Review Shots # 2: Imaginative and serious children's books

Book # 1

Wisha Wozzariter by Payal Kapadia

Published: 2012, Penguin

Find it at: Amazon 

Pages: 77

I sometimes stalk book lists just for fun, and this one came up in quite a few lists with key words: children’s books, Indian authors, best reads, and the like. One of my reading preferences for the past few years has been children’s books, so it was only a matter of time before I found myself face to face with this book and picked it up. Now let’s get to the point.

The book is about a ten year old girl who loves to read. I loved the way the book started, talking about Wisha’s reading habits (she read before and after school, dinner, and all the time in between). Such a heroine for a bookworm kid! (Or an inspiration for a I’m-yet-to-turn-into-a-bookworm-kid) But she isn’t just a reader. She reads a good book and thinks that she could have written it too (like err… To Kill a Mockingbird). Then a bookworm (character Bookworm) pops up from a page and asks, “Why don’t you?” And thus Wisha is all set for an adventure. It involves Bookworm and other characters that come along the way as Wisha takes the Thought Express to go to the Marketplace of Ideas. Basically, the entire book is a personification of the writing process written from the perspective of a child, for children.

The good parts:

1. What fun language! It’s sure to have the reader keep reading. It’s action-packed and does not drone on and on about a single thing. It’s also quite short at 77 pages. I really liked the writing style.

2. Well-created characters for so short a book. Each character is distinct and so well-described that you’re least likely to forget any. You’ll even remember the minor characters (perhaps because they’re reinforced through Wisha’s thoughts in the later part of the story, but still).

3. The whole idea of explaining the writing process as a story. There’s a bottle of inspiration, a room to sit in and think, an imagination balloon, the marketplace of ideas (where you get all sorts of ideas – new, old, rotten. You cannot buy any, but you’re free to exchange them!), and a market where you can get your story’s heroes: brand new ones are costly, but you can always get some at the thrift shop. And of course, because this story is about a realistic scenario (what happens to a writer during the writing process), you also need some luck.

The not-so-good parts:

There’s only one. Two pages into the book, and I had a horrible feeling of déjà vu. “This is so like The Phantom Tollbooth,” I thought. It was with feelings of dread that I resumed reading, but thankfully it soon became clear that the similarities ended there. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is a book that takes young Milo on an adventure through a magical tollbooth. It uses places, time and events as characters, and full of phrases used as real things (Milo sets off on the road to Expectations, Princesses Rhyme and Reason need to be rescued to return to the Kingdom of Wisdom, etc). And oh, there’s also a market for words where you can buy and exchange words. Hmm…

Still, the author has put her own spice, ideas, and STORY that makes the book feel like it has influence from another book, but has a different story in its own right. So that’s good. The imaginative ideas related to books, reading, and especially the writing process, are well-thought out.

Recommended for children who love reading, or think they’d like to write too! If you’re interested in kids’ books (like me), you could read it just as well.

Book # 2

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

Published: 1998, HarperCollins (originally published in 1971)

Pages: 252

Find it at: Amazon / Flipkart

This was a luckily spotted book in a second-hand book stall at the New Delhi World Book Fair. I’d read about this book being one of the good children’s books, and one of the very good books centred around the Holocaust told as a children’s story. So I felt really lucky to have found it at all, more so when I read and loved it.

Anna and Max live a comfortable life in Berlin, going to school and playing on their games compendium. Their father is a popular writer, which was part of the problem for them at that time. They were Jewish, and what their father wrote was not taken well by the Nazis. In a sudden flight to leave Germany and go to Switzerland, the family leaves their home and their life behind as they flee to safety. They were lucky. Just the day after they left, the Nazis had come for their passports.

The edition I have *_*

Narrated from the perspective of children, the book brings out Anna and Max’s curiosity for the world, while keeping their personal life and experiences at the forefront. Anna is actually excited to go to Switzerland, living in hotels, looking at the fabulous mountains and making Swiss friends. Gradually, their financial status takes a downturn as Anna’s father gets a price on his head and the Swiss people are not too keen to get him to write for their papers. Meanwhile, Anna and Max adjust to their new school and a life in an inn. When it doesn’t work out in Switzerland, they move to Paris. 

