Welcome to the 10 must reads for February, where we feature painstakingly curated literature for children across four different age groups.
From the hordes of books we bring to you and intend to keep bringing to you over time, we’ve selected 10 books that we just love love love. You might even say they’ve just #enchanted us! Without wasting any time, let’s cut to the chase.
- Treasures from Tibet – Malavika Navale
- Wanted: Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar – Emily Mackenzie
- The Fintastic Diary of Darcy Dolphin – Sam Watkins
- Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth – Judd Winnick
- Peanut has a plan – Yashodhara Lal
- The Banana Machine – Alexander Macall Smith
- Talon the Falcon – Deepak Dalal
- The Boy who swam with Pirhanas – David Almond
- Muezza and Baby Jaan – Anita Nair
- What not to do if you turn invisible – Ross Welford
Treasures from Tibet – Malavika Navale
Talking about little pleasures, one of these is reading with Grandma. And Treasures from Tibet was the perfect fit for this. It’s a remarkable story about the unfettered love between a Grandma and her grandchild. Momo Ley and Pema bond so effortlessly over small pleasures.
What we love: Treasures from Tibet is set in a cold, cold place but the book sure brings a lot of warmth to our hearts.
What kids will love: Reading with Grandma can be such a fun experience. With both books, kids will love the bright illustrations!
Wanted: Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar – Emily Mackenzie
We had such a hard time choosing between this one and another super book. But this one won because we’re not very different from Ralfy the Rabbit the bumbling bunny who is wanted under bibliophilia and Grand theft Lito! Apparently Ralfy is crazy for books and loves to read but gets into the terrible habit of stealing to feed this obsession. Good Bunny Lord in the sky! Will someone talk sense into this bunny burglar!?
What we love: A bunny addicted to reading!? That was almost our mascot! What’s not to love!?
What kids will love: Emily Mackenzie will make sure they chuckle when they read about his adventures. Be careful though, bibiliophilia is highly contagious!
The Fintastic Diary of Darcy Dolphin – Sam Watkins
Considering that we are crippled bibliophiles ourselves, we also put in a third book into our list for the age group 5 to 6. Darcy the dolphin is about an innocuous little marine mammal named Darcy who chronicles any and everything in a diary. This crazy Dolphin wants a pet and has to deal with auditions for the role of Finderella! What? So much to do such little time.
What we love: We love that Darcy’s life sounds like the life of any regular school going kid. Except, the life is underwater.
What kids will love: Well, the fantastical story about a Dolphin who goes to school might inspire them to “not-act- sick” the next time they want to bunk school.
Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth – Judd Winnick
Moving on from the tiny bibliophiles to a little grown up bibliophages between the ages of 7 and 8. With this age group the excitement just swells. Imagine a bunch of kids come running, yelling “We saw an alien, we saw an alien”. Well, it’s not every day that this product of fertile imagination is actually true. Hilo the alien found himself falling butt first on Earth and landing straight in D.J. and Gina’s neighbourhood. What conspired after that, will restore your faith in humanity. D.J. and Gina adopted Hilo as one of their own and now, have to deal with the crazy antics of this adorable alien. Nobody imagined D.J. would ever have to say “ NO YOU CANNOT GO TO SCHOOL IN UNDERPANTS” and “NO YOU CANNOT EAT CANDY FOR BREAKFAST”… What? Is it possible that D.J. and Gina are growing up? Well, you gotta read to find out.
What we love: The quirky friends who grow up a little while telling Hilo what not to do.
What kids will love: Hilo is Hilarious.
Peanut has a plan – Yashodhara Lal
Talking about crazy little children, here’s another crazy girl. We bring you Peanut, who presumably has a plan in her mind about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.! No, I mean it. Peanut’s goofy, out-of- this-world plans have some insane consequences. Obviously, mum got tired of these and forbade her from hatching any more of them. But when the adorable pupper next door falls into trouble, it’s Peanut to the rescue.
What we love: This is definitely, Friday night after dinner family reading kind of material!
