Uma Krishnaswami

A young girl and her family wait for the monsoon to reach their city in northern India in this lovely picture-book from author Uma Krishnaswami and illustrator Jamel Akib. "All summer we have worn the scent of dust - gravelly, grainy, gritty dust - blowing on the winds and sprinkling through our clothes and hair" the girl narrator begins, going on to describe in rich and expressive detail the experiences of a hot Indian summer. The simmering tension that slowly builds, the simultaneous show more longing for the cool release of the coming rains, and fear of what those rains might bring, in the form of flooding and destruction, are all brilliantly captured, until finally, in a moment of stillness and then release, it comes!

Krishnaswami's poetic narrative in Monsoon is pitch-perfect, evoking that sense of expectancy that accompanies the advent of so dramatic a weather shift as a monsoon, and confirming my impression - gained from another of her picture-books, the immensely poignant Chachaji's Cup - that here is a children's author of great skill! The accompanying artwork by Jamel Akib is simply beautiful, and, with all of its hot red and yellow tones, transports the reader into the sweltering cityscape being depicted. All in all, this an immensely effective book, one I would recommend to anyone looking for children's stories set in India, or who has longed (like the narrator) for the coming of the rains. show less

Neel loves his great-uncle Chachaji, and grows up listening to his stories, from tales of the Hindu gods to the historical saga of Partition, in which the former colony of India became the countries of Indian and Pakistan. That traumatic time, in which twelve million people were uprooted and forced to flee to one new nation or the other, depending upon their religion, was a formative one for Chachaji, and for his mother (Neel's great-grandmother), who brought a beautiful china teacup with show more her, when the family was forced to flee. This cup, from which Chachaji always drinks his tea, holds the memory of their family's survival during a terrible time, and is a cherished heirloom. When he accidentally break it, while doing dishes, and then Chachaji is taken to the hospital, Neel wonders if anything will ever be the same again.

A poignant tale that gracefully addresses numerous important issues - relationships in families, and how they change over time; the way in which memory is preserved, both in story and object - Chachaji's Cup brought tears to my eyes at a number of points. I like that the story features such a loving family, without making that love saccharine - Neel doesn't pay as much attention to Chachaji, as he gets older, and is embarrassed by his laugh, at one point - and that Neel's solution, in the end, doesn't make things as they were, but makes them into something new. The accompanying illustrations by Soumya Sitaraman didn't do much for me, but they also didn't detract from the story, which I greatly enjoyed. Highly recommended to young readers who enjoy family stories, or to anyone looking for quality children's books featuring Indian families, or discussing Partition. show less

Firstly, I don't think I've ready any children's books from an Indian author before so I was interested to see if the styles would be at all similar and what kind of themes would be explored. Secondly, this book is about two of my favorite things: books and community activism. :-D Our main character, Yasmin, is a voracious reader and she gets all of her books from a lending library run by Book Uncle who sets up his 'shop' on the corner by her apartment building. There is no price for these show more books and if you want to keep it then that's perfectly okay. Yasmin and many members of her community come to see this little library as a constant in their lives but one day their world is upended because Book Uncle has been told that he must leave. What transpires next is nothing short of inspiring and that's just what I think is so phenomenal about this book. It teaches children that their actions matter and that activism can be accomplished by every member of the community. It's a great way to talk about 'doing your part' that doesn't make it overbearing or heavy-handed. It's also a great way to expose children to a different part of the world. 8/10

Note: This book will also make you extraordinarily hungry. show less

Eleven-year old Dini loves movies—watching them, reading about them, trying to write her own—especially those oh-so-fabulous Bollywood movies where you don’t need to know the language to get what’s going on. But when her mother reveals some big news, it does not at all jibe with the script Dini had in mind. Her family is moving to India. And not even to Bombay, which is the “center of the filmi universe” (and home to Dini’s all-time most favorite star, Dolly Singh). No, show more they’re moving to a teeny, tiny town that she can’t even find on a Swapnagiri. It means Dream Mountain, a sleepy little place where nothing interesting can happen....
But wait a movie minute! Swapnagiri is full of surprises like rose petal milk shakes, mischievous monkeys, a girl who chirps like a bird, and...could it be…Dolly herself? show less