturday, November 13 at 5.30 p.m. Celebrity storyteller Jeeva aunty will be telling stories from the books. Don’t miss it!

Why are you afraid to hold my hand?

John Hockney, storyteller and workshop facilitator, used Why are you afraid to hold my hand? by Sheila Dhir for a workshop presentation in Australia on the subject of disability. He got in touch with Tulika through Kiran Shah and wrote back about the experience of presenting the book...

  

As soon as I first saw this book, it immediately drew me to its firm message in the simplest terms. I had two forthcoming workshop presentations at the TAFE –Illawarra campus for students of ‘Leisure and Health,’ (who will assist in aged care and disabilities)  and ‘Home and Community Care,’ Certificate III, (caring for aged, disability and mental health).

The workshops focused on accessing stories as a healing component, but also suggesting ways of approaching clients and what to expect.

Kiran Shah contacted the publisher for permission to present the book on Powerpoint. I acknowledged the permission granted with the title, ISBN, author, publisher and accessibility in my reference notes.

Following the presentation I asked the students what they had learned. Their reaction was very positive for Why am I afraid to hold my hand?, with the discussion openly admitting disability as a subject was often difficult and with the best of intentions people made mistakes about the best way to help. Some admitted being embarrassed or over-zealous. All agreed the simplicity and strong message of the book helped create a greater understanding in dealing with people and their disability.

Wilna Mans, who organised the workshops and also works with Anglicare in a training role, said it was the best information she had seen.

Thank you, John and Kiran! We're always glad to hear about Tulika's books having helped spark off important discussions.

Following the trail of paint...

Namrata wrote in to tell us about a workshop she had conducted as part of the weekend activities of Hippocampus, the children’s library in Koramangala, at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore earlier this month...

I took a group of twelve excited children aged between 8 and 10 years. On the way to the gallery we had a very interesting discussion about artists and art galleries. We reached the magnificient Manikyavelu Mansion in which the gallery is housed and went up to the first floor into the room displaying Jamini Roy’s works.

I introduced them to Roy via Anjali Raghbeer’s A Trail of Paint. It was a hit, the kids listened with great interest, especially because they were surrounded by the works in the book! 

After we read the story they had many questions. The assistant curator of the gallery Tejshvi talked to them about the techniques that Roy used and it was very useful to have the book and the works to explore together.

Then we asked them to create their ‘own Jamini Roys’, here’s what they created!

The children went around the gallery and looked at many other works before we had a snack and made our way back. From their animated discussions, it seemed like a spark of art appreciation had been ignited. Thank you NGMA Bengalooru and Tulika!

 

Note from Tulika: And thank you, Namrata! Twice over. Once for organising the workshop and once for writing in to tell us about it.