Some books and an award...

The First Well (A folk tale retold. Published by Book Box): 
Pattu Rating: 4.2

A samurai warrior goes in search of water when rains fail his kingdom. He brings back a huge icicle from the cold mountain cave following the advice of an old lady. By the time he gets back to his kingdom, there's only a small lump left of the icicle and people think it is a water seed. They dig a pit to plant the seed and the moment the seed is dropped, it disappears and then begins the frantic search for the elusive seed. They dig deeper to find the seed and what do they find eventually?


Who wants Arthur? - Amanda Graham, Illustration: Donna Gynell. 
Pattu Rating: 4.5

A very endearing story. Arthur is an ordinary dog in a pet shop eagerly awaiting his turn to find his home. Luck favours the Rabbit the first day and Arthur thinks he could find a home if he is as cute as a rabbit. So he practices that night to hop like a rabbit and eats carrots too. The next day his rabbit tricks fail as the customer prefers a snake and so every night he practices to be something else, all in the hope to find his home. Does he finally find his home? And how?
I like this one because it goes to prove that people would eventually like you for what you are and not what you pretend to be.

Norbu's New Shoes - Chewang Dorji Bhutia. 
Pattu Rating: 4.7

First thing - Norbu looks so cute! Pattu immediately connected with him.
Norbu gets a gift from his dad - a pair of bright yellow shoes, and he is thrilled! The happiness doesn't last long though as he loses it eventually. This book introduces a different culture - Bhuddism, Monastery, etc. What I liked: Norbu doesn't get his shoes back but something else cheers him up and he goes on leaving the shoes behind (and probably learning a lesson).

Greedy Miss Miao - Amar Chitra Katha. 
Pattu Rating: 4.5

Cat steals milk, chased by old lady manages to escape only to find itself in a jungle. Jungle animals take the cat to be the wise one who will protect the jungle and its creatures. Cat is well fed and looked after and leads a royal life, all the while plotting to eat the mouse one day. Well, nothing too good lasts too long ...

Best Friends - Nina Sabnani 
Pattu Rating: 4.2

Lovely story about a little girl's relationship with a tree. This is just the kind of story that young children should grow up reading. It is rather disheartening to see adults chopping off trees to accommodate illegal extensions of their apartments. Hopefully, stories like these would help our children develop healthier sentiments towards our green friends.

The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten - The Magic School Bus Series. 
Pattu Rating: 5

I wasn't planning to read this for Pattu yet but something about the book seemed to have caught her fancy and she insisted on reading this. I didn't think she would understand food chain but I was surprised that she did. This is one of those books that she wanted me to read a hundred times. Once she gets hooked like this, she wouldn't be receptive to starting a new book. The only strategy is to hide the book and say that it got lost. I knew taht she understood food chain when she asked me, 'Amma, I eat carrot...who will eat me?'

The Rooster and the Sun - Meren Imchen. 
Pattu Rating: 5

Another sticky book that I had to hide from Pattu! Why does the Mighty Sun scramble out of bed at the rooster's call? Find out!

And I've got an award from Swati - Thank you lady!

And I pass it on to Lavanya, Jayashree and Hema.