Illustrator: Eshita Munshi
Another gem from Pratham Publication, this translated story surrounds
a mango that falls from a tree and the reactions of animals after it lands on
the ground.
Beginning with a pigeon, a rabbit, and a squirrel, who are
playing when the mango falls from the tree, to the seed of the mango lying on
the ground after a cuckoo comes and eats it up, the author has woven the story
sequentially.
Each page contains a surprise element as a different set of animals
approach the mango seed - a curious rat, an owl, a monkey, a nightingale, a
duck, goat, an onlooker crow, a spider, mongoose, and a lion and a lioness that
walk past the mango seed.
Rain and thunder follows, making the elephant trumpet
loudly and shake a tree full of parrots. There are intricate pictorial details of a hen pecking at the seed, a leaf acting as an umbrella for the hen, and a beetle climbing the elephant's leg. After
the rains stop, the rabbit, pigeon and
squirrel watch a tiny plant grow from the seed.
Eshita Munshi’s illustrations visually stimulate children’s
imagination of nature, rains, and reactions of various animals to the mango seed
and the tiny plant which grows from it after the rains. The author has managed
to even evoke reactions of the plant upon seeing the goat approach it as well
as the reaction of the goat upon seeing the lion and the lioness returning from
the pond.
One of the specialties of Pratham books is that they pose
questions to children at the end of the book and leave the story open ended “what
do you think happened next?”
This Level 2 reader succeeds in stimulating imagination and enhancing
vocabulary too.
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