Their new home is tiny as compared to their house in Berlin, and their mother has to do all sorts of household work which she couldn’t do before. They keep a tab on all their expenses, and it becomes a subject of argument between the parents. This tale of a family’s move from their home to other countries to seek refuge and safety succeeds in bringing out children’s view of the world, complete with their innocence and hearts full of wonder and love. It also effectively brings out the fears and struggle faced by refugees while trying to protect their children.

It is also simply written, and will hold a reader's interest for the most part. It got a little slow for me somewhere in the middle, but overall it was a very good book. It's not too 'heavy' either, and keeps Hitler and his details to a minimum while showing the effects of what he did in Germany. I greatly enjoyed reading this, and will recommend it to kids and adults alike.

Book Talk: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

John Boyne

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Author: John Boyne

Published: 2006 by Random House

Pages: 216

Find it at: Amazon

My Rating: 3.5/5!

Blurb excerpt from Goodreads
Bruno is nine years old, and the Nazis’ horrific Final Solution to the “Jewish Problem” means nothing to him. He's completely unaware of the barbarity of Germany under Hitler, and is more concerned by his move from his well-appointed house in Berlin to a far less salubrious area where he finds himself with nothing to do. Then he meets a boy called Shmuel who lives a very different life from him -- a life on the opposite side of a wire fence. And Shmuel is the eponymous boy in the striped pyjamas, as are all the other people on the other side of the fence. The friendship between the two boys begins to grow, but for Bruno it is a journey from blissful ignorance to a painful knowledge. And he will find that this learning process carries, for him, a daunting price.

My Thoughts!

Before reading this book, I had imagined it to be something really, really profound, considering it’s been made into a movie as well. Based on the horrific time of the Holocaust, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas follows the story of nine year old Bruno who lives happily in Berlin. His father is a senior soldier, and one evening, ‘The Fury’ decides to come to dinner at their home. He’s the man who runs the country, and although Bruno doesn’t realize it, it’s a pretty big deal. Bruno’s father is promoted to the post of Commandant, and he tells the family they’re to move to a new place that Bruno calls Out-With. He’s horror struck at first, and doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. He cannot surely leave his three best friends for life! But the move is made, and soon enough Bruno feels he’ll go mad if he just stayed put. So he decides to explore.

Part of the new house that disturbs him is the view from his window. He can see a huge wire fence, taller than their three-storied house, going endlessly on both sides. And behind the fence, he sees desolate men and children, all in striped clothes and matching caps. When he decides to explore around, he walks along the fence and after some time, finds a boy his age sitting behind the fence. The two become friends. The year that follows is one where Bruno is gradually exposed to the horrors of the world, and the book describes how he feels about the same, and how he acts. After about a year, their mother decides she’s had enough and wants to take the kids (Bruno has a twelve year old sister Gretel) back to Berlin. Now Bruno is sure he will badly miss his new friend, Shmuel, so he decides to do something special for his last day at Out-With.

The story has been narrated in third person, and written as a children’s book. It’s suitable for all ages, though. From what I could infer from the writing style, the story and the theme, the author tried to put forward a child’s viewpoint about the horrors of war, and how it affects them. It definitely talks about a friendship without limit or distinguishing between communities and caste, away from the malice of ignorance. By playing down with words the terrible events at Out-With, it seemed the author wanted to talk about mistreatment and the terrible things that happened at concentration camps, which he managed to. Somewhat.

I had been feeling pretty much okay with the book until I read a couple of comments on Goodreads, which was when I realized that that’s what I feel too, to some extent. To begin with, Bruno could have been shown a more... understanding child. It is reasonable to assume he’d be innocent at age 9 and seeing things like that for the first time, but perhaps if the mother, if not the father, could have sat him down and told him why they moved at all. That’s what would normally happen, right? What I found slightly off-putting was that a whole year passed when he was friends with Shmuel, yet there’s little progression of his maturity. A kid listening to stories about the other side of the fence for a year, looking at his emaciated friend should be able to understand things better.

