Knick n knack

Dylan's Cosydoze by Elsa   Joseph My rating: 4 of 5 stars This illustrated children’s book by Elsa Joseph has a simple, beautiful, and relatable story. Every parent and kids can relate to Dylan as a kid, the way he sulks when his favorite Cozydose goes missing. Less of a story and more of a narration of an incident, these 31 pager is enjoyable and heart-warming read. The narration is a simple rhythmic style and easy to understand by the young readers. The story is accompanied by illustrations for further ease in comprehension and help them to dive in their world of colourful imagination. The book also touches the importance of parenting and needs to inculcate good habits and mannerisms in young kids. For children, the book is a pleasant read while for parents, it also subtly teaches a valuable lesson. View all my reviews

Saving Forest Farm by Jack Purser My rating: 3 of 5 stars Saving Forest Farm is a children’s book touching on the topic which needs the highest attention in the current times, i.e. saving environment. The story is set in a jungle where the inhabitants are eagerly waiting for the rains to come. As the title suggests, the rain would save the ‘forest farm,’ which has animals thirsty and longing for rain as mother nature is on vacation. They rely on a turtle who has magical powers to bring rain. The book very subtly explains the children the need and importance of rains for mother earth. It is not only crucial for human beings but also for innocent animals in our forests that require rains for survival. The book has one-pager illustrations which support the narration and maintains the interest of the kids till the end. All in all, a good read! View all my reviews

Little Bit  Big Byte, Go Green by Craig Feigh My rating: 5 of 5 stars  The new book by Craig T. Feigh is a fresh addition in the ‘Little Bit & Big Byte’ series and this time with a relevant and an important message which is imperative for children of today’s day and age to understand. The book opens with an innocent pictorial riddle, asking the reader to find the recycle logo and then moves onto weave a story around the importance of environment and energy conservation by saving our natural resources. The author takes examples from the real-life scenarios and immediately provides the ways by which one can contribute towards saving the environment while doing the daily chores. ‘Go Green’, very effectively captures the imagination of a child and help him/her connect the cause with the impact. The language is conversational, and the characters are relatable. A short 33-page story is beautifully illustrated read with attractive colors and nice-looking characters. The illustrator, ‘Pa

Rainbow Crystal: A Children's Fantasy Book by Samantha Caprio-Negret My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rainbow Crystal narrates a journey of a 10-year-old girl, Sepharina, and her expedition with good, bad, and evils of the world. The 22-chapter book is weaved around the message of spreading peace, and love. Two young school girls are destined to change the world, not on this earth, but within a rainbow , where a magical world exists.  The book opens with a tragic incident, wherein Sepharina loses her best friend, her soul sister to an accident. The story then beautifully flows between a series of present and past events describing how Sepharina gets emotional for her lost friend, Josie Lee on the one hand , and on the other, explains how she becomes the ‘chosen one ,’ to save the rainbow world of Raiven and Earth.  The narration and description of the minutest details make the reader imagine the world beyond reality , which is magical and mesmerizing at the same time.

Dog's Advice by Sean Stroud My rating: 4 of 5 stars This children book by Sean Stroud is an ideal read not only for kids but also for adults of all ages. The book is fascinating with pictorial representations and prose form of storytelling. It successfully generates and maintains interest till the end. Dog's Advice, very quietly and humbly makes the reader understand the importance of doing good to others. Something which as adults we all know and teach to our kids, but somehow in our daily lives miss doing it precisely the way it should be done! This 54 pager read very accurately reinforces the power of doing good in our minds, in a straightforward and understandable manner. No complexities, no beating around the bush, just straight to the point! Interest to understand how Kaleb will get on his foot and the identity of the old man is maintained till the last page. 'Don't follow this crowd, you are sure to fail. You be the light, so good can prevail'

Little Bit & Big Byte: A Day at the Beach by Craig T. Feigh My rating: 4 of 5 stars This Children's Book unlike others in the same genre belongs to 'today', the new world. The fairy tales and supermans are a passe and capture the fantasy of kids, but this one tweaks the real things into imagination plus makes them learn on the go! The world inside computers, the names of characters, their descriptions are all so relatable for the kids. Somethings which they listen and see day in and day out. All characters are described to make kids learn about their features and uses. Parents can very well use this book to impart the basic knowledge of the technology. This book very cautiously and carefully creates and places itself in this new genre of Children Book/Literature. The story is basic but weaves the imagination without making it feel awkward to relate to the real world. As an adult, I loved reading it and would definitely recommend! View all my reviews

