Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Germ Academy
by Rea Malhotra Mukhtyar and Shahena Zaveri
HarperCollins
64 pages; `299
Appropriate for: 5+ years
If you have been confined to your home for over a year, foregoing school and trips to the park, friends and outdoor games for a bug that won’t let up, reading a book on germs might just feel like getting immersed in more of the same horrors. But Malhotra Mukhtyar and Zaveri probably knew that when they set off on this picture-book project. The Germ Academy keeps its tone determinedly light and tongue-in-cheek.
With the stage thus set, first-time author Malhotra Mukhtyar turns the story into a battle for hygiene — how simple habits of cleanliness can go a long way in keeping germs at bay, and how the soap squad can turn a “lean, mean, squeaky-clean human being” into a worthy opponent in this battle for good health. While the story is best suited for early readers, the illustrations are a source of delight for all age groups. Graphic artist Zaveri’s water colours — from a map showing the continental spread of some of the world’s deadliest germs to the hall of fame showcasing the deadliest of the lot — leave clues for those who might want to follow up the story with more information.
Sumi Budhi and Sugi
by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar with Joanna Mendes
Pratham Books
12 pages; `190
Appropriate for: 4+ years
In India, very few can claim the versatility with which Pratham Books does slice-of-life stories for primary-grade readers, introducing them to a plurality of narratives and cultures in each of their offerings. Sumi Budhi and Sugi by writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar is no exception. Shekhar’s book is a leisurely stroll through a day in the life of an Adivasi woman, Sumi Budhi, and her family, comprising her husband Moso Hadam and her beloved pets — Sugi, a goose that accompanies her everywhere, and Bhutu, a mischievous cat.
Shekhar’s narrative introduces readers to a gentle pace of storytelling, in which nothing really happens except for reiterations of everyday truths — the possibility of co-dependence between man and nature and a glimpse of a way of life quite different from urban, metropolitan existences. The illustrations, rendered in summery hues in linocut, are a treat on their own. The last image of the family sharing a meal is one that lingers on long after the slim book is over.
