Rahul and Luffy read

Emergency! by Margaret Mayo, Illustrated by Alex Ayliffe is one of the books we picked up at the Kukdukoo childrens fest recently. You might have noticed a theme in the books we've shared so far - vehicles. Luffy has gotten more and more interested in vehicles over the past 6 months so this book fits perfectly into the theme. Each page is dedicated to one particular kind of emergency vehicle. It's a simple book to read and at the end, there's a zoomed out view of all of the emergency vehicles "in their homes" at night. It's surprising what you find in the second hand book bin if you have a good gut instinct and you have time. I think we came across at least one other book by the Illustrator Alex Ayliffe at the second-hand book store but we didn't pick it up.

I don't have a gambling addiction but second-hand bookstores will likely bankrupt me. The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson, Illustrated by Axel Scheffler is one of the second-hand books that I bought at a book store next door. You know, the place  I usually visit to get a printout for 10 Rupees but end up spending 100s to 1000s of Rupees on books. The sea snail slithered all over the rock And gazed at the sea and the ships in the dock. And as she gazed she sniffed and sighed. “The sea is deep and the world is wide! How I long to sail,” Said the tiny snail. I think this is the fourth or fifth book by Julia Donaldson that we have read and it's a little surprising how versatile an author she is. And unlike some of the earlier books, this is a rhyming book and it sounds great to read aloud. This isn't something Luffy is capable of doing or appreciates us doing at the moment but that day isn't too far. I'll have to start looking for Indian books or books in local...

I came back home after traveling out of city and the first thing I notice in our house are a couple of second-hand books from the book store nearby. I knew they were second-hand books because I had already come across one of the books (which I didn't w ant to buy) when I combed through the childrens' books section in the book store. The good pick was Night Monkey Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson, Illustrated by Lucy Richards . Julia Donaldson should be familiar name to the readers of this blog. Good book. Luffy likes it and finds parts of it funny. An interesting example of evolution from the book is - the "night monkey" wonders why the moths were wearing make up, to which the "day monkey" responds that they're butterflies. Butterflies operate during the day and because it is bright during the day, it makes sense for them to expend energy creating elaborately colorful wings (helps with mating). On the other hand, moths operate at night and because it'...

Are You A Monkey: A Tale of Animal Charades by Marine Rivoal caught my eye last month at the second-hand book shop next door to where we live. Painted in a stylish and saturated color palette of Pantones, this unusual book will engage children in considering animal behavior and characteristics. Even the publisher calls the book "unusual" because the colors are just absolutely mesmerizing and like nothing I have seen before. Each page has a good hook to grab and retain Luffy's attention. Marine Rivoals' work is absolutely mesmerizing. Alas, most of her work seems to be in French. P.S. I absolutely love the fact that artists and creators can still surprise me with their art. Even after reading hundreds (close to thousands) of graphic novels and comic books, I am yet to come across two authors whose styles are exactly the same. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised about this. Maybe if I had a basic appreciation of the arts during my college years, I wouldn't be sur...

Let me start by writing down everything that's on the torn cover of the second-hand book I have. Puss in Boots: The Adventures of That Most Enterprising Feline Written by Mr. Philip Pullman Illustrated by Mr. Ian Beck Starring Puss himself, and featuring: One Ogre, Two Ghouls, One Aged and Respected Hermit, A Beautiful Princess (Daughter of His Most Gallic Majesty), The King of France, And of course Jacques, the Hero

Instead of taking Luffy to the park, I prefer taking Luffy on walks. We usually walk within the Society we live in, looking at all of the vehicles parked, talk about their manufacturers, and so on. One day, I decided to take him to the second-hand book store to see if we could pick things up for him. I put him on a stack of books and we started combing through the large pile of childrens' books in the store but one of the employees at the store asked me to not put him on the books. Luffy also noticed other books that he found more interesting elsewhere in the store and he found toys that he wanted to see and hold. I was picking him up, holding him off, and trying to shuffle through the books as quickly as possible when I came across The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson . Still in it's plastic cover, it looked beautiful from the outside. The colors popped and something in my gut told me that this might be a good deal. I couldn't even open it, like I could The Very Hungover C...

I knew that my ex-employer ( Enthought ) was sending us a gift basket after Luffy was born. I had some idea what would be in the gift basket (a few childrens' books) but I was pleasantly surprised by "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle . I knew it was a classic and we absolutely loved reading it. There was always something in the book for Luffy. When he was very young, it was the vivid colors and shapes. When he started eating solid food, it was the fruits and food in the book. When he started exploring the world using his senses, it was his ability to flip through the book and poke his tiny finger through the holes. And now, it is his interest in telling us the story of the very hungry caterpillar, what it eats, and how it turns into a beautiful butterfly.   I loved the book enough that I immediately bought the parody The Very Hungover Caterpillar - A Parody by Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees, Illustrated by Gillian Johnson when I noticed it at the second-hand sto...

We don't have a printer at home. I remember the printer in my fathers' office lying unused most of the time. The few times I really needed to get physical copies of digital documents, I was never more than a few minutes away from a store where I can get them printed out. But, it's a bad thing that we now live a few minutes away from such a store. Because the printer happens to be at the far end of a second-hand book store. I have, on more than one occasion, walked into the store to print stuff out worth Tens of Rupees but ended up also buying books worth Thousands of Rupees (they have first-hand books too). A month or so back, Luffy and I came to the store and found a couple of gems in their second hand book collection. So Luffy and I decided to dive into their collection again today. One of the books we surfaced with is The Littlest Yak by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley . I immediately read it after reaching home and Luffy, Preeti and I have read it multiple times over the p...