Tara and the Friendship Theorem – A Camping Adventure Mixed with Maths! [Review]

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Title: Tara and the Friendship Theorem
Author: Chitra Soundar
Illustrator: Annada Menon
Type: Paperback
Pages: 256
Publisher: Penguin Random House, India
Age: 7 years onwards (publisher recommendation is 9 years+)

We got this book as part of #kbcReviewerSquad and we feel happy and privileged to be part of it as we are free to have our opinions and give an honest review of the book.  This review is posted on behalf of my 10-year-old, Miss. M. Here’s what she has to say about the book:

This book is about a girl named Tara who is fond of numbers. She can do calculations (like Shakuntala Devi) in a second!! She has a BFF named Farida. They are called the “Inseparable Sisters”. They are always found together playing Pallanguzhi, an Indian game. But then, Tara and her family had to move to the UK. Tara gets worried just at the thought of going away from her dear friend yet she had to move.

In the UK as her parents take time to settle down in their new house, Tara and her brother Kapil are sent to Camp Wilderness. Tara who is fond of numbers is not much amused about camping outdoors. So she plans to find a friend for herself in the camp using the Friendship Theorem (interesting right?). Does her theorem help, does she find a friend or not is what makes for the rest of the story…

The cover page by Annada Menon is vibrant while the black and white illustrations on the inside pages are simple and cute.

Here are a few points that I particularly loved about the book:

1. The adventure at Camp Wilderness was amazing.
2. The book talks about Pallanguzhi and the author, Chitra Soundar tells how to play the game in the introduction. I was surprised to find a mention of an Indian game.
3. For the first time I came across the word theorem and it intrigued me. I also like Tara’s theorem.
4. One of the characters, Toby, owns a dog named Bailey. Bailey’s antics were so much fun.
5. At the start of each chapter there were interesting facts on numbers.
6. I was amazed to know Math patterns can be found in a forest too.
7. The characters in the story, especially, Tara’s camp mates felt so relatable. Especially, Millie – my favourite.
8. I also liked the part where everyone opened up about their own struggles and fears.
9. The way Tara’s BFF, Farida, leaves her with a secret message that Tara finds towards the end, and everything that happened in the Camp suddenly starts to make sense to her, is wonderful. How sweet of Farida!
10. My favourite quote:
    
    “Strangers are friends we haven’t come to know yet”.
    
    How true right?

If you love adventure stories, if you enjoy friendship chronicles, if you wonder how Maths can interest someone and be fun, then grab this book, immediately. This book is total fun and I enjoyed it to the bits.

If you enjoyed this review and want to go to a Wilderness Camp like I do, you can grab this book from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),

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