Monday, May 17, 2010

Upside Down !


Have you ever tried hanging upside down ? Ever been in that position long enough to observe how the world would look upside down ? The answer may be "No" unless you are a Yoga specialist :). or some other such expert!

Kids love to do that, hang upside down! At least for a very short duration going by my minimal observation of the youth on monkey bars at the park and play grounds!


T.R Rajesh tries to do just that in the unique book - "Upside Down". He portrays the world  upside down in a very clear and colorful manner. He brings to life the common, every day scenes from rural Kerala excellently. The illustrations are superb! Elephants, cows, boat, young girls/boys and many more are easily recognizable from an upside down position even to a toddler ! 


Edited to Add : At the outset, as you turn the pages, you get the impression that the book is all about images turned upside down ! But then, the twist in the tale is revealed in the last page turning it into a mini story book :)

This (twist in the tale, revealed in the last page) makes the book an interesting read along with the value addition to the kid's general knowledge! 





A bilingual book from Tulika! Originally in Malayalam

Author (Story and Pics) : T.R Rajesh
Suitable for Age : 3+
Image Courtesy :  Tulika 





 
I received this book for participating in Tulika's first blogathon. My choice of language was Tamizh and hence I received the English- Tamizh combination of this bilingual book. The original version was in Malayalam. 

The bilingual text needs a special mention here. The choice of words are so simple and concise yet completely adequate to describe the scene ! And this applies for both the languages! The translation is complete and simple yet again without compromising the meaning! Kids could learn one language through the other, however they choose to.

My experience of the book with my daughter :

I was excited when I received this book as I could try reading to my daughter immediately even though she is just 2+.  She could easily identify some of the upside down pics quickly on her own, while others needed my intervention and help. She was fascinated when I explained to her about the upside-down concept :). However, she is yet to understand the final twist in the tale and the ultimate learning from the story. But that doesn't prevent her from wanting to read the book again :)
I am sure this book will be in use for more than a couple of years in our house hold as this book has a lot of offer :)  - be it the ambience and culture of Kerala, the colorful world seen upside down and not to forget the so simple,yet powerful bi-lingual text.

Thank you Tulika :)

P.S:
This is my first book review. Would really appreciate if you could kindly take time to let me know your comments/feedback (+ve and -ve) about my review. 

12 comments:

Swaram said...

I have seen their bilingual series and loved it. Got a few CDs of the rhymes .. books, not yet. This book seems to be very interesting ..loved the theme that they hv selected. Nice review Lavs :)

Lavanya Sriram said...

Blogger is giving me problems with comment moderation :(. I am unable to approve :( have disabled the moderation!

On Behalf of Swaram :
I have seen their bilingual series and loved it. Got a few CDs of the rhymes .. books, not yet. This book seems to be very interesting ..loved the theme that they hv selected. Nice review Lavs :)

Satish N said...

One kostin ...

Indha booka thala keezha thonginde padikanumaa or saadhaarana pose la kooda padikalaamaa ?? ;))))

Sat

Anuradha Shankar said...

good one, lavanya! enjoyed reading it... and you have done a better review than i did!

SoulSpace said...

nice review
if your kid liked it then it is your best feedback:)

LIFE_REFACTORED said...

Nice review ma'am. One comment though. Perhaps my fault. Have you mentioned somewhere in the post what the story is about? I get that its to do with up side down view..is that all the story is about? I guess am missing something

Lavanya Sriram said...

@Swaram : Oh! I didn't know about the rhymes of theirs ! how is it ? can u name a few? Now, you have given me food for some more research :)

@Sat : Magane, un samathu.. nee yeppidi venaa padi

@Anu : Thank you, Anu and you are being so generous !

@Sowmya: :)

@LR : thank you for pointing it out :) A note about the story line was indeed missing. Such a gaping hole in a review :( I have added an ETA section based on yr comment! Thank you once again :) I have sent u an email !

Anonymous said...

A neat and compact review Lavanya! Preserve your collection so I can borrow:)

A journey called Life said...

very nice first attempt Lavs.. glad Jillu enjoyed this book..

Lavanya Sriram said...

@Vidya : Sure :)

@AJCL : thank u !

Hema said...

Nice review. Good that you were able to enjoy it with your little one. That is we actually 'experience' a book is n't it?

Lavanya Sriram said...

@Hema : yes ! sharing is always so good and thats the fun with the kids book :)