Happy Birthday my ninja nani!

Amma writes all these blogs about me and my sister.  Now it is I, Abhay Karanth,  expressing my thoughts on Onestoryaday. It is my  grandmother's birthday today! I always make cards for all of my family members' birthdays but this time I've decided to key in a guest post on Amma's blog as my grandmother is on a travel trip to Gujarat!   

What do grandmothers mean to us? To me, my grandmother is happiness, laughter, maths, football and fun!  My grandmother makes jokes when you least expect it and makes everyone laugh. I always practice Maths with my grandmother as she is a retired Maths professor and I don't forget to go brag about it at school, even to my teachers! 

One of my favourite TV shows is a show called "Young Sheldon" and I can relate to Sheldon's relationship with his grandmother whom he calls Meemaw. Meemaw is just like my grandmother except that my grandmother is more caring. Meemaw has a pet name for Sheldon and calls him 'Moonpie' and my grandmother calls me 'Acchu'. Meemaw means a lot to Sheldon and so does my grandma  to me!

As every post on amma's blog has a book a to go with, I read "Ninja Nani" by Lavanya Karthik.   Deepu is an ordinary boy and loves watching the TV show Ninja Dragon. But his grandmother is always sitting on the couch and watching her cooking shows. What can Deepu do? Snatch the remote! But while fighting for the remote, his nani goes bananas and turns into a ninja warrior and does all the moves that a Ninja  does! Well, will Deepu survive this crazy evening as nani uses her recently acquired ninja powers to catch the burglars in the park? Read on to find out.  I love the fact that Ninja nani is extremely funny and always cracking jokes but when it comes to her grandson, she is extremely protective....just like my grandma. I would give this book a 4.5 stars out of 5. 

I know my grandmother is going to read this so I would like to wish her a very happy birthday and this day comes once in a year and she should enjoy it. I would like to end by thanking every single grandmother in the world for always being there for your grand kids! Happy birthday to my Ninja nani. 

These are a few of our favorite books....!

 After being a devout follower of this blog since its inception, I’m so happy to be a more “active” part of it! When Divya asked me to write a post, I was wondering where I should begin…With a kindergartner and pre-schooler at home, we collectively enjoy everything from the first baby/picture books to early readers. Storytime is welcome at any time of day and the best part is when the big sis gets to read to her little brother and show off her newly acquired skills!

I’d like to share a few series that are closest to our heart and books we’ve read so often that they’ve been internalized (and memorized, even by my 2.5 year old)!! The main reason behind this is that we seem to identify so closely with the characters and see a bit of ourselves in them. Some of these series have made their appearances on this blog before since they are such all-time favorites. Anyway, here are some of ours:

1.       Llama Llama misses Mama (by Anna Dewdney)

For months (years!!??), the toughest part of the mornings for me and my son has been drop off at daycare. All the tears and drama are often just for mama, but this mama (like most other mamas) melts at the sight of her little llama waving sadly to her as she leaves for work every day. Finally, thanks to this classic, my little llama has learnt that his mama needs go to work and will be back soon. The story is so simple and yet so effective in voicing a little child’s feeling of separation- my son just can’t get enough of the little llama classic!

2.       DW’s Guide to Preschool & The First Day of School (Little Critter series)

When our daughter started preschool a couple years ago, we were very anxious since she had been through the same months of separation anxiety at daycare (and we were yet to discover ‘Llama Llama misses Mama’ at the time!). Thanks to “The First Day of School” by Mercer Mayer & “DW’s Guide to Preschool” by Marc Brown, she seemed to transition so seamlessly. Both books go through the typical preschool/big school routine and the best part, is that they make it sound like so much fun!

The “First Day of School” is extra special since it was Abhay’s book (Does he remember it, Divya??).

3.       The Pigeon Series – by Mo Willems

How could I not include these much-loved and read books of ours? We’ve recently discovered 2 new ones – “The Duckling gets a Cookie” and “The Pigeon Needs a Bath”.

In the first one, the Pigeon is clearly jealous at how “easily” the duckling manages to get something he asks for, while poor pigeon is always denied his requests (whether it’s to drive the bus, or want to stay up late or better still, when he wants a puppy). I think my older one identifies a little with this feeling…Are we slightly more indulgent towards the “baby” in the family? Does he get away with more that she does?? As parents, we never make any distinctions, but I’m sure older siblings believe that their parents are tougher on them and more indulgent with the little ones...

But here is the best part…when the pigeon asks why the duckling got the cookie with the nuts, the duckling says “because I wanted to give it to you”. How generous..? Or perhaps clever? (I suspect the duckling doesn’t care much for cookies with nuts!).

