Colourful tales
ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN
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Four delightful stories that will make you laugh, think and dream...
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Imagine for a minute if the earth lost every shape it had? The triangles and rectangles, lines and ovals
Circles and squares — all the familiar shapes disappeared. No one knew the reason for the disappearance but the earth really did look ugly and shapeless.
There was confusion as familiar things looked so unfamiliar. But all was not lost. There was one thing that survived the “shapelessness”. And that was the Little Dot, for the little dots were far too small to be bent out of shape. And how does this tiny thing save the world from being permanently shapeless? Read When the Earth lost its shapes by Shobha Viswanath to discover the little dot was hailed as the “Queen of Shapes”.
Brilliantly coloured illustrations by Christine Kastl, in deep colours are captivating and the story in rhyme form, simple and easy almost to recite, funny and with a “secret” at the end, this book in hardcover is a treat.
I'm sure you must have seen lizards cheekily running across the wall and at times with half a tail. Here is a story of a baby lizard who is heartbroken when it lost its tail in a freak accident. Momma lizard smiles wisely but baby is in a hurry to acquire a new one and goes off on a quest. A squirrel, a cow, dogs, a cat and an elephant are approached (and we get to learn why their tails are useful) by the little lizard. Does he get one of their tails or is his mother right? Find out in The lizards Tail that promises you fun reading.
Fancy these folktales
What happens to a boy who always had the compulsion to draw only cats? Akiro was a Japanese boy who drew cats wherever he was even on the mud of the fields where he was supposed to be working. His dream was to draw the perfect cat.
The Boy Who Drew Cats by Anushka Ravishankar, is a Japanese folktale that is retold. The illustrations done by Christine Kastl in water colours and ink, reminds you of ancient Japanese prints. A book definitely to be treasured.
Another folktale, Indian this time, has you clutching your sides in glee. The Rumour is the story of how a rumour grows from the seed of truth till it snowballs into a mammoth rumour that has no connection with its “small” beginning.
The prosperous villagers of Baddbaddpur lived a relaxed life and did nothing but gossip and tell tall tales. Grumpy Pandurang who even could curdle milk with one look, had a coughing fit one morning. He spat out a feather and when he went home he told his wife Gangubai about it. From here the rumour takes on gigantic proportions until finally it's quite unbelievable. Read the book to find out how rumours grow. The illustrations in brilliant colours and intricately drawn by Kanyika Kini, have you in splits.Look intently at the drawings for each time you look closer, you are sure to discover something new.
THE LIZARD'S TAIL, WHEN THE EARTH LOST ITS SHAPES, Shobha Viswanath, Christine Kastl, Karadi Tales, For ages 3+, Rs. 195
THE RUMOUR, THE BOY WHO DREW CATS, Anushka Ravishankar, Karadi Tales,
For ages 5+, Rs.195
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