Klishmaklaver

    Book Title:  Mashenka Author:  Agnia Barto Translated from the Russian by Avril Pyman Drawings by  Willi Trubkovich Publisher:  Progress Publishers 1976 Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics My Rating:  ***** 1/100 MASHENKA by Agnia Barto With this book my 6yo son + 3yo son (Together known as 'Udhishu'!) + I have set off to complete the  ‪#‎ 100bookpact‬ . This book is a Russian publication- a 1980 EDITION! So it basically means this book has been in existence even before I was born. The whole of December carries the mood of Christmas for me.(Its also my birthday and hence the celebrational mood is in an overdrive! Teehee.... ) So what better time than this to let my children-Udhishu, inherit this book? I clearly remember Pa gifting me this poetry book among a huge pile of other great books for my third or fourth birthday and then mum would pick out one book for me and read from it. *Nostalgia* I am immense...

Hama-Guri Goes to School- Children’s stories Author- Aditi Bose Publisher- Cresco Books My Rating- ***1/2 About the Author-  A management professional from Delhi, Aditi is a popular Indian blogger who has written numerous interesting stories of Hama-Guri before. Getting to preview a book before its publishing is a great privilege and to review it is a great responsibility. I am even averse to reading E-books but since it is going to be a book for kids, I couldn't help but jump at the opportunity. This book has the most minimalist cover and to judge the book by it would be wrong. The solid yellow may create a recall value but since its a children's book, I's expect a little more pains taken for a good illustrated cover. Maybe a caricature of the boy-Hama Guri would have been great!  This cover may also works in its advantage because I began reading with an open mind. I was looking for good vocabulary and correct selection of words and as I read I was...

I am an avid reader.  Now a published author. And I attribute all that I am today to the stories my parents read to me as a child and the great morals and values I imbibed from them. It was in my parent's laps that I learnt about how the world really is outside my secure home. And about how I can overcome the hurdles that it may place before me. I still have in my collection the very first book gifted to me by my father- 'The Aesop's Fables'. I must have been a first grader when I began learning to read aloud. The best part of the story, for me, came at the very end- The moral of the story. It was like a sweet confectionery that came as a reward after having done a good deed. It gave a sense of purpose to all the story telling. As I grew up I found paradise in the local library between piles of books full of wonderful stories. I brought a couple home everyday and devoured them. At school we were given rapid readers and English soon became my favorite subject...