While my kids would fight over cookies (and many other things), both have one thing in common. They always seem to drag their feet when it comes to taking a bath at the end of the day…much like the pigeon who’s now clearly in need of one. And when he finally consents (after much pleading/shouting), he doesn’t want to leave the tub (so much like our own 2 pigeons who can’t stop playing in the tub when they finally make it there!).

Thanks Divya, for giving me this opportunity to share our beloved books…Wishing you and this wonderful blog, many more years of reading, sharing and learning!

Intolerance and all that Jazz ! , so what's kid lit got to do with it ?

It has indeed been a tense year , the world over.

With attacks in Paris to the growing intolerance debates in India , to the latest floods in Chennai, there is a lot that the world has lost this year  - and that includes peace and tolerance !

Today , unfortunately social media is no longer a platform where you reunite with friends from school and college.

 Today we are made aware of  most national and international news through social media . There are heated arguments, debates view points  and trolls strewn all over the wall .

 Try as much as you can to keep yourself away from social media, we come back every day - only to witness more hatred and negativity ejected  around.

So what does growing intolerance , and terrorism got to do in a kid lit blog you ask?


Talking of tolerance, I chanced upon Strega nona - a story  about an aging witch and a young man , Anthony that comes to stay in her home.

Strega nona  is a friendly witch who helps her town people with their every day challenges and problems. She hires Anthony  to take care of her house and farm.  While Strega nona gives the lad complete access to her house, she warns him never to touch a pot that lies in her home.

Anthony goes about his daily routine of milking the cows and goats , washing the dishes and keeping the house clean.

However one day, by chance  , he hears her singing and on peeking, notices her standing by her pot .

As soon as she sang ....

    Bubble Bubble Pasta pot
    Boil me some pasta ,nice and hot
    I am hungry and its time to sup
    Boil enough pasta to fill me up

 he watched  the pasta pot boil and bubble and overflow with steaming hot pasta.

Curiosity gets the better of him and when she is away , he utters the same magic spell and tries his luck at the cooking  some hot pasta.

But what he didn't know was that the witch also blew 3 kisses at the pot to stop cooking more pasta.

Taking pride at his pasta magic, Anthony invites the entire village folk for a feast. But soon trouble starts to brew when the magic pot cannot stop cooking  pasta.

The entire village is flooded by the pasta spewing out of the pot and there is no stopping. Anthony tries sitting on the pot, he tries closing the pot but hard luck ! the pot continues to cook and flood the town with pasta .!

Strega Nona arrives on time to save the village from drowning in pasta

And the kind but stern witch that she was  - can you guess what punishment she gave the lad ?

She made him eat all the pasta with a fork - until he could take no more !

There you see - wasn't Strega nona the most  tolerant witch ever seen ?

In her anger , she could have brandished him with her magic spells. She could have turned him into pasta and cooked him in the pasta pot or she would have cast a spell and turned him into a lizard or a bee ! but she chose her curse carefully and ensured he had a taste of his own medicine.


What we type and post on social media in a huff ! leaves a lasting impression about us on people  who read our posts every day. After all - a pen is mightier than the sword, ain't it ?

So I hope what we choose to  SHARE and how we choose to REACT   and share on social media is sane enough for us to come back and feel proud of ,  else  who knows - one day you may have to gulp down some bitter pill  like the lad in the story .


oh boy ! I didn't intend to write something so serious as a sermon .

 The story is filled with wit and I love the illustrations as much as the story. The book is a Caldecott honor .  It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.^[3]

And here's wishing One story a day , Divya and her kids many years of shared learning, reading and laughter !

Happy 2016 everyone !

Gumma Banda gumma - Guest post by Rajaram

Over the last weekend, Abhay and I went for a play at Rangashankara and were so taken in by the play that we couldn't stop talking about it! So Divya asked me to pen down a few thoughts about the play leading up to this guest post on Onestoryaday....

What are children afraid of? They are afraid of nothing and yet are afraid of a lot of things. Is this a paradox? No.. …if we rephrase and replace “afraid” with “bother” it would probably be clearer.  Almost nothing that bothers the grown-ups bother children. But there are so many things in their little brains and their little-large world that bother them. The beautiful part  is that  none of those botherations last long.  In their world, there are friendships, fights, truce, bartering of little possessions, enemies, friends - all going through a constant change which many a times  is hard to understand for grown-ups. Why? because we are no longer children we used to be! 

