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!

Gita for children!

Taking a cue from my friend and fellow blogger on “intolerance and all that jazz” that she guest posted on Onestoryaday, I found a perfect book for everyone to fall back on in these chaotic times. When in doubt or confusion, it’s not uncommon for us to turn to God or religious scriptures - be it the Gita, the Bible or the Quran. As a practising Hindu brought up and now married into a traditional household, seeking solace in religious activities like Bhajan singing, or reciting religious texts have been integral part of my life.  Though Abhay is still young, we make sure he participates in some of our routine religious activities at home, in whatever way he can afford to. While I am not sure how religious or spiritual my son will be in the future, it is our duty as parents to introduce them to our roots so that they know where to find them if and when they go looking for the same!

So when I learnt about Roopa Pai’s “Gita for children”, I jumped and reserved my copy in advance. Though Bhagvad Gita is essentially known as the single most important Hindu scripture, Roopa Pai’s rendition has a universal appeal, irrespective of religion one follows. Rated as one of the top-five selling books of 2015 in the Children’s and Young adult category by Amazon, “The Gita for children” by Roopa Pai  brought out by Hachette India   promises to be a one-of- a kind retelling of the Bhagvad Gita and I must say that it sure lives up to this promise! It starts with the million dollar question like “What’s the big deal about the Bhagvad Gita?” that opens into a quiz on the Gita that might as well serve as a preface to the book. With a brief explanation of the background facts leading up to the most important conversation in Hindu mythology, like any other commentary on the Gita, this one too is divided into eighteen chapters or “yogas” in which Arjuna learns all there is to learn about the secret of good life from Krishna! Employing a rather contemporary narrative, using catchy phrases and titles, Gita for children takes the reader through each of the shlokas or verses and explains their true essence in an uncharacteristic way that the current generation is able to relate to. For instance….have you ever heard of Lord Krishna being described as a Dark Knight??!!! With each chapter featuring the progress of conversation between Arjuna and Krishna and followed by a child appropriate analysis of the life’s lessons embedded in them, the author also throws light on lesser known facts in the form of fun trivia. Not to forget, the reader is also given a glimpse into excerpts of other works from Harper Lee’s To Kill Mockingbird to Paul McCartney’s song “Ebony and Ivory” that echo the sentiments of Gita!  In all, “The Gita for children” beautifully presents the timeless epic without oversimplifying its concepts so as to serve as a wonderful guide book to children and adults alike! A must have for every library!!!

BLF 2015!

Over the weekend, we attended the fourth edition of Bangalore Literature festival, an annual literary event that Bangalore is home to. We have been regulars at the BLF ever since it began in 2012, following it all the way to Electronic city (the venue for the event during the last two years) and splitting the two-day event between Abhay (our only child then) and ourselves. This year however we weren’t sure if we could make it with a six month old in tow!  However, with the run up to the event embroiled in controversies with some authors pulling out of the event and given that it was to be held at a near-by location, it became all the more imperative that we attend and support a community funded initiative such as BLF that we so look forward to attending each year. So there we were at the Royal Orchid hotel along with our nine year old and our six month old …shuttling between ‘left wing’ and ‘right wing’ discussions while keeping an eye on our older one’s activities at Makkala koota. Before you brand us as ‘reckless’ for dragging an infant to crowded event like this….hold on … as we found many such parents slinging their infants, some of whom were as little as four months old! BLF 2015 saw many workshops being held for children at the Makkala Koota wing. So much so that our nine year old was the busiest of all, perhaps to make up for his absence last year, starting with Tulika’s workshop with illustrator Sowmya Menon followed by Bookalore’s puppet party and Doodle Dhamaka where he got doodling on the doodle wall about his idea of Bengaluru. Thanks to the organizers who readily accommodated the needs of an infant, our little girl seemed to enjoy herself watching so many kids and hearing so many new sounds! So BLF 2015 was indeed a big hit with our little ones and here’s begging for more next year!  

Abhay was quite pleased to attend a Bookalore event after a long time and enjoyed the stories through puppets performed by Vijayalakshmi Nagraj, the author of many children’s books and one of whose books we decided to pick for our reading together. While Abhay is too old for   her book “Jhilmil the Butterfly”,  he is just right for her another one of her books “The Natural Wonders of India”, a publication by the Energy and Research Institute ( TERI) on nature’s bounty and beauty across the length and breadth of India. Join the twin girls Reva and Sarayu as they take your young reader on an armchair trip to the ten best natural spectacles in India. With a travel itinerary that could be anybody’s envy , from Pangong Tso, a pristine lake shared by India and Tibet at an altitude of 14,500 feet, where the twins spend their summer vacations to the salty marshlands of Rann of Kutch  and the Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil park at Gandhinagar, follow them as they explore the unique landscape and physical features, flora and fauna and the attendant conditions of living, while carrying a subtle message of environment conservation. Presented in a simple yet interesting narrative, and accompanied by vivid pictures and photographs, this book successfully manages to avoid the usual trappings of a work of non-fiction that children tend to steer clear from and sure can double up as travel book for your next vacation!! J

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 !

High Five!!

It’s been five years since I joined the ranks of many other moms and began blogging about my adventures in mommyhood through books on Onestoryaday! A lot has happened since then……. From relocating to India, transitioning from being a stay-at-home-mom to a working mom and now back to being a stay-at-home mom with the arrival of our second child..…life has come a full circle. If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed ….it’s our daily reading adventures together. As a growing kid, Abhay has a mind of his own and is not exactly enthused by every book I pick out for him. As a growing boy, I now find him more drawn to cricket, sports and other kinesthetic driven activities and his interest in books slightly waning. Though, when it comes to independent reading he may alternate between reading obsessively to not reading at all, he always looks forward to our daily quota of shared reading together. 

While we try to religiously adhere to this bedtime activity, you can surely expect Abhay to extract those precious fifteen to twenty minutes from our winding-up routine that in turn transport us to different world altogether, amidst all the chaos at home that includes the idiot box blaring prime time news and a wailing six month old!:-)

Of course, this year has seen a big change in our household that has not only made our made lives busier but has also turned the clock backwards in as much as having to relearn the “Baby 101” basics and  experience those initial years of parenthood once again. Well…this could only be a blessing for a reading/blogging mommy like me…isn’t it??   For all those recently published board books and picture books that I wish I had come across when Abhay was little…..here’s a second chance for me to enjoy them with my little one! For all those girlie books that I wished I had a daughter to read to……I cant wait to read them to my little girl!! While Abhay has in a way grown out of picture books, I am waiting for his baby sister to grow into it!  Same time last year, didn’t I mention about finding an audience in addition to my existing one …..well..here it is!! So …long live Onestoryaday…..as I am all set to yet again relive my childhood!!

As has been the tradition  at Onestoryaday in December every year to invite readers and parents to share their favourite stories, books they read as a child and still loved by the child in them and so also the current favourites of their little ones. So here’s inviting all my readers to be a part of Onestoryaday……