ArtsyCraftsyMom.com is in its 5th year and we are growing.. From this month on, we are bringing back my favorite feature ..
Every Friday, there will be one book review – Children’s books for ages 2 – 10 by some fabulous moms.
Over to our Guest Blogger for the day..
Over to our Guest Blogger for the day..
Animal Antics
by K.E. Priyamvada
CinnamonTeal Publishing, 68 pages, Rs 599
Before I tell you about the book, let the book itself have a say –
In this book you’ll find,
A series of verses,
In alphabetical order –
For each animal or bird, a poem –
About the unique features,
Of some amazing creatures,
With which we share
The Earth, our home.
I really wanted to write this review in poetry, it would have suited the fun mood of the book. From B for Binturong to J for Jacana, the book seeks children who don’t view reading as a necessary evil. My son is six, nearly seven – he would much rather read about animals than pixies – and this book seems to have been written for children like him.
Each animal that has been featured here gets two pages in which a catchy little poem describes its main characteristics and a peanut-shaped box lists its scientific name, habitat and the factors that are causing its numbers to decline in the wild. This is what I liked most about the book – it talks to Indian children about animals (mostly found in India and Asia) and it addresses its readers like the rational little human beings in progress that they actually are. While poetry might seem a little cutesy because we usually associate poems about animals with little baby books and so on, these poems are for older children who have begun to understand and appreciate the complexity of the animal kingdom.
A special word about the illustrations – these original watercolours by Nahid Sikander are beautiful and suit the book perfectly.
The book is not cheap but having read and loved it, I find it worth the money. It’s a keeper that gives your child something new to learn as he grows. It’s as useful for a 10 year-old’s science project as it is to keep a 6 year-old occupied in the aeroplane. If you know (or have) a child who is interested in animals and who wants to know more about them, I cannot recommend it too highly to you. It’s a great start for a budding little zoologist.
You can look the book up on its website and even buy it at a discount at http://animal-antics.info (The website has puzzles and quizzes that your children might enjoy, incidentally.)
Sunayana Roy lives half of her life online, a lot of it at www.sunayanaroy.blogspot.in . When she isn’t reading stuff online, she is writing it. You can write to her at sunayanaroy(at)gmail.com or even @sunayanaroy (twitter).
Congrats Shruti! Its amazing to see this blog grow so well and touch so many hearts 🙂 Cheers to many more! Hugs 🙂
Looking forward to more such reviews and add books to our reading list! Nice feature Shruti 🙂