Rosh's Reviews

Author: Bonnie Grubman Illustrator: Judi Abbot Genre: Children's Picture Book Rating:4.5 stars. A cute and funny retelling of the Aesop’s Fables story, “Who will Bell the Cat?” Elwood, Bernardo, and Vincent are cute mice living a comfortable life in a big old house. But one fine day, oh horror! The humans have brought home a large cat. After brainstorming for a while, the trio hit upon a solution – tie a bell around the cat’s neck. But who will do the brave job? As a team, they try various ways of belling the cat but something or the other always goes awry. However, there’s a twist in the tale, followed by another twist. This is the kind of story that children are sure to enjoy. It doesn’t become preachy, it is full of silly antics, and the illustrations provide a lot to look at. While not having an outright moral, it still shows kids how not to jump to conclusions based on incorrect assumptions or incomplete date. Give everyone a chance before judging them by their reputation. Kno...

Author: Munashe Kaseke Genre: Short Story Anthology, African Cultural Fiction Rating: 3.9 stars. A thought-provoking anthology set around the experiences of Zimbabwean women in their own country and/or as immigrants in the USA. The sixteen stories in this collection are all linked in their theme. Each is from a woman’s perspective, each woman is of Zimbabwean background, most have emigrated to the US in hope of a better life, and most are struggling to make ends meet in their new country. The stories are told in a very blunt manner. There’s no beating about the bush, nor is there any attractive façade to cover the darkness underneath. Many stories left me infuriated, sometimes at the characters, sometimes at the situation. The writing approach is quite varied, with first person, third person and even second person narratives. There are plenty of Shona words and phrases in the narrative. (I would have liked a glossary for these. Not all of their meanings were guessable.) The author’s n...

Author: Judith Koppens Illustrator: Marja Meijer Genre: Children's Picture Book Rating: 4.25 stars. A cute and funny story that will leave kids laughing. Originally published in Danish, this is the English version titled “Benny goes to School”. Spoiler: Benny is the dog you see on the cover! 😉 Sam is getting ready to go school and Benny absolutely insists on coming along with her. When she caves in and takes him long, the teacher refuses to allow him in, saying, “School isn’t for doggies.” If only Benny accepted this easily! The rest of the book details Sam’s worry over Benny and Benny’s persistent efforts to be with his beloved Sam in school. This is the kind of silly story that kids enjoy. Benny’s “dogged” determination to be in school results in many funny adventures. The scenes are chuckle-inducing and the ending will leave little readers in splits. Having a dog in a picture book always helps! The illustrations are adorable. I loved Benny with his bluish coat and long white w...

Author: Catherine Pioli Illustrator: Catherine Pioli Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir. Rating: 4.75 stars. This mesmerised me and shattered me. Author-illustrator Catherine Pioli had always taken her body for granted because right since childhood, she had never fallen sick or suffered any injury. But when, at the age of 32, there are sharp pains in her back and shoulder, the diagnosis comes as a shocker – acute leukaemia. What follows is a long journey filled with trials and tribulations, as Catherine strives to keep a brave face for her partner Sebastien, her family (parents, twin sister and younger brother), and friends. This graphic memoir covers her journey from a little before the diagnosis to the treatment and aftermath. Originally published in 2018 in French as “Globules et consequences”, “Down to the Bone” is the English translation, due to be released in December 2022. What shines throughout the novel is Pioli’s sense of humour through the ups and downs. Her inner insecurities als...

Author: Alison O'Leary Genre: Cosy Mystery Rating: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Cats? Yes. Cosy Mystery? Yes. Crime? Yes.  Conflicts? Yes.  “Catisfied” with the book? Not as much as I had hoped. Story Synopsis: Aubrey the cat is finally living a happy life. He has put behind a past where his ex-owner was found killed, with the authorities taking Aubrey to the rescue centre. After a long time there, Aubrey has finally found the perfect cat owners (assuming cats allow people to own them) in Jeremy and Molly. However, the killings seem to be continuing. Aubrey didn’t mind when crotchety senior citizens were bumped off but when the kind Mr. Tellings is the next victim, Aubrey decides to investigate the matter with the help of his feline friends. The story comes to us in a limited third person narration mostly from the pov of Aubrey. Pro ✔: I loved the portrayal of Aubrey. (First off, what a perfect name for a cat! Snooty and cool at the same time – just like cats!) Aubrey has ver...

