A few months ago while at my local library I came across a copy of the children’s book The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan. I was running late a
nd didn’t have time to read the book flap but because I was so intrigued by the cover I checked the book out. Later that night I began to read The Tiffin and was instantly hooked! Set in India the book tells the story of the rare time when a tiffin (a box lunch delivered by a dabbawalla) goes astray. The tiffin contained an important note which when lost results in devastating consequences. The Tiffin is a book that can be judged by it’s intriguing cover and I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading it from start to finish.
The next day, a wee bit sleep deprived, I spent some time on the computer researching the book and learning more about author Mahtab Narsimhan. Originally from Mumbai, India, Narsimhan now resides in Toronto, Canada. The catalyst that started her writing career was a tragic one. In 2003, devasted by her father’s death she began to write down her thoughts and memories of their life in India. These scribblings, along with her love for fantasy, morphed into the idea of writing a novel and her first book The Third Eye was published in 2007. Sequels The Silver Anklet followed in 2009 and The Deadly Conch in 2011. Narsimhan has also published two anthologies Piece by Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada (Penguin Canada, 2010) and Her Mother’s Ashes Part 3 (TSAR Publications, 2009).
The Tiffin has been nominated for several awards and is shortlisted by the Canadian Library Association for the 2012 Book of the Year for Children Award. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend you add it to your “Must Read” list. Check out this wonderful review of the book by West Vancouver librarian Shannon Ozirny (who you may remember was the MC at the VCLR Serendipity Conference that Marj and I presented at in Vancouver early this year). Shannon’s review was printed in the November 2011 issue of Quill and Quire and is partially reprinted here with Quill and Quire’s permission.
The Tiffin
by Mahtab Narsimhan
(Dancing Cat Books, 2011)
Reviewed by Shannon Ozirny
In the context of children’s literature, the term “other worlds” often connotes places that are purely imaginary and only reachable by an enchanted cabinet or peculiarly numbered train platform. But Toronto-based, Silver Birch Award–winning author Mahtab Narsimhan (the Tara Trilogy) introduces children to the “other world” of the dabbawallas of her native Mumbai. Despite being very real and accessible by traditional modes of transport, this world will be just as awe-inspiring for North American young people as any fantasy realm could hope to be (click here to read more!)
And here is the book trailer
Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Radha Chakravarty
The Land of Cards: Stories, Poems and Plays for Children
Puffin Classics, Penguin Books India 2010
Age 10 and up
Puffin Classics’ anthology of Rabindranath Tagore‘s work for children takes its title from his famous play. The Land of Cards is a country populated by the stiff, unbending cards of a traditional four-suit deck. They believe in and are rigidly ruled by rules. During the course of the play, the cards begin to realize their limitations, break through their bondage to superstitious beliefs, and claim their freedom. “The Land of Cards” exemplifies the humor and satire that make Tagore such a beloved literary figure, but the rest of this collection is also strong.
Radha Chakravarty’s translation begins with a selection of eleven poems. They capture for English readers some of the puns, rhythms and rhyming patterns that Tagore’s poetry is famous for in the original Bengali. The poems also present the themes of his work, including the outsmarting of the pretentious, the abuse of power, the silly wastefulness of bureaucracy, and the restorative power of the natural world.
Following the poems are three plays, “The Post Office” and “A Poetic Mood and Lack of Food” as well as the title play. It’s easy to imagine a talented teacher coaching a middle school class into a rousing performance of any of these. Even the shortest, “A Poetic Mood,” packs a punch, as a wealthy, pious hypocrite advises a penniless man to pay more attention to the beautiful day than to his hunger.
The final third of the book comprises eight stories, all both entertaining and morally instructive in Tagore’s witty way. “The Parrot’s Tale,” for example, describes the extravagant efforts of the king’s servants to “educate” a parrot by putting it in a golden cage and stuffing its mouth with textbook paper. The ridiculous situation ends with much money in the pockets of the king’s yes men–and a dead parrot. But since the bird no longer annoys people, no one cares.
The back matter includes a translator’s note and a “classic plus” section with a thoughtful Q&A on Tagore’s work, study questions and a brief glossary of Bengali words. Non-Indian children will need some orientation to the cultural context of Tagore’s writing; this anthology could be an excellent classroom resource or reference book as well as a pleasurable, instructive read for older children.
Charlotte Richardson
April 2012
It is common knowledge that children who attend school have a better chance of developing into their full potential and bringing about change in their communities. It’s hard to believe that, in this day and age, so many of the world’s children still aren’t given the opportunity of an education.
Dedicated to “all children who dream of going to school”, Going to School in India is a celebration of what school can be and mean to children. It shows and tells about all kinds of kids—from street kids to kids who go to government and community schools—and how they “climb into school buses, sit on each other’s laps in cycle rickshaws, walk along the edges of mountains, cross scorching deserts on rickety bicycles, swing across rivers on dangling swings-just to get to school.” A festive celebration of formal and informal school settings in India—and of the ways children get to them—this book also reminds us that, while millions of children do get to go to school each day, millions of others don’t.
Published by Shakti for Children (now Global Fund for Children Books) in partnership with Charlesbridge, Going to School in India (2005) is written by Lisa Heydlauff, with photos by Nitin Upadhye, and designed by B.M. Kamath. Royalties from the sale of the book support educational initiatives in India. Click here to learn more about author Lisa Heydlauff’s projects and her Going to School non-profit.
On a related note, in her 2009 interview for PaperTigers, Maya Ajmera, founder and president of the Global Fund for Children talked about the “moment of obligation” she experienced, over 20 years ago, when she stepped out onto a bustling train platform in India and came across an open-air classroom where children were being taught how to read and write—a moment that led her to start The Global Fund for Children. This anecdote illustrates what our Pacific Rim Voices executive director, Peter Coughlan, loves to say: “A ripple can become a tidal wave, an acorn an oak tree.” GFC nowadays reaches millions of children and youth around the world, and supports hundreds of educational projects, including mobile boat schools for children in Bangladesh, night classes for women and girls in the red light districts of India, and countless more.
A ripple can indeed turn into a tidal wave of goodness.