The reason for my musings is a play that I watched with my son last weekend in Ranga Shankara, "Gumma Banda Gumma" written by  Surendranath and directed by  Sundar, who had acted as a child in the first production of the play 22 years ago! This history was proudly shared to us by the director of Rangashankara, Arundhati Nag. The play revolves around Putta and Munni who are siblings and Gunda, the neighborhood rough kid. These protagonists are ably supported by Putta and Munni's mother and Gunda's short tempered father who believes that beating up the boy will set everything right. The play beautifully portrays the relentless banter,  mischief and never ending questions of Putta and Munni that drives their mother up the wall, the fears of Putta about an invisible Ghost (Gumma) in the night, their conflict with the rough kid Gunda and a natural graduation of their conflict into friendship. The siblings quarrel throughout but they are always one when the mother 

confronts them. Another aspect of childhood being dealt with is that the  value of any object in a child's eye is never the same as the supposed value in the real world!  For instance, Putta trades his bicycle with Gunda for a toy gun which he is most eager to play, but for his mom’s disapproval. This leads to a conundrum that drives the play to it's climax, drags both the parents and finally unites the kids. But in all the commotion, the children still don't see bicycle as being more valuable than a toy gun!

This is one of the few plays I was so engrossed in watching and it took me back to my childhood and reminded me of similar such conflicts I used to have with my sister. It's a must watch for all children and people who want to get nostalgic about childhood and innocence. 

Going by the tradition at Onestoryaday, there's always a book for every occasion..  and Divya picked out a book for us to read together... "The Tunnel" by one of our favourite authors,  Anthony Browne. This is an intriguing story about Jack and Rose, a brother-sister duo who were anything but alike each other. Jack loved outdoors, played football with his friends and Rose loved indoors and spent time reading and dreaming. When they were together….. they were constantly arguing and fighting, much to their mother's annoyance. Tired of their acrimonious fights, one day, she sends them out with a warning that they better be nice to each other and be back in time for lunch. So Jack and Rose wander about .. .scowling and snapping at each other until they come across what looks like a tunnel. Jack who loves exploring outdoors crawls into the tunnel while Rose waits anxiously outside. After waiting for what seems like long time, Rose reluctantly decides to follow her brother. Scared and nervous, Rose enters the dark and damp tunnel to find herself in a forest at the other end. As she walks through the deep woods, all the while thinking of wolves and demons. Beyond the forest, she sees a stone statue she recognises .... of her brother! Distraught that it's probably too late... she puts her arms around the statue and slowly her brother comes back to life! They then trace their way back home and their mother noticing their unusual silence asks them if everything's alright when the siblings give each other a knowing smile! So much is said yet so much is left to imagination….that’s Anthony Browne for you! The tunnel encounter proves that no matter how different you are or how many times you fight with your sibling, the bond you share with your sibling is special and in a way irreplaceable! As Abhay watched the play, he wondered aloud if his baby sister would grow up to be like Munni in the play! Well... may be, may not be......welcome to the life with siblings is ... trust it to be much more adventurous! J

Guest Post by Arundhati Venkatesh

Guest Post by Arundhati Venkatesh

Arundhati Venkatesh is a children's writer, with four books published in 2014 - Junior Kumbhakarna, Petu Pumpkin Tiffin Thief, Petu Pumpkin Tooth Troubles and Bookasura.

You can write to her at author.arundhati@gmail.com and find out more about her at arundhativenkatesh.wordpress.com.

I discovered the magical world of picture books with my 2-month-old baby in one of London’s public libraries. Oh what joy! There were so many wonderful books to choose from. This was a world I did not want to leave, ever.

So it was with much trepidation that I picked up a few chapter books when the child turned five. I didn’t think he would be reading them for years though. Well, what do you know? The kid read them in a few months and seemed pretty excited that he had graduated to reading “big books”. It took me a while to warm up to the idea, but I dutifully began scouting for more reading choices. The first few to be enjoyed were Michael Morpurgo’s Mudpuddle Farm, the animal series by Dick King-Smith, Louis Sachar's Marvin Redpost series, books for the younger lot by Anne Fine and Roald Dahl. These were all under 70 pages with large fonts. Most were illustrated and worked perfectly to ease the transition from picture books.

Closer home, there were none of these early chapter books available then*. So the first chapter book by an Indian author that he read was meant for kids much older than five - Moin and the Monster by Anushka Ravishankar. I wasn’t sure he’d get through the hundred-odd pages, but he did and loved it too! Every now and then, he’d come to me giggling, to share bits that he found funny.

Every time I heard his joyous laughter, I’d know he was reading the book again. It remained on the top spot for several months.

Copies were bought and gifted to friends. I’m yet to meet a child who hasn’t loved it. The sequel, Moin the Monster Songster, was read and enjoyed too.

