Category Archives: Indian Children’s Books

Caldecott Medal Winners and An Old Tulika Favorite

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M’s Pre-K session came to an end a few weeks ago, but not before we got to work on a final project that I couldn’t wait to get started on – The Caldecott Awards.  I, for one was really thrilled to actually bring home Caldecott award winning books to share with M as part of a school project and her teacher had probably never met a weirder parent who was this excited about her kid’s pre-K project!

I am sure my inability to contain my excitement must have embarrassed M but the sweet thing didn’t complain and we brought home three of the award winning books - The Polar Express (by Chris Van Allsburg, Caldecott Winner 1986 ), Grandfather’s Journey (by Allen Say, 1994 Caldecott Medal Winner ) and …well, we never really got to reading the third for some reason and I forget the name.

The Polar Express - Caldecott Medal Winner

The Polar Express - Caldecott Medal Winner

Needless to say, the first was an instant hit.  We hadn’t read it together before although we’ve seen snippets of the movie a few times.  She took an immediate liking to it and there are parts in the book’s pages that make you wonder if Mr. C in fact isn’t real in some sense, maybe in a parallel universe that we just don’t try hard enough to see! A truly lovely read with illustrations that make you smile, gasp, choke with emotion and shed a tear as you turn its beautiful pages. ‘For those who truly believe’ is a phrase that took some explaining for M and I’m not quite sure I did a very good job. How do you explain something like ‘Belief’ to a 4-year-old anyway?

The second book, Grandfather’s Journey is a poignant tale of a young immigrant man from Japan and the twists and turns in his life as he vacillates between the two lands, their cultures, the choices he makes at different turning points and how he goes about finding (and to some extent establishing) his own identity.  This was the book M eventually picked for her school presentation and I could see that she could understand the turmoil in the protagonist’s mind even though she herself may not be able to relate to it. Maybe she was reminded of her own grandparents and cousins across the globe whom she gets to visit every alternate year or so and misses the minute she is back in the US. Or, maybe she just found the simple and straightforward story easy to tell in her own words. Whatever her reasons were, I was told that her presentation was well received and appreciated and that she had her audience’s rapt attention as she narrated the story to her class. A beautiful book I would recommend to all immigrants and their children – it gives a glimpse into the minds of people who on the surface belong to two countries and yet, are either at a loss to understand their true identity or are unable to decide which one to call home.  This book with breathtaking illustrations takes us from the sun-kissed mountains and rivers of Japan to the gorgeous landscapes of California while giving us glimpses of early 1900 America along the way.

Grandfather's Journey

Spanning generations, timezones and a range of emotions, this book provides the opportunity to talk about and share so much with your child -  from your childhood to your nationality to different cultures and globalization, to world travel, generation gap, world history and more.

We also revisited one of M’s earlier earlier  favorites from Tulika  – Water Stories: A collection of stories about this wonderful and valuable resource from around the world.

Water Stories from Tulika

Who owns the water: A thought-provoking tale that M and I enjoyed thoroughly. It’s amazing how a simple children’s story can shine light on one of the world’s burning issues. This simple story set in rural India starts out with a Mother bird looking for a shady spot to lay her eggs.  From this seemingly unremarkable beginning, the story expands to weave in a tale of greed, gratitude and basic human nature, questioning the prevalent tendency to lay claim on nature when in reality, it belongs to…now that’s the blank you and your child will have to fill in as you read the story.

After we had read the story, M’s answer touched me – but more about that in a later post.
Happy Summer Reading to you and your little ones!

Tulika's Water Stories

Tulika's Water Stories

Karadi Tales Audio CDs

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Let Karadi The Bear Read to Your Child

I’ve known about Karadi Tales for almost a decade, but, only recently had the chance to pick up the first of our CD/Book collection for my daughter.  I bought a collection of stories about animals narrated by some of India’s most beloved and well-known voices. And here are my thoughts on this latest addition to my daughter’s book/CD collection:

Karadi Tales: ‘Surrogate Grandmother’, Indeed!

* Holds Kids’ Attention –>Buys YOU Time: If something can manage to keep a 3-1/2-year-old seated and absorbed for more than 4 minutes, that in itself is an accomplishment deserving mention. If that something isn’t a moving image on a screen, then it almost qualifies as a miracle. When I pop in a Karadi Tales CD for my daughter, M, I can be assured of 15-20 minutes of ‘me’ time, which is quite substantial in parenting parlance. For me, it means enough time to fix a meal, start a load of laundry, reply to a couple of emails and maybe even sneak in a shower.
* Plug in the kids, without feeling (too) guilty:  Let’s face facts. Even the most efficient and devoted super-parent with the best of intentions needs to plonk her child down in front of an electronic babysitter for a few minutes every now and then.  Be it  video games, TV shows or DVDs of friendly, pink monsters, we all resort to the unspeakable at one time or another. For those of us laden with guilt for doing so, Karadi Tales CDs brings comfort. With these CDs you can finally rid yourself of the guilt of the electronic monster while enjoying all the benefits. No harmful rays, no fast-moving images, no annoying commercials for ridiculously priced toys. Just a few minutes of healthy, wholesome entertainment for your child.
* Karadi Tales CDs engage, (not curtail) child’s imagination: So-called educational DVDs and popular TV shows have come under criticism for turning children into passive consumers of content. They have been found to have no positive impact on language development, communication skills etc and may in fact be slowing the process. Karadi Tales on the other hand seems to have found the secret formula in using the most powerful tools that help a child learn — music – rhyme, rhythm and tune – combined with interesting plots, witty lines, colorful narration, characterization and voice modulation –the same tools that grandmothers and other elders have been using for ages to entertain and engage little children in every culture. 

