In collaboration with Tulika Books, we present book reviews every month of new age stories and age old fables, to preserve and promote the habit of reading amongst all children.
We have all woken up to our grandmothers asking us if we saw their missing pair of glasses anywhere, only to point them perched right atop their crown. In Ammachi’s (grandmother in Malayalam) case though, the glasses are missing for real, and they lead to a barrage of hilariously dramatic incidents.
Priya Kuriyan is an award-winning illustrator and has been praised for her “rare ability to get inside a child’s mind.” Her silent book, Ammachi’s Glasses, takes its readers through a roller coaster of a day in a Malayali household. Each page is packed with Kuriyan’s endearing illustrations, depicting with vivid detail the many hilarious incidents that unfold after Ammachi’s glasses go missing.
From dunking a slipper in her sambhar rice and washing a disgruntled cat to sleeping atop a tree, Ammachi’s shenanigans are brought to life with brightly coloured illustrations. Ammachi’s Glasses is a fun book for all ages. For the younger minds, the book can be a fun beginning to creative writing as each illustration is sure to evoke curiosity and creativity.
Special mention must also be made to the spectacular details in the illustration. From the father reading a newspaper named ‘Hindoo’ at the breakfast table to a kitchen full of jackfruits and coconuts, Kuriyan has spared no detail. Our favourite, though, is Ammachi in her all her Malayali glory, donning the traditional chatta and mundu (a white top with a wrap-like cloth for the waist.)
To conclude, Ammachi’s Glasses is a joyride that all must get on to for it has unending gifts of nostalgia and imagination packed in one.