I’d bonded with my baby over picture books. I didn’t think chapter books (or for that matter, anything) could replace them. For one, they were too long. But I realised I was wrong. I enjoyed the banana-gobbling rule-inventing nonsense-singing monster’s antics, and I cherished the conversations with my enthusiastic young reader.

My journey with chapter books had begun. Over the next few years, I read hundreds of them and went on to write a few of my own too!

·         Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief is #2 on Flipkart’s Best of 2014.

·         Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles is being launched at a gala event on 10^th January at Atta Galatta, Koramangala, Bangalore.

·         Bookasura – The Adventures of Bala and the Book-eating Monster should be in stores next month.

(*The Duckbill hOle books filled this gap in Indian children’s books. They’re short reads with fun themes and delightful illustrations – perfect for beginner readers. The Petu Pumpkin books are part of the hOle series.)

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

Ever since I asked Divya to enable me to post at her blog, there has been only one question that was bothering me - what book do I review because I have read tons in 2014 and purchased equal amounts. Thankfully I found the answer when I went to work on Jan 2nd after a much deserved break .

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski is what I happened to pick at a Best deals on books  facebook page recently , little knowing its story . From its cover it seemed to be a story about a little boy and his family  and a boy probably who was all of 5 .

Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows that he is grappling with the loss of his young wife and infant son,whose mementos he keeps locked in an unopened drawer

However one early winter's day, a widow and her 7 year old son knock at his door with a gentle request -  she requests him to crave a new manger scene for them by Christmas and requests that her son watch him work since the child hopes to be a woodcarver one day.

So stern and strict is the wood carver that the little boy  even dreads moving his leg while watching him carve , while his mom sits at another corner knitting

You would probably let out a little gasp as the boy gathers courage to correct the best wood carver in town by stating that the sheep he is carving look a tad bit sad and they were supposed to be cheerful because they were meant for baby Jesus

The widow and her son show up often at his door, the little boy not mincing words in letting the best woodcarver know that his carvings were not perfect because the cow in the manger was supposed to be proud because it was meant for baby Jesus.

By now Jonathan has gotten used to the little boy and him pointing out mistakes in his carvings so much so that Jonathan asks the little boy how exactly he wants the rest of the scene to be presented before he begins working on them.

There is also a beautiful scene where Jonathan holds the little boy's hands and teaches him to carve a robin.

You would tear up when the woodcarver cannot get the drawings of Mary and the baby right
and finally pulls out a portrait of his dead wife holding his infant son. He holds it close to his chest , sheds a tear or two . He finally takes this picture to his workbench and his fingers work quickly and surely .  He works all though the night.


Early next morning,  on Christmas, the widow has a surprise at her door . It is the wood carver with the  nativity scene complete .  The nativity scene is exactly what the little boy had envisaged - 2 very happy sheep because they were with Jesus, a proud cow and an angel , a serious and a caring Joseph, Mary wearing a rough woolen shawl , looking down and loving her precious baby son. Jesus was smiling and reaching up to touch his mothers face

The story ends with the wood carver holding hands with the 7 year old and his mother and making it to Christmas service.

The village boys no longer called him Mr.Gloomy  because for the very first time they see Jonathan throw back his head, showing his eyes as clear blue as an August sky and laugh.

This is a delightful Christmas story with a touch of romance.

Booked!

'Picking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you'd most like not to lose.' 

I was reminded of this quote by Neil Gaiman when Divya contacted me to pen a post on some of our favorite children's books. My four year old is an avid reader who loves to read anything from 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' to a blender instruction manual (true story!), so picking out a few of her most-loved books is not easy.

While 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'Goodnight Moon', the Olivia series etc have been through repeated readings in our house, nothing is more dog-eared than the Mouse books by Ellen Stoll Walsh. I first found 'Mouse Paint' at our local library when Saachi was two. The story is about the adventures of three mice having fun with paint while outwitting a cat. The book also introduces concepts of colour and what happens when primary colours are mixed. With big bright collage illustrations and just a single line on every page, this turned out to be something that Saachi easily understood and enjoyed when read to. 

Her fondness for the simple narrative and colorful pictures in this book led me to look for more by the same author and I was happy to find 'Mouse Count' and 'Mouse Shapes' that follow similar themes about mice outsmarting their predators while playing with numbers and shapes. 

Though its been more than two years since we discovered these delightful stories, Saachi is yet to get bored of them. These much-loved books have been thumbed through many, many bedtimes - so much so that they are nearly in tatters but she refuses to get rid of them. 






I highly recommend these simple, colourful books for your little ones. Watch out for the cat!





