And Ed finds a way to our hearts! [Review]

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Book Title: Ed finds a Home [The Adventures of Ed-a-Mamma]
Author: Alia Bhatt
Illustrator: Tanvi Bhat
Publisher: Puffin
Type: Paperback
Length: 40 pages
Recommended Age: 4-8 years

Ananya being an animal lover could not have asked for anything more when she got this copy for review. Books about animals have deepened her love for them even more – in fact, she’s ‘hounding’ us to get a pet home; we even designed our first KBC Bingo entry last month, on this theme.

This story is about two lonely souls who find solace in each other’s company. Set on a bright happy Sunday morning, Ed is a little dog sitting next to a trash bin on the beach. He seems frightened and hungry and is asking for help. However, nobody is able to understand his call for help – they just hear a ‘woof, woof’!

There is a girl – Alia who lives by the beach with her parents. This girl has an unknown superpower – she is a nature whisperer – someone who can converse with trees, animals and birds. The girl feels lonely at home as her parents are busy with daily chores. Suddenly, one day, she hears a crow call out to her “go to the beach, somebody needs you”. The girl rushes to the beach and finds a dog (Ed) by the trash bin. Alia soon becomes friends with the dog and the crow, each sharing their back stories and concerns. Alia wants to adopt Ed but her parents are not in favour. Will Alia be able to adopt Ed? Will they be able to stay together?

Ananya loved the story to bits. The messaging is bang on. The illustrations are cute – for a moment, even I felt like getting an Ed home, but alas!

The story touches upon various topics which made it easy for me and Ananya to discuss the following pointers:

1. Pet adoptions going wrong – It’s becoming a huge fad to get a pet. We have seen this quite closely in our own community where a known family adopted a dog, only to realize later that having a pet is a huge responsibility. Animals have emotions too so you can’t just pick and leave them behind any time. Ananya understands this better now as to why we can’t become pet parents, given our circumstances.

2. Deforestation in the name of development is impacting nature’s equilibrium. Depleting forest covers has only aided higher pollution levels and causing widespread straying (or rather WE are encroaching into Animals’ homes!). Emphasis on safeguarding our forest covers and teaching our kids the consequence of environmental degradation is imperative in current times.

3. Poor garbage disposal practices hampering ecological balance.

Have you ever thought of scenarios where one can be kind to another soul, humans or otherwise. If your answer to this question is yes, then this book takes you further into that direction of celebrating kindness, and empathy. The book also encourages everyone to listen to mother nature’s call for help, which is quite loud and clear now!

If you found this review interesting and would like to know more about Ed & Alia’s adventures, you can order this book from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),

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Disclaimer: Pooja and her daughters are a part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received this book as a review copy from the publisher via kbc.