Book Title: When Mommy Was a Little Girl | Edited by Pranav Kumar Singh | Illustrated by Abhilasha Khatri | Publisher : Ponytale Books
By ANJALI NAURIYAL
‘When Mommy Was a Little Girl’ has the makings of book made for a lifetime of reading! As the title suggests ‘When mommy was a Little Girl’ is a delightful collection of 15 engaging stories that are relatable to all of us who have been children once upon a time and continue to nurture the child within in adulthood as well! A ‘mother-connect’ makes for a captivating children’s book. It is just so wonderful to get a peek into the world wherein your mom surely must have been as naughty, naïve, adventurous, mean or inquisitive as you as a child. This sure seems a good thread to weave together a world that can prod and urge children to respond to literature that is rooted in their own deep experiences. This is good ground for buttressing solid emotional intelligence, creativity and a world of imagination, especially in young Gen-Y readers.
The settings, plots, characters, relationships, themes, vocabulary and storylines in these stories make for a familiar world that one wants to visit over and over again. Fifteen mothers from different backgrounds in India regale readers with anecdotes and narratives of various activities they indulged in as little girls. These include an adorable account of how a mother got a pet, how a mom treated her doll, how a mom learnt an important lesson, how a mommy climbed a guava tree, how mommy saw a ghost, how mother lost her plait and how mom learnt to ride a bicycle. There are accounts of sibling rivalry too such as how mommy made her brother come second or how mommy taught her baby brother a lesson. The illustrations by Abhilasha Khatri are aesthetically done. They are quite communicating and efficaciously represent the vision, message or perception of the authors. Stimulating the imaginations of young and old alike the stories in this anthology are bound to touch hearts for a long time.
