A few months ago, Ishani conveyed to us that she did not want to continue her swimming lessons. On probing, we found that she wanted to discontinue because she was scared – ‘what if I drown’ she said. I did what I know best- found books to help us deal with this. While on this topic, we chose to read about the Syrian swimmer, Sarah Mardini, from the book ‘Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls‘. With this, Ishani started to develop an interest in women achievers and we slowly built our collection. Ishani (who is now 6.5 years old), spent her summer vacation reading these books and chose them as her Book Bingo topic this year.
Here is a brief review of the books we read.
- Suni Goes to Space (a story inspired by Sunita Williams): The book is inspired by the story of the Indian-origin American astronaut, Sunita Williams, who is one of the most experienced spacewalkers in the world. We were amazed by her inspiring story of how her inquisitiveness led her to become an astronaut. While Arthy Muthanna Singh and Mamta Nainy have done an amazing job at writing the story in the most engaging manner, Aniruddha Mukherjee’s illustrations are marvellous.
- Braving the Bullet (a story inspired by Malala Yousafzai): This book opened up so many discussions at home. Ishani was taken aback knowing why anyone would not allow girls to go to school. We discussed about how girls were not allowed a to do a lot of things in olden times and how in some places, that still applies. She marvelled at Malala’s courage to have stood up against the Taliban and was really grateful that Malala was able to ‘brave the bullet’. This book is not only inspiring, it also gave us the opportunity to talk on sensitive topics.
- Kalpana Chawla- a story of determination (Tota Books): A girl fascinated by airplanes and the idea of flying goes on to become the first Indian-American astronaut and the first Indian woman in space – the story of Kalpana Chawla is nothing short of determination and grit. This book written and illustrated by Falguni Gokhale narrates Kalpana Chawla’s life in the easiest language. The fact that her space shuttle crashed is a hard fact which is difficult for children to accept. It took Ishani a few days to overcome that but nonetheless, this is a truly inspiring story. We even followed up on this book by visiting the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai where we learnt more about Kalpana Chawla and her truly fascinating career.
- Rani of Jhansi- a story of courage (Tota Books): Originally hailing from the Bundelkhand area in Northern India, the story of Rani Lakshmibai is really close to my heart. Poetess Subhadra Kumari Chauhan had narrated Rani Lakshmibai’s struggle beautifully and I get goosebumps, every time I read the poem. So, while I really wanted to introduce Ishani to this story, I was not finding the right beginning or the words to narrate this story. Falguni Gokhale took that worry away from me. She has narrated and illustrated the story beautifully and in words that a child can easily understand. It’s a fact that Rani of Jhansi is a role model for many girls, including me. So, reading this book with Ishani was truly a surreal experience as I introduced my child to my role model.
- Like a Girl (real stories for tough kids): Seeing Ishani’s love for reading and the fact that she was reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a neighbour lent this book to us. We have mixed feelings about this book written by Aparna Jain. While we have been reading Good Night stories for Rebel Girls, what I was always bothered about was that only few stories there were about Indian women, so this book came in as a welcome relief. I love the fact that the book captures the stories of the Indian women who made a difference. I would recommend this book for 9+ year olds as it does talk of sensitive topics like riots, rape etc. I have chosen to read some stories with Ishani and at this age (6.5 years), she is allowed to read this one only with me. Personally, some of the women included here should not have been included as role models and hence the mixed feelings about the book. However, I would still recommend reading this book for older children but I would also caution the parents to definitely discuss each of the role models and share the related history with their children. Some of the art work by Ayesha Broacha is exceptionally beautiful.
- Michelle Obama (The Fantastically Feminist (and Totally True) Story of the Inspirational Activist and Campaigner): An exemplary woman, an inspiring personality- what a life is Michelle Obama! Anna Doherty has done such a fabulous job at writing and illustrating this book. This was another book that opened up discussion on sensitive topics for us. We talked about the struggles of people of colour. It helped Ishani understand the depth of Michelle Obama’s work. We really liked the charcoal illustrations- it was different and interesting- another art form that we discussed. Michelle Obama’s success, her passion to make the world a better a better place and her work on encouraging girls to stay in school has truly inspired Ishani and she has been reading this book multiple times.
- Emma Watson (The Fantastically Feminist (and Totally True) Story of the Astounding Actor and Activist): Multiple times in the past, Ishani and I have discussed how it is possible for one person to pursue multiple career interests. Emma Watson, a successful actor and her life in activism, helped me explain this to Ishani. Emma Watson’s work in the field of equality for women worth praise. Another book that helped us talk about sensitive topics- gender inequality and related work as well as world topics like the UN. Another beautifully written and illustrated book by Anna Doherty.
- Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart: These books from the series Little People, Big Dreams are a must have for little ones. It captures the story of each of these talented people from their childhood to adulthood in such a simple language and illustrations. While the recommended age for these books is higher, we have been reading these books since Ishani was around 2.5 years old and she still reads them on her own. We plan to get more of the books from this series.
- Roshan’s Road to Music (The Magic Makers series by Puffin books): Annapurna Devi’s story is one of patience and dedication. We love Mamta Nainy’s style of writing- she has the ability to bring colour and magic in the simplest of things. After reading this book, we also started to try and listen to music in the whirring of the machine (there is no scrb-splat happening anymore!), the than-than from the kitchen and the ‘Khurr-phiss’ of Grandpa’s snores! We also marvelled at Annapurna Devi’s (born Roshanara Khan) dedication to music. Her first music lessons were learnt while listening to her father teaching her brother. She went on to excel as a Subahar player which is a very difficult instrument to play.
- That Big-Voiced Girl (The Magic Makers series by Puffin books): I have always admired Usha Uthup for how she has embraced her uniqueness and earned a name for herself. Mamta Nainy has again worked magic with this book about Usha Uthup- the big voiced girl. The book talks about her struggle when her voice was not really appreciated and how she stood her ground and worked towards achieving her current success. She broke all stereotypes and became the Queen of Pop. The book shows children that one can achieve their dreams despite whatever challenges come their way.
- The Girl Who Climbed Mountains- Bachedri Pal (Dreamers Series by Duckbill Books): The first Indian woman to climb the Mount Everest, Bachendri Pal, had her first mountain expedition when she was a day short of her 13th birthday. Lavanya Karthik describes this experience in such a surreal way that makes you a part of the event. Fighting the demons, she later goes on to become a professional mountaineer. Putting your heart to where you want to be and then fighting with all the demons (fear, challenge, pressures etc.) that try to push you back- a message to take away from this book- can not be put in easier words! The illustrations are beautifully unique.
- The Girl Who Loved To Sing – Teejan Bai (Dreamers Series by Duckbill Books): Teejan Bai’s struggle has been difficult to imagine. While reading this book with Ishani, I was overcome with grief many a times. The book does talk about practices like female infanticide and child marriage which I skipped talking about with Ishani. But we talked about Teejan Bai’s love and passion for music despite the societal pressures she faced. The words ‘jhun jhuni’ and ‘paagalpana’ describe her passion so well. Lavanya Karthik has brought the story to life with her style of writing as well as the illustrations. We also watched some of Teejan Bai’s performances after reading this book
We also read biographies of Janaki Ammal, PT Usha and Mahasweta Devi (all the reviews are already on this website) from the Dreamers Series by Lavanya Karthik. Each one of them is beautifully written and illustrated (with unique art forms). Each of these stories have inspired us and made us believe in persistence and dedication.
We have totally loved reading all these books on the women empowerment theme; thanks to this year’s innovative Book Bingo idea. It has brought out such unique listicles while encouraging children to make their own choices independently.
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the book titles & images have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