Author: Jordan Scott Illustrator: Sydney Smith Genre: Children's Picture Book, Poetry Rating: 4 stars. A beautiful story-in-verse about a boy who “talks like a river”. Written in first person, the story is narrated by a little boy who can’t pronounce some letters. They get stuck at the back of his throat, they grow roots inside his mouth, they just make him mumble instead of speak. This affects him a lot and he withdraws from his friends and sits at the back of his class. However, one day, his dad takes him out to the river and says, “You talk like the river.” Pondering over this makes the boy realise how the mighty river also struggles through its path at times. This connection with nature gives him tremendous strength to accept himself. I liked how the book established a parallel between two seemingly unrelated ideas. The angst of the little boy comes out so clearly through the words and you feel for him as he struggles to push out the words from his mouth. The book doesn’t end w...

Author: Nicolette Andrews Narrator: Joanna Roddy Series: Tales of Akatsuki #2 Genre: Retelling, Fantasy Stars: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A retelling of Snow White with a Japanese folklore twist. Mostly predictable (as we all know the original story) but so much fun! Enjoyed it. Story: Hotaru has unexpectedly become the clan leader after his elder brother abdicated the post for love. But this abdication led to some political upheavals and war with the powerful Fujikawa clan looms on the horizon. To boost his position, Hotaru needs to marry into the clan who resides in the mysterious forest. The leader of this clan has been sickly, and he too desires his sister Yuki to be married before it is too late. Yuki however has no intention of marrying, least of all to a person who seeks a political alliance than love. With time running out for both of them, how will Hotaru save his clan, and how will Yuki ensure that she doesn’t compromise on her ideals? The story comes to us in a limited thi...

Author: Federico van Lunter Illustrator: Federico van Lunter Genre: Children's Picture Book Rating: 4 stars. A sweet little story about little Emma and how she handles her first day of school. Emma is very excited and has woken up very early. Why? Because it is her first day of school! A new dress, a new backpack, a new lunchbox – all add to the excitement. But Emma is also jittery. To enhance her confidence, she decided to wear her favourite flamingo costume to school. Her new classmates love her costume and decide to join in the fun of dress up. But all through, Emma remembers her mother’s advice – “Just be yourself”. Originally published in Dutch, this translated story is really cute. Aimed at 3-5 year olds, it incorporates many fun elements but still delivers the important message of being true to yourself. The illustrations, sketched by the author himself, are outstanding and enhance the story with their bright hues and warm vibes. Why I am not going higher in my rating: I am ...

Author: Kyle A. Massa Genre: Satire. Rating: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: An interesting religious satire that mixes light humour with serious thought-provoking points. But it should have been shorter to create an even greater impact. Story: Zeggara “Egg” East is an aspiring writer who has just completed a manuscript with an anthropomorphic penguin in the lead. Unfortunately for Egg, her mother is a “Holy Devoted” believing in the “Ageless” and wants her daughter to follow on the same path. Somehow, Egg’s draft gets published and even becomes a success, to everyone’s surprise. However, while Egg had meant it to be a fictional book provoking thought and reflection, it ends up creating a whole new religion called “Penguinism”, which leaves many people dissatisfied with Egg. The conflict spans the entire world as they know it, involving the immortal Ageless; a local power-crazy king and his glutton son, a man who has twelve gifts and loves to remind everyone of this fact; and of course, the...

Author: Clive Gifford Illustrator: Gosia Herba Genre: Children's Nonfiction, Nature Rating: 4.5 stars. What a marvellous book this is! We’ve seen so many books praising the skills of animals. But nature isn’t just animals. Finally, here’s a children’s nonfiction that celebrates plants and their ingenious ways of surviving and thriving in nature. The book covers a wide variety of plants of all types and demonstrates one unique ability that they have, which human engineers have replicated or are trying to replicate. These range from common plants such as the peace lily to weeds such as tumbleweeds to carnivorous plants such as the Venus Flytrap to underwater plants such as the kelp to trees such as the willow. The book is 80 pages long, and each of these pages (except for a few) contains details on one specific plant, its features and the ability that we humans could learn. I liked how the content was presented from the first person perspective of the specific plant on that page. Thi...

