Timmi in Tangles
Author: 
Shals Mahajan
Illustrator: 
Shreya Sen
age group: 
7+ yrs
Number of pages: 
69
Publisher: 
Duckbill
Themes:
imagination childhood
Genre:
fiction, humour
 

 

One afternoon, Kamal Mausi told Timmi the story of the Raja of Ramirpur. He had a big palace and shiny gold clothes... No wonder, little Timmi fed on a diet of fantasy by her maid, Kamal Mausi, had such vivid imagination. One just cannot help falling in love with Timmi, a precocious little girl with a big imagination whose house was filled with imaginary friends - a big helpful giant, named Juju, and greedy Idli-Amma, a dwarf like friend who loved gobbling down idlis.

The book has four short stories and all four are filled with the warmth of love, humour and innocence.

In the first story, her imagination fired by the story of the Raja of Ramirpur, Timmi decides that she would prefer being a raja than go to school. In another story she is longing to play in the rain – a pastime prohibited by her mother as she did not possess a strong constitution. When she innocently requests to her mother to buy her a constitution and her request only results in peals of laughter, Timmi bides her time and one day when it is pouring, she summons her friend Juju, the giant, to lift up the roof and let the rain into the house with predictable results.

The stories, set as they are within a very believable contemporary Indian home, one that children will easily identify with, are sure to be a hit with the young readers.

A fun read!


 

Reviewed by Shamim Padamsee