As for the ending, since I hadn’t yet watched the movie, it was pretty surprising, and I wished it weren’t that way, but well, even if it’s sad, it made a point. And drove it home. I just wish the last chapter could have been more elaborate, but then again, I think it goes with the way the book has been written. The focus is almost entirely on Bruno. Overall, it’s a light read in terms of writing style, not so much in terms of content. It might not be the best book themed around the Holocaust, but for younger readers, it makes its point quite well. I’d recommend giving this book at least one read. And then perhaps enjoy the movie version (which I've heard is better!)

Quotes from the book

“Don't make it worse by thinking it's more painful than it actually is.”

“. . .only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live on the other side of the fence, staring through from our own comfortable place, trying in our own clumsy ways to make sense of it all.” 

“Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer, you know.” 

He looked down and did something quite out of character for him: he took hold of Shmuel's tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly. "You're my best friend, Shmuel," he said. "My best friend for life.”

PS- The Fury in the story is Bruno’s version of The Fuhrer, the German word for Hitler. Similarly, Out-With is Bruno’s mispronounced version of Auschwitz.

Book Talk: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is one book I don't feel like making a 'review' for. I'll just write about how it made me feel and what I think about it. Back when I had just started this blog, it was a wonderful experience being super-active, finding other bloggers from all parts of the world sharing the same love for books. During that time when a blogger friend put up a beautiful review for The Book Thief and personally also suggested to me to read it, I promptly put it up on my TBR. I wasn't so prompt in reading it, though. Two years later, recuperating from a dull-mood-cum-reading-slump, I finally picked it up and read it over a period of many days. Half of the book was read while travelling to and from college and the rest of it staying at home. 

To say it's a beautiful book would be a stark understatement. In the world of books and stories, this one is definitely among the many good books ever written, but it's something that will leave a big impression on you and stay with you all the time. 

~~~ The Book Thief ~~~

Written by: Markus Zusak

Published: 2005 by Picador

Pages: 584

Find it at: Amazon

Beauty Factor: Unmatched

Leisel Meminger, 9, is going to Munich to her new foster parents with her brother, Werner. It's 1939, Germany under the rule of Hitler. She doesn't know her father's a communist and her mother's decided to leave them in someone else's care for a better life. Her brother doesn't make it through as he is greeted by death on the way. It's during his quick, unceremonious funeral ritual by the railway tracks that Leisel steals her first book, The Gravedigger's Handbook. 

The book has a lot in terms of the story. Hitler, war times, school, friendships and live when your country's in a war. Air raids, seeing Jews being taken away, burning books. But it's not just this story. That's what struck me as the most beautiful part of this book. You'll never get enough of it in a single read. Narrated from the POV of death, the book tells a lot more about humanity, life, love and loss than it might otherwise have. It's all so beautifully engraved in the implicit meanings of those phrases narrated by death that if you could use your imagination, you would get the depth of meanings.

One of the central themes of the book is also one of my favorites: the power of words. Words are what Hitler used to turn the minds of people and words are what gave Leisel the meaning of life. She could not read at first when she reaches her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Hans, her new 'papa', is a loving accordion player and painter, who helps Leisel learn to read by staying up all night or whenever she needed to. His character is one of those gems you feel are too good to be staying in a war-affected world. Rosa has a big heart, but a fast mouth. She loves to call everyone Saukerl or Saumensch. 

It's all profound, even though the story is about the everyday life and events of a German girl, living in a German household. The war and suffering was for all, not just the Jews and other countries Hitler invaded. It was for his own people too. Leisel's life gets a new meaning when they come in contact with a Jew. He further is able to tell her how words are life. 

Then there's Rudy, the boy with hair the color of lemons: Leisel's best friend and confidante. Also, partner-in-crime for innocent stealing. However, books Leisel stole alone and for herself. Those books are comfort for her, the words she reads and later on writes are what save her. I cannot write about what happens in the story anymore, because like I said, this book is not just a story. It's a multitude of emotions, meaning of life and humanity and if you've read this book the way it should be read, you'd have learned some humility as well.

I've watched the movie adaptation twice and I say it for very few adaptations, but the movie is brilliant! The characters, the portrayal, the mood and tone of the movie is simply perfect. It's every bit as moving as the book. Recommended for: every single person, especially to remind everyone about the sufferings of war and what it is to be human, about the need to be loving and kind towards all. 

Src: novelsounds.net

"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant." 

Buy your copy here now!