What kids will love: Silly Peanut is guaranteed to resonate with the minds of the young audiences with the hilarious antics she’s trying to pull off. It also manages to pull at the heart strings as a mother daughter relationship blossoms.
The Banana Machine – Alexander Macall Smith
Where there’s one crazy idea, the next one isn’t that far away. We present, The Banana machine! Yes, it does exactly what it says it will do. The Banana machine is a contraption built by Patty with her aunt Bat to increase the banana production from her farm in Jamaica. But will the Banana machine succeed, Mahn ? Or will the machine go berserk while Pat and Bat are left with a smushy pile of over ripe Bananas !?
What we love: Patty wants to help her aunt Bat. It helps teach Patty responsibility and feeds her curiosity of mechanics.
What kids will love: It will definitely drive the kids Bananas!
Talon the Falcon – Deepak Dalal
The 9 to 10 age group was a toughie this time. We wanted to make their tiny minds explode with excitement. So, we got two mystery filled and escape-plan- demanding action packed books this time. Here’s a whopper from Deepak Dalal, Talon the Falcon. And boy has he hit it of the park with this one. Friendships can get you through some really tough times in your life. Sometimes our friends give us courage to do things we’ve never imagined. Something similar happened to Talon the falcon, who’s caged by poachers and is held captive. When Shikhar the Squirrel gets tired of his moaning and groaning about freedom, he gives Talon some tough love. And they hatch a plan to escape from the clutches of these horrid poachers
What we love: The wonderfully designed cover feeds the imagination and curiosity of the nascent mind.
What kids will love: The mystery ! Do they escape? Oh we never reveal the suspense of a mystery novel!
The Boy who swam with Pirhanas – David Almond
And *DRUMROLLS* “THE BOY WHO SWAM WITH PIRANHAS”, a brave little boy whose icthiophilia will put Captain Ahab’s to shame. But in a totally adorable and cool way. Stanley Potts who is an insane fish lover meets an even crazier fish lover, the man in the blue suit, Pancho Pirelli and what transpires between them after that is stuff that legends are made off. Stanley is such a fish crazy kid that he’s even ready to jump into the lake with dangerous Piranhas, not discounting, under Pancho’s guidance who has seen “All the fish in the sea”. This underwater adventure will definitely leave you hankering for a swim…
What we love: The sheer inspiration that is Stanley Potts, pushing the limits of fear to pursue his dream.
What kids will love: The wonderfully descriptive language which brings the book alive.
Muezza and Baby Jaan – Anita Nair
Finally, last but not the least. For our “mature” audiences between the age group of 11 to 12,we brought some characters with fantastic back stories. Here’s Muezza and Baby Jaan. Here’s an adorable camel and a kitty cat whose unusual friendship brings about some pretty interesting conversations. But the Baby camel is a genie in disguise and the cat is none other than Prophet Muhammed’s favourite feline! Will they spot the elusive rewards of friendship? Or will be a mirage?
What we love: Muezza and Baby Jaan succeeds in amalgamating religious teachings and some beautiful heart rendering stories.
What kids will love: Whoa! Some really interesting stories to share we bet! And in a surreal desert journey which never ends.
What not to do if you turn invisible – Ross Welford
Speaking about deserts and mirages, our final book for February sure has a terrific figment of imagination ! We had a crazy idea. After TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER which makes you go “Huh !? How would I even land in that situation !?” he brings to us “WHAT NOT TO DO IF YOU TURN INVIVIBLE”. Whether it comes from personal experience of Ross being invisible himself, is a question best answered at a later time.
What we love: A marvellously funny author, Ross Welford taking us through his well thought up fantastical storylines.
What kids will love: The ridiculously funny anecdotes of Ethel and Boydy will leave them bawling.
Content Source:
To buy any of these books you can visit Enchantico.
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A doting mom to an angel, Social Media Specialist & Professional Blogger. She loves to share her thoughts with other parents in the same turbulent boat. She absolutely loves & adores her family & is learning to strike a good work-life balance. When she is not writing, cooking or busy taking care of her toddler, she probably is dancing to some good desi music!