Congrats to Divya, Abhay and this blog for sharing Abhay's reading journey with us for four years! I hope to enjoy many more years of posts and suggestions on reading material and resources. Happy Birthday and a very Happy New Year!

Congratulations to Divya - Our favourite Children's Book!

          Hello all. First of all, Season's Greetings to all of you and wish you a very Happy New Year!

          It's a great privilege for me to write a guest post for Divya whose blog I used to follow religiously when I was new to parenting and children's literature or whether I used her blog as a reference point for setting up my children's book library! Heartiest Congratulations for completing four years of this blog and looking forward to something more from you - maybe transitioning to chapter book reviews perhaps! Who knows? And lastly, a big thank you for inviting me and giving me a chance to write on your blog!

          Well, my daughter is just 3 years old. But, I have read extensively to her and I literally thank my stars for making her love books like me! All our bonding moments revolve around books! It's a herculean task to pick our favourite book but as promised to Divya, I have chosen one.

          So our most favourite book is No, David by David Shannon. An almost wordless picture book, it tells the story of a young boy called David doing all sorts of things which infuriates his mother. Often, her mother prohibits him doing all wrong things or admonishes and advises him to behave properly (and almost always shouts No, David). But, kids being kids, they really test our patience and the boundaries we set for them. But, they also know that at the end of the day, everything will be ok and their mom loves them! So, yes, David is also caressed and loved by his mom despite acting so naughtily.

          I had read many books to Swara but this will always be special because it struck a chord between us and that was the first time we laughed hysterically! When I was reading to her, we were just two balls of giggles and chuckles. She immediately took to this book as a fish to water. For many days to come, whenever she behaved like David, I made it a point to yell "No, Swara" at the top of my voice. And then, we both used to laugh like insane girls. Until now, no book made us bond so well and gave an opportunity for hysterical laughter!

           This book was conceived by the author when his mom presented him a set of pictures which he drew when he was a kid. And, thus the book No, David was born which went on to become a Caldecott Honor Book. David Shannon has done all the illustrations beautifully in such a way that one reading of the book is enough for the kids to understand what is 'naughty behaviour'. It's a must-read if you are feeling blue or want to bond with your children! And I'm sure even after repeated readings of the book, you will not be able to say 'Noooo, not again!'  

The Elephant in the Tree - A Guest post by Shalini

Heartfelt congratulations to you Divya for completing four years of  this amazing blog of one story a day! Though I confess I have not read every post on this, I have read quite a few of them and each one has been a complete reading delight for me and my daughter Ananya. In fact she has a section in her book shelf which she calls Divya aunty's books. You have used your strength of language and passion for books to perfection in this blog. I am sure many parents have used this blog to introduce their kids to the beautiful world of stories and inculcate the joy of reading in them. 

Using this opportunity I wish this blog takes the next step and gets compiled into a book very soon. 

For this occasion I have chosen a book which is as much my favourite as Ananya's called " The Elephant in the Tree" by Mallika Nagarajan. This is the story of a little girl called Mahi. One day while enjoying her favourite fruit, a Mango a question pops into her innocent mind as to what would happen if there were no mangoes to eat? What would she do? 

That night when she retires to bed she see a strange little elephant with seven trunks on tree outside her window. The elephant called Airavat has come to seek Mahi's help. Airavat pleads to Mahi that there is no water in his world and the Tree of Life which sustains all forms of life is sick and he needs her help. Airavat then gently sucks up Mahi and takes her to his world where everything like the Tree of Life is brown, dry and sad. Airavat and Mahi both get down to work immediately and start planting trees to make rain. They plant innumerable trees and water them. Airavat sucks up the water and blows them into big swollen clouds. soon it starts raining with large shimmering drops of water. The Rain works its magic and slowly the Tree of Life comes alive and soon a new beautiful world starts forming in front of Mahi. Even Airavat turns pale green covered with green leaves and flowers. Both Airavat and Mahi flop to the ground tired but happy and satisfied with the world they helped spring back to life.

Airavat and Mahi decide to create this magic in Mahi's world too, so they go around planting trees night after night and show people how to use the tree magic to bring in rain. Mahi plants the seed of every mango she eats and her friends and family join in too.

Airavat in this story is borrowed from mythology where Indra the rain God rides on Airavat and brings rain on earth by sucking up water in its trunk and spraying it into clouds.

This amazing story book is also a visual delight with its colourful illustrations and is a must read. A very simple story to teach kids about conservation and saving trees so that the "Tree of Life" can work its magic and life on this planet can go on and every kid like Mahi can delightfully enjoy the mango fruit in abundance.

Thank you Divya for inviting me to write this guest post. I enjoyed it thoroughly and looking forward to read more of your posts.