0 J is Junior Kumbhakarna

Part of the A to Z blogging challenge #atozchallenge

The Book:

The book "Junior Kumbhakarna" written by Arundhati Venkatesh and illustrated by Shreya Sen is a story of Kumbhakarna who loves to eat and sleep.

The Bubble:
The book is a story within a story. A story -loving  little boy  , Kukku asks for the story of Kumbhakarna to be told to him at bed time. The dad narrates the story of this food loving, sleep loving giant who eats a heavy meal and goes off into deep slumber. So does Kuku. The rest of the story is Kuku's dream.

Kukku dreams of how a herd of donkeys, trumpets, drums, animals, birds and elephants walking on the giant attempt to wake the giant up.  Even food in the form of laddoos is brought to awaken the giant. The sound , the smell of food nothing has an effect on the sleeping giant.

What wakes the giant up? What brings the little Kuku out of his dream?

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We loved the details in the illustrations which shows how the little boy, Kuku goes to sleep midway through the story as does the Kumbhakarna in the story being told. Wordless message, that for the reader.

Lovely illustrations, mythology, humorous and a easy to relate story line, love for stories, the impact of stories on a child's dream and the power of a dream in a child's everyday life - (even if as trivial as asking for a laddoo) - all packed well into the book!

The Kuku's sleep scene is "deja-vu" in many a household with book loving children - who demand a book to be read or a story to be told again and again at bed time. You won't be surprised if this book takes that place to be read again and again in your household.

We bought ours at Atta Galatta at the book launch and our copy is signed by the author herself.
We give it 4 bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
Giggling away to glory is what the bubbling did every time we read the book. The bubbling at 2,  doesn't yet relate to the dreamy effect of the story but sure loves the illustrations and picture reads few pages - the frightened birds and animals scene, the elephant troupe scene.
It is a bubbling-fab-four.

0 Day #25: 30 books in 30 days : Food

As part of the 30 books in 30 days challenge, everyday of the challenge we will post a reading prompt to motivate you to read books.

Day #25 : Reading prompt : Food

March 25, Pancakes were first made on this day in 1882. The reading prompt honors that.

Let us read books on Food.

Our picks:

1. Pancakes, Pancakes - Eric Carle - Fits the prompt to a "T". A pancake made from scratch starting from collecting the grain, grinding it at the miller, chaffing; Feeding the hen the grains for it to lay an egg, milking the cow, churning butter out of the cream from the milk. Go make a pancake with your little ones. 

2.  Stone Soup - Retold and Illustrated by Jon Muth : An Arthi Anand pick for Kindness prompt - This is a story of kindness and sharing. Three monks trick a community which doesn't believe in sharing, saying they are going to make a soup out of stone. The onlookers who otherwise are locked in their homes, start getting all the ingredients they have and end up making the richest soup ever. Watch this here. 

3. Junior Kumbhakarna - Arundhati Venkatesh - Kumbhakarna is one who hogs food, burps and snores away into deep slumber for months together. No braying of donkeys, an elephant herd, trumpets or even the smell of laddoos would wake him up. 
But when the school bus call wakes up our Junior Kumbakharna, he asks first for the Laddoo. Enjoy the Laddoo loving , story loving Jr KuKu is this book. Everyone loves stories, ain't it? Read the author's and the illustrator's interview here. 

Cook a meal , Eat well , Read a book and come back here to tell what you cooked, ate and read.