Picture Books & Me - Book 1 - Salim Mamoo & Me by Zai Whitaker, Pictures by Prabha Mallya, Publisher - Tulika

 



Picture Books & Me - Book 1 - Salim Mamoo & Me (click on link to watch)

I joined the Diploma in Narrative Practices offered by Narrative Practices India in the year 2023 - 24 and through that did my first foreign solo trip to Nepal!

I did not blog about it...

I discovered a whole dimension to Picture Books during the exploration and diploma. Though I have been using picture books to tell stories, I realized I was missing out on the illustrations and the value pictures add to the storyline. 

I did not blog about it...

Finally I decided to blog about this: talking about one Picture Book that catches my attention and my personal connect to it. I plan to make short videos and upload on You - tube. 

These explorations will be organic and spontaneous and not as a promo for the book or the author. It is my way to capture my relationship with stories and images in picture books!

Salim Mamoo & Me:

The book opens with little Zai, all of 6 years who tells us having a famous Uncle is a problem! This is so relatable (being famous is not everyone's dream), and then she takes us through the whole drama around birding and all the family craziness! Again so relatable, as my husband and son are also avid birders and will wake up at zombie times to get to a location! Zai includes her cook into this madness as well...as I am the cook in the family, I too have to join in or be left out! 

There is one more thread that relates to my struggles with birding, and that is spotting and naming the birds correctly. Zai feigns an inability to see, which promptly makes her mother get spectacles for her, and when push comes to shove, even Mamoo pitches in to help her walk, thinking she cannot see very well! It ends with a grown up Zai, finally succeeding in identifying a bird and getting a pat from Salim Mamoo. 

I am not a six year old, but the struggle of naming is the same! I have reconciled to the fact that I may be a bird enthusiast, but I may never become a birder as the joy of identification is not my cup of tea. 

The subtle and gentle way Zai, gets us to notice birds and to know her ornithologist Uncle Salim is great storytelling. At the same time showcasing the passion of birders and the craziness that accompanies anyone who is hooked onto the wonders of nature, glides through the narrative. It is also about family being Ok with her initial disinterest and perhaps a message to people not to push youngsters into adult ways. It is also about how in the end one does pick up skills and that everyone has their own pace and interest to do things. The story is about curiosity, observation, acceptance and family!

I really don't have anything that I would like to change or add to the story!

So do watch the first video and let me know what thread catches your attention...

Here are links to other articles and stories that brings out the different dimensions of the BirdMan of India whose birthday is celebrated today, 12th November. He passed away in 1987 at the age of 90.

https://housefullofbooks.substack.com/p/the-boy-who-loved-birds-salim-ali

The Boy who Loved Birds: Salim Ali by Lavanya Karthik - reviewed by Roopa Baliga


https://www.readersdigest.in/rd-classics/story-the-remarkable-life-and-work-of-salim-ali-127181

Life of Salim Ali, as told by J.C.Daniel to Mohan Sivanand


https://sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/article/salim-ali%3A-an-appreciation-by-bittu-sahgal

An appreciation by Bittu Sahgal


ssstoryteller





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Object, A Story and Eco Feminism - Joymala an Assamese folktale

Image
 This is a story of Serendipity- of finding something valuable by chance! Recently at CSF 2025 (Chennai Storytelling Festival), I shared a folktale from Assam, an eco - feminist retelling of Joymala - The Elephant Queen - As I delved into the story many images stayed with me, the woman - nature bonding and even her passivity until she is pushed to the brink...literally! There was a word that became the fulcrum of the story - Jhari - and I went on an adventure trying to find out what it means. Some authors had interpreted it as silk threads (Tamil origin perhaps), while others called it a vessel used for worship.  I caught this thread and saw images online of bronze/ silver vessel used in Newari culture and worship.... In the folktale, A Golden Jhari is carried by Joymala into the kingdom of elephants, and when they pour waters from 7 rivers and 7 colours over her, it is this very same Jhari which merges into her face, transforming Joymala into the Elephant Queen! So... I was g...
Read more

50 Things that make me Happy - a Birthday Gift to Myself - 3rd Dec 2024

  50 things that make me Happy!  Gratitude rewires our brain and so does affirmations and positive statements. As I give Thanks to all that I have, this human mind will also wish for that little bit more. I wish that every positive dream of mine comes true and this list of 50 things, that is what I gift myself this year as I turn another year older!  50 Things that Make me Happy!! 1) Drinking sweet Ginger Tea! 2) Watching a mesmerizing sunrise or a sunset on the beach! 3) Sitting and talking to a friend on the sandy beach,watching the waves crashing onto the shore! 4) Taking long car drives with music playing! 5) Chatting with my daughter and son and loitering in the land of myriad meanderings! 6) Sipping hot coffee from my husband's steaming cup - just a sip! 7) Wearing a new dress that looks good! 8) Making and serving some delish food to my family or friends! 9) When friends and family enjoy what I make for them! 10) Choosing and buying a gift for a friend and they lik...
Read more

625 Moons and counting! - Externalising the story of my past, present and future through the landscape metaphor!

Like all stories, mine is a nested story.  Stories within stories. Yet it starts at the very beginning - a very good place to start. When you sing we begin with DO RE ME , when we read we begin with ABC, when we tell a story we begin with One upon a time.... there lived a person who knew a huge big tree! Let me open the door to the landscape of my birth and growing up. It was a Forest of Adventure! We had a huge tree near our lunch ground in school and the moment bell rang we would call dibs on who would get to climb the tree and eat while sitting on it. Life was full of adventure. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was my favorite book growing up and climbing trees was my favorite thing to do. Every day was an adventure. I eagerly looked forward to the new day – not for the studying part, but for the newness that awaited me at school and dance and sometimes music class! Dance class was in a community hall with place to play in front and even huge gulmohur trees! My dance teach...
Read more