Tag Archives: Book Review

9-11 years, Book Review, BTB

Book Review – Mayil Will Not Be Quiet

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Book Title – Mayil Will Not Be Quiet
Author – Niveditha Subramaniam and Sowmya Rajendran
Illustrator – Niveditha Subramaniam
Published By – Tulika Publishers
Recommended Age Group – 11+ years

About the Book

This is a fictional book about real-life challenges any middle school girl goes through. It’s an amazing book that will make you cry and laugh and teach you all the crucial things one needs to know while growing up.

Synopsis

Have you ever wondered why that weird, quiet man wears a saree you see on a train or a bus? Or why all the great Bollywood actors/actresses are fair and white-skinned? Well! This book is a must-read if you are as curious as Mayil! It talks about everything any girl wants answers to. It’s a beautiful book explaining transgender, skin color, sex, love, and much more. Family drama… school fights! Enjoy how Mayil beats the irksome Jyothi, rejoins forces with Ki, and calmly handles the ‘V.S. Situation’.

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Book Review, BTB

Book Review – As I Prepare For Landing

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‘As I Prepare For Landing!’ is the debut book of Mrs. Gulnar Raheem Khan. It won the Best Debut award in the Fiction Book category held at the 4th ALS Lit Fest in the year 2022. It has been described as a ‘Basket of Stories’ and a ‘Casket of Poems’. I would, however, classify most of the prose in this book as personal experiences and anecdotes, since they do not follow the structure expected from a short story, like character arc, plot, conflict. They are simplistic in nature, with love and compassion being the common themes recurring throughout the book. 

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9-11 years, Book Review, BTB

Book Review – My Act Of Heart

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Book Title – My Act Of Heart

Author – Various

Ideated & Curated By – Anjali G Sharma & Deepika Ahuja

Recommended Age – 7+ years

Ideated and Curated by Anjali G Sharma and Deepika Ahuja, My Act Of Heart is an anthology of stories written by children from around the globe which bring to fore the virtues of compassion and generosity towards everyone, irrespective of genders and races. The stories included in this book are heartwarming and at times quite funny as well! Majority of the plots in the book are of a child or a group of children (for the most part friends) who either go somewhere where they observe someone in need, or chance upon something or someone they can help. Whatever be the case, the children in question choose to act on the scenario and with the consent of their parents or grandparents, help those in need. Now, if every single story was about helping a human, we could get pretty bored reading the book after a point. But what makes this book interesting throughout are the varied acts of compassion which are each unique. The book manages to keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what is coming next. 

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9-11 years, Book Review, BTB, BTB Wall of Fame

Book Review – Kings, Saviours & Scoundrels

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Book Title – Kings, Saviours & Scoundrels: Timeless Tales from Katha Sarita Sagara

Author – Anupama Jain

Genre – Folktales/Legends

Publisher – Readomania

Recommended Age – 7+ years

Timeless Tales from Katha Sarita Sagara by Anupama Jain is a retelling of tales from the Kathā-saritsāgara – one of India’s oldest classics. It is a well-known collection of stories from the 11th century. It was also told in Sanskrit by Somadeva who was a Brahmin Sanskrit scholar from Kashmir. The stories are very old, but the morals conveyed by them are still relevant and understandable to kids as well.

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9-11 years, Book Review, BTB, BTB Wall of Fame

Book Review – Prince With a Paintbrush

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Book Title – Prince With a Paintbrush – The Story of Raja Ravi Varma

Author – Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan

Illustrator – Rayika Sen

Genre – Biography

Publisher – Red Panda

Recommended Age – 6+ years 

“The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.” – Judy Garland.

Mona Lisa is a world–famous painting by Leonardo De Vinci. The specialty of the painting is that it looks towards us from all the sides. But, there are many other artists and painters around the world who have done wonders. However, we do not know of all of them and hence, it is so important that we tell stories of these extra-ordinary talents to pass on their legacy from generations to generations.  “Prince With a Paintbrush – The story of Raja Ravi Varma” by Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan does exactly this. It is a fantastic illustrated biography of one of the greatest artists of India – Raja Ravi Varma. 

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