Aha! Its summer!

 

It’s that time of the year again when we are envious of our kids (if not always ......... that is) and turn nostalgic over those carefree days of summer of 80s’ or the 90s’, when time literally stood still! Juxtapose to the present, we have turned into anxious parents who are in the continuous quest of finding things to keep our kids constructively engaged and in a constant endeavor of devising ways and means to keep them off gadgets! 

There is no doubt that our parents had it easy during simpler times, lesser distractions, and fewer choices! There is also no denying the fact they are a lot more easy-going as grandparents than they were as parents! (But try and get them to admit it…you are reminded of the 80s’/90s’ kid that you are!)

In between packing the kids off to grandparents, enrolling them into summer camp, driving them to museums or children’s activity centers squeezing in a family vacation or two, before you know it, summer holidays are over and it’s time to scramble for uniforms and books for the new academic year! Well… I began writing this at the beginning of April,  only to be finishing it at almost the end of my daughter’s summer break! 

Anyway, Aadya rang in her summer vacations with AHA! Adventures with Asha Nehemiah at our favourite “ Kahaani Box”, J P Nagar in association with Funky Rainbow, another one of our favourite places,  for  a wonderful  session themed “Author Meet and Greet”, wherein the veteran author Asha Nehemiah took the children through her process of ideating, creating, writing and providing inputs to illustrating her books, in particular reference to the book that was recently launched titled “Ghosts, Thieves and Aha! Adventures” brought out by Puffin publications. While offering a sneak peek into her new book, the prolific writer engaged the children with “from-idea-to-print-story” of ten year old Ashish and run-ins at his mom’s workplace, a dream workplace for some viz. a Book store! The delightful session ended with a poster making activity which the kids enjoyed as they doodled their ideas into interesting pictures or taglines!

Here is ours…….

Part of the Puffin’s Silly Billy series,  “Ghosts, Thieves and Aha! Adventures” traces the eventful journey of a young Ashish from what he expects to be a painful torture to finding his own happy place at this “beautiful bookstore”, while making lasting friendships and other interesting connections along the way, and in the process solving the mystery of how the book “Success Sutras and Money Mantras” always finds its way onto to the top shelf of the revolving stand!  Aha! one can find adventure in the most unexpected of all places! Accompanied by strikingly realistic yet toon-style illustrations by Pankaj Saikia,  “Ghosts, thieves, and Aha! Adventures  is a summer potpourri -  from funny to wistful and tender, from suspenseful to comic,  full of GenX parenting to Gen Z growing up moments! As it goes in the book    “ Just being around and reading them will give you your own Ah! Moment when you least expect it"…….. so go find your own Aha! moment this summer!