Summer is here to stay. And how. Today was a preview of what is to come over the next few weeks with the sun beating down mercilessly to melt tar on the road that sticks to footwear and sweat evaporating straight from the sweat glands. That, and viral attack on the alimentary canal of a certain five-year old precluding outdoor activities, we are now confined to the current address. A many-hundred-page activity book donated generously by Terri's daughter, was completed within hours. Books issued by the school today for the following class were perused and proclaimed "satisfactory" for the next round of education. Latest spoils of war from Odyssey (e.g. The Magic School Bus - Blows its Top & Going Batty) reviewed and found interesting, and one book in particular taking the mom by surprise.
This book is one in the "The Underwater Friends" series brought out by Think Big Books, and is called "Kattabomman's trick". It is a really cute story of Kattabomman the turtle (who incidentally hates to be mistaken for a tortoise) playing a trick on his friends - a crab called Kumudam, a sword fish called Uncas, a fish called Forgetful, another one called Gunavathi and a prawn called Pran. It is a simple story, made my daughter laugh, and tickled me pink with the absolutely cute names (Kattabomman, Kumudam, Pran), a far cry from pretentious Anglicised names found in books in English for children, written by Indian authors. And the language is simple and elegant (I am still reeling from watching a Tamilized episode of Dora, where Dora says "The star is here only"..bleah). Each page has a small area that the child can colour. This book is written by Sowmya Rajendran and illustrated by Nivedita Subramaniam. Kudos.
We are now all set to collect the entire series, and given the low cost (Rs. 49/book ~ $1/book), it is not impractical. I would strongly recommend it for kids five and under.
Recent Comments