Whatever it is that Karadi put into its CDs, it sure makes for some very rapt listening on the part of my almost 4-year-old.  And I can tell you from the way she observes each sound, word and note, and from the fact that she asks for each CD to be played at least twice in succession, that Karadi Tales is going to be a staple in our home for quite a while.

The read-along books that accompany the CDs make for great reading on their own as well.  For very young kids who’re just learning or starting to read, it may be a good idea to read the books and listen to the CDs separately at first, and then nudging them to follow along with the CD.  Trying to do both simultaneously may overwhelm a reader who isn’t quite ready and also take away from the enjoyment the audio CD provides. For advanced readers or older kids, reading and listening parallelly may prove to be more enriching.

I would definitely recommend Karadi Tales:

* As gifts to any household with young children age 1-7 for any occasion.
* As a must-have in your car. Believe me, you’ll thank the creators the next time you’re stuck in traffic for over an hour or two.
* Any time you feel like turning on the TV and plonking your kid in front of it, try Karadi instead.

Warning!
As with all things good and bad, there are some things you should keep in mind when it comes to Karadi Tales CDs:
* There’s a very good chance that everyone in the house will be singing or humming the tunes from the CDs for quite some time. They tunes are very catchy and hard to shake off. Just so you know!
* Once your children taste Karadi Tales in the car or at home, you may lose the right to your choice of music, at least for some time. Think of the peace and quiet at home, the arguments you won’t have to settle and the tantrums you can avoid, and you’ll realize why it’s a trade-off worth making.
* As with all toys, games and other tools that serve as ‘parent life savers’, remember that Karadi Tales CDS, despite all their benefits, can’t substitute the presence of a parent or a caring adult and shouldn’t be used to replace quality bonding time or activities such as reading to your child.
For best results, I’d say, listen to Karadi Tales with your child whenever you can.

 Karadi Tales CDs and Books are available at:
http://karaditales.com/
Amazon
Desiknowledge

and other places.

Cherished Kids’ Outdoor Games From India

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Book Gives Kids’ Outdoor Games Another Chance

If you grew up a couple of decades ago or earlier, you probably remember( and miss) playing with your friends on the streets. In India, where I grew up, summers, weekends and almost all evenings were spent not in the company of a video game console or the internet, but on dusty streets, with friends and cousins.  When I first heard about Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign, it struck me that if kids had continued to play outdoors as they had been doing for centuries there would have been no need for a campaign to get kids in America or anywhere else, to move away from obesity and towards a healthier, more wholesome and FUN lifestyle.

And yet, sadly, if you asked a child in an urban setting today, she may barely recognize these games, let alone be able to play them.

Take India for instance. Call it the pressure of academics , the demand for all-round excellence, or the lack of space or the change in pace, or the ubiquitous nature of television and its technological cousins - whatever the reasons may be – you won’t easily find kids in any of the Indian metros or bigger cities playing age-old games like kabbadi or gilli danda. Besides, with dusty streets turning into paved roads and houses being turned into multi-level apartment homes and offices, not too many neighborhoods allow kids the luxury to run around and play safely. The only exception is perhaps cricket, which like the cockroach, continues to survive and thrive despite every challenge and threat.

Here’s the thing. You may not be able to play those street games in the same way in your old neighborhood anymore, but, you CAN do something to keep them from fading away from memory forever.

‘Gadagada Gudugudu’ by Jeeva Raghunath/Jeyanthi Manokaran

Indian Children's Book

Indian Children's Book

How much can a book as thin as this really convey and accomplish? It depends on how much you want it to. Of all the books I picked up from Tulika,  this was the one that caught my attention instantly. The title, the colors and the illustrations perked my curiosity and anticipation.  When I saw that it was about popular Indian street games, some of which my daughter was unlikely to ever play herself or even watch being played, I had the urge to share it with her immediately.

In a nut shell
This cheerful book with simple, rhythmic text lets you relive your childhood memories, while creating new ones with your child. It depicts the typical course a little marble takes, rolling from Mani’s hands to those of his friends. As the day rolls by, the marble does too, switching places from one child’s hand to another’s in exchange for other toys that catches his fancy at the moment.

Gadagada gudu is the sound the Mani’s marble makes as it rolls from one hand to another, in exchange for Ramu’s gilla danda, Kittu’s kite, Raja’s flat stone and Pattu’s top. It’s the cue that keeps the story rolling and the catchphrase that holds my daughter’s attention.  Reading the book in itself is entertaining enough, but it also opens up many other ways for you to share your childhood memories with your kids and also gives you a chance to give those games a new leash of life.  

Indian Children's Book

Indian Children's Book

Don’t be surprised if after reading the book, you are inspired to play them with your kids yourself! With some tweaks and customization, I’m sure we could manage to play some version of gilli danda or hopscotch on our paved driveways, fly a kite from our manicured lawns or high terraces and roll a scratch-proof marble on our hardwood floors.

Whether original or adapted, these games in either version hold the promise of several hours of free, family entertainment, requiring no fuel, power or batteries with no lead or toxins to worry about. The next time kids declare they’re bored or when you feel they’ve had an overdose of simulated shootings, it’s probably your cue to announce, “Let’s move!’  Pick one of your favorite outdoor games and show your kids what real fun looks and feels like.

If you’re out of ideas, just thumb through Gadagada Gudugudu.
 Tulika rolls out Gadagada Gudugudu