Unsung Heroes

Staying on the subject of boy crazy toys, while most books are centered on cars, fire trucks and trains, I came across two books that are off the beaten track and hail the ‘unsung heroes’. One is of course the well known ‘I Stink’ by Kate & Jim Mcmullan. This book details a day’s work of a garbage truck and the various tasks it has to accomplish so that city stays clean. This is a truck with an attitude, proud of its job and you better not get squeamish about it!!! It is also one of the most unusual ABC ( Alphabet) books you can ever lay your hands on….I bet you cannot find A for Apple Cores, B for banana peels, C for candy wrappers, D for dirty diapers …anywhere else!! Abhay was curious to know what happens to all the garbage….so he was definitely interested…….but let me warn you….it is not an ideal post dinner-bedtime book.

Another book that I read to Abhay is “Im Mighty” by the same authors. “ Mighty” may not be the first word that comes to your mind when you think of tug boats…but does size even matter? This book illustrates just that….it doesn’t matter if you are a big steamer, cruise liner or a six- decker ocean liner…you still need a tug boat to be anchored in. So ‘Mighty’ gives you a tour of what his job is like….and how good he’s at it. These books enlighten us on the working of the ‘seldom talked about’ garbage trucks and tug boats. But what I like the most is that these characters – Stinky and Mighty though not given the attention they deserve in society, are shown to be extremely self assured, proud of what they do and most importantly very comfortable being what they are. A good life lesson – don’t you think …and mind you ….not only for kids!!!