Author: Sudha Murty Publisher: Penguin Books ISBN: 978-0-14310-376-9 Pages: 142 Dollar Bahu - The title says it all! A story with foreseeable twists and turns in an Indian household, when money, to be precise Dollar becomes an important part of their lives.  A predictable tale of the way money hampers warmth in relationships and wreck lives of people involved, if the sudden riches are not handled with maturity.  Author does not elaborate on the characters, rather makes Dollar a hero and then a villain by the end of story. Indian American Dream of a lower middle class family living in Bangalore comes true when the eldest son travels to US for a company project. It is at this stage, Dollar enters in their lives and starts to change relationships only to turn sour.  The story revolves around how the eldest son of Gouramma, Chandu, manages to reach US, and through his passion, dedication and hard work creates a dream home in US for himself. Soon he becomes a favorite son as

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Publisher: Picador India ISBN: 978-0-330-45853-5 Pages: 360 'Panchali's Mahabharat' - says it all!  The author has given Draupadi a chance, well deserved, to voice her opinions, feelings and thoughts over the biggest battle of mythological India.  Mahabharta has always been described as out of the world tale of heroic men, their values, beliefs, perceptions and their outlook of the world and people. The author adds another dimension to the narration of this folklore.  The book trails the life of Panchali - wife of five Pandava brothers, the story of her birth, her lonely childhood, her relationship with her brother, her marriage, fondness for Arjun, secret emotional connect with Karna, sour yet perfunctory relationship with kunti, undying hatred for Kaurvas and story of her revenge....all in her words.  The beauty of the tale is though the reader knows the series of events, its characters and the end, yet look forward for

Author: Kavery Nambisan Publisher: Penguin Books India (P) Ltd ISBN:  0-14-302811-1 Pages: 253 The prologue: "To Chauvinists, male and female: you keep out of this".  The straightforwardness in the line says it all.Written by a woman author, the book talks about women and their hatred for men! Evita, a young Panjim girl sets out to unite womankind of the entire world, to fight against the opposites, men. Evita in her twenty's has seen the suffering of her mother, an eye-turner waitress in a local restaurant in morning and at night she has clients coming from all over the city! Scarred and marred by her mother's defenseless life, she decides to unite the women and fight the battle on its face.  Soon her idea of forming an organisation, WOMEN OR WOMEN (WOW), a single group  of world's largest minority, starts to take a shape as many show interest and start to join. Her group unites all sorts of women coming from various walks of life,perfunctory wives,

Author: Lucie Whitehouse Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London ISBN: 978 0 7475 9625 7 Pages : 374 First published in 2008 A psychological thriller, the story is horrifying and tragic in its own way. It doesn't take you into paranormal world, but makes you dance high and low onto the dirty secrets of human minds and hearts. After the suicide of his uncle, Lucas Heathfield inherits the Stoneborough Manor, which he imagines to be a place where he and his close friends can spend weekends far away from chaos and noise of London city.  From the beginning, the house haunts their relationships and effects their emotions in a strange way, especially on Lucas, who leaves his job and shifts to the house permanently with friend Danny, a wild child who becomes responsible for shattered group of friends. Lucas obsesses himself with alcohol, drugs and cine films of his uncle and his friends thirty years earlier. With these cine films escapes the dark secrets of high sexual emot

Author: Sandra Wilson Publisher: Robert Hale Limited, London ISBN: 978-0-7090-8312-2 Pages: 224 First published in Great Britain, 2007 The book revolves around high flying fashion society of London in times of nineteenth century during war. The story revolves around the life of Susannah Garland, her cousin and failed lover Miles Devereux and her business financer Sir Jeffery Stratton. The book takes you into the world of her royal majesty, her fashionable courtroom ladies, their tales at fashion houses and the gowns on which they daunt. Susannah Garland is an unfortunate niece of Lord Devereux of Sanderby and is in love with his son. Miles Devereux is forced to marry into money to Lady Agnes while his father decides to get rid of his niece, when Susannah decides to flee the Sanderby. Her skill as a dressmaker is all what she has and she gets employed by London’s foremost house of fashion run by fashion queen Madame Hilary. Her life as seamstress at Madame Hilary is not s

I won’t say m an ardent reader, but yes I like to read. Buying books is a hobby to me and then reading them in free time is a favorite pass time. Life is going too fast since last few months..and I haven’t got a chance to read any book and enjoy my ‘me-time’. My last read was spicy “Stary Nights” by Shobha De. To break the monotony of fast pace of life..these days m indulged in reading philosophical books on life and how to make it worth living by concentrating on simplicities of life and not getting carried away by glitters and glosses. There is a small book stall in local market near my place. It is a small roadside book stall and has restricted collection of books mostly old issues of magazines and pirated versions of famous books…selling at discounted rates. While going to the bank few days back, i gave a quick look at the stall and to my luck I found something to stop for. The books were lying in haphazard manner and one has to immerse him/her(self) in the pool of books to fi