Chitra Aiyer

One of the things I have been wanting to write is reviews for children’s books. I do my best to try and introduce my kids to a variety of books. I have always enjoyed reading myself, but as an adult, I have at best struggled to keep at it. I dont know why that is. Almost because of that struggle, I try and do a decent job of reading with the kids. Hopefully, they will stay with the habit for a long time to come.

As parents, I think, one of the biggest gifts we can give our children is to introduce them to ‘words’ …. and to lots of them - to help them express themselves. The more words you know, the better you can articulate your emotions, your  ideas, your situations. While being better articulated will help you get across a thought to the next person, it will also help you communicate with yourself better is what I have always believed.

Anyway, coming back to starting off writing reviews, this is November and in India, we celebrate children’s day on 14th Nov. I figured now is as good as it can get to start writing children book reviews. Here, I pick the first book - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day  by Judith Viorst.

While this is a children’s book written for ages 5-9, it really is for everybody. It was first published in 1972, the story however is timeless.

“I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” is how the book starts. You can imagine how the rest of it is going to go. Everything in Alexander’s entire day goes horribly, horribly wrong - from not getting a window seat on the way to school to his teacher not liking his blank sheet of paper for artwork - which he calls the invisible castle, to being reduced to a 3rd best friend, to finding out he has a cavity while on a dentist’s chair, to getting hurt, pushed, being called a crybaby …. the list goes on. The day even ends badly with him getting to wear the pajama set that he hates and the family cat choosing to sleep with his brother! He is convinced about moving to Australia. The story ends with his mom telling him that things are going to pretty much be the same down under as well …. and that’s it.

I dont even need to teach this lesson to the kids, I can simply keep learning it over and over again myself … the reason why I think it is a great book for anybody. My 4+ year old doesnt really get the book. He just finds the events and the wordings funny. My 6+ year old daughter wasnt too sure she got it either, until we went over it a few times, drawing parallels with our own lives.

Judith Viorst has done well painting the picture of Alexander’s temperament, and Ray Cruz’s illustrations do complete justice too. My children prefer colorful illustrations, and here it is a black and white affair. However, I was able to get my older one to appreciate the detailed renderings of this book. 

My children are still too young for the funda of the story. However, they really liked the rhythmic repeat of the book’s title on every page and the funny turn of the sucky events.

This book has been adapted for TV and theatre. Read more about the book on Wiki.

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Incidentally, the Bangalore Book Festival is starting this weekend - From Nov 6th at Palace Grounds.

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Filed under: Reading, Review, Children

Fog filled mountain lands are so far away from the immediate stark reality that surrounds us in the city. Remembering the moutnains only makes this reality even more real.

The weekend that we were away at the Western Ghats in Sakleshpur, the fog rolled in one afternoon right in front of our eyes and enveloped all of what we could see. We went for a little walk and I saw my mom and the kids in front me, like little people walking in the clouds.

My daughter was all on her own, even walking in circles at times.

When the fog got denser, we got the kids to walk under umbrellas. Here’s daughter again, taking a moment of a breather to take it all in. The landscape and the umbrella canopy really making her tiny frame tinier.

While I love sunshiny, bright landscapes, it is the fogged up, blurry mountainscapes that I completely enjoy. There is a surreal quality to the feel, a sense of getting lost … lost from reality.

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Filed under: Trips, photography

I am not one who hits the movie theatres too much, especially now, after the kids. However, there was this little something about the trailer of ‘Wake up Sid’ that I knew I wanted to watch the movie. I had ‘youtube’d the songs quite a bit and knew it had a certain something that I was going to like. Bollywood isnt really something my husband and I do together, so this one I was going to go watch with a good friend. It so happened that she had to drop out in the last min to attend to an emergency. So well, long story short, my husband and I watched our first Hindi movie on the big screen.

… and as I suspected, it was a movie that I absolutely liked. While there are many sites out there that tell you what the movie is all about, I will skip that part and only write about why and what I liked in the movie. There is a certain endearing quality to the movie - well made, extremely aptly cast, bright, and refreshing. Cast could not have been better! I went to the theatre for Konkana’s sake; I was sure she would deliver whatever was given to her. And Ranbir, well I had no opinion till today. What do ya know, he turned out to be a good actor.

The movie’s endearing quality lasts through and through. Ayan, the debutant director hasnt lost pace anywhere. Most of it is delivered believably nicely and well, the songs are absolutely beautiful. The entire movie is smooth flowing, all relationships have been attended to nicely, Ranbir’s expressions are apt, Konkana has acted well in her role, Rahul Khanna is cute, and well so is Ranbir! I definitely didnt expect to say that Ranbir was cute. So, yeah, I definitely enjoyed the movie.

While the movie for the most part relies on the lead pair’s relationship being platonic, which is cute, the slow turn of events when that changes and they both begin to fall in love is very cute too, especially since they are so “not right” for each other. But there is that certain click to them, and well, that is all that matters. The romantic in me was happy, and I hope that romantic in me never dies.

Now: Past 11 pm. Its pouring outside the window. The window is right behind me. The breeze is carrying in the mild sprays of rain. I am on the bed with the laptop; husband is next to me with his laptop. Iktara is playing from mine.

Did you watch the movie ? What did you think of the movie? If you havent yet watched it, are you likely to?

PS: Ranbir is a camera toting free-spirited guy, who comes alive when he is behind the camera. What is not to like about that?

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Filed under: Movie review