Eecha Poocha
Illustrator:
Ashok Rajagopalan age group:
3+ yrsNumber of pages:
24Publisher:
TulikaThemes:
kerala
folktales
cats
Genre:
fiction, picture book, folktale
“One day Eecha the fly and Poocha the cat made the most delicious rice soup.”
So begins this Malyali folk tale from Kerala about Poocha, who drinks up all the soup and finds that her stomach has become enormous. Frantic, she approaches a cow, a boy, a stick, a tree, a bird and a hunter for help. And when her big, fat stomach finally disappears she finds that she is in even greater trouble.
This simple, rather repetitive story will work only with very young children.
The illustrations are basic and not too inviting.
All in all, a limited book.
Comments
My first book
This was my first book as illustrator, and first of my 20 books with Tulika. Those days I was an animator, and wanted to bring animation to a static page. I did what Futurists do: I drew five paws for Poocha the cat when it waved to Eecha the fly, A blur of orange and stripes where Poocha runs for his life, three heads for the hunter when he turns his head, and so on. Not my best art, in terms of skill, but one of my best ideas for style. Another reason for this treatment was the rhythmic text; I wanted to have a parallel rhythm in the visuals.
I enjoyed doing this book and felt very proud when I saw my name on the cover. I dedicated this to my parents since my father was my first Art guru and my mother was my first fan.