Author: Maxim Gorky Genre: Short Story Rating: 3.75 stars. A short story first published in Russian in 1899 as “Dvadtsat shest i odna” (“Twenty-six and One”) and considered to be one of Maxim Gorky’s best short works. The story is written in the first person plural narrative of one of twenty six bakers who are almost like prisoners, always in the cellar of a big stony house and working long hours of the day making kringles. The only bright spot in their dreary existence – or as they call her, "a substitute for the sun” – is sixteen year old Tanya, who works at an embroidery shop two floors above. She stops by daily asking the “prisoners” for kringles and they willingly offer her not just the pretzels but also help out in her chores. Soon, Tanya becomes an ideal girl in their minds, too pure to be teased or reprimanded or lusted after. But when an ex-soldier joins their bakery and claims he can seduce Tanya, a new tension begins and escalates. The end result of the soldier’s attemp...

Author: Dhumketu Translator: Jenny Bhatt Genre: Short Story Anthology, Indian Cultural Fiction. Rating: 3 stars. An anthology of tales written by one of the pioneers of short stories in India. Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi (1892-1965), known by his pen name “Dhumketu” meaning “comet”, was a well-known Gujarati writer. But most of the Indian readers aren’t aware of his works. His contemporaries were stalwarts such as Munshi Premchand (who wrote in Hindi), Saadat Hasan Manto (who wrote in Urdu), and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (who wrote mostly in Bengali.) While these three are considered pioneers among Indian classical write rs and still revered, Dh umketu’s name has been lost to history.  This collection is the very first English translation of his works, and contains 26 tales chosen from a repertoire of more than 500 short stories in Gujarati – not an easy job for sure! The translator, Jenny Bhatt, who is also a writer, begins the set with an introductory note that was e...

Author: Perumal Murugan Translator: N. Kalyan Raman Genre: Indian Cultural Fiction. Rating: 3.75 stars. “Once, in a village, there was a goat. No one knew where she was born. The birth of an ordinary life never leaves a trace, does it?” This start hints at what you will get from this book. It is the story of an ordinary goat, or is it? Poonachi is a little black goat who lands up at the house of a poor old couple. Her life isn’t a cakewalk, but Poonachi seems to win against the struggles that routinely come her way. Can life ever be straightforward though? With a hegemonic government, poor rains, and lack of resources, life begins revealing its darker shades. Only time will tell if Poonachi will thrive or wither with the change of circumstances. Murugan shows us that great storytelling doesn’t need to be jazzy storytelling. The language in the book is simple and straightforward, yet used to great effect. There is a subtle hint of magical realism, but most of the content is socio-cultur...

Author: Matthew Silvestri Genre: Children's Picture Book Rating: 4.5 stars. A fabulous book about a child who stutters and how he handles it with the help of his “wolf pack”. Jeremy is a little guy who desperately wants to play the Big Bad Wolf in an upcoming school production of “Three Little Pigs”. Because he stutters, he is initially hesitant to volunteer for the role but soon decides to go for it. His teacher, his friends and his parents are all supportive, even when Jeremy can’t utter the “Puff” of the famous “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…” line. What will happen on the big day? Read and find out. (Okay, it’s a children’s book, so you already know what will happen. But still, read it!) This book is written in partnership with a paediatric speech language pathologist, and how it shows! The content is so positive and so practical. There’s no exaggeration, no fake sympathy, no miraculous cures. It is all about confidence and cooperation. I simply loved this honest and straightforward ...

Author: John Devolle Genre: Children's Picture Book, Science. Rating: 3 stars. A very short picture book providing a beginner’s glimpse into the concept of atoms. The 17 pages are mostly dedicated to understanding what atoms are and where they exist in nature. Each page doesn’t have more than one-two sentences, thus making it easy for its little readers. There’s no age range mentioned on any site but based on the language and content, I am guessing that this is aimed at pre-K readers. There are big words, most of which are explained. Maybe my expectations were a little different. But the book focuses a lot on the “What?” and not at all on the “How?” or the “Why?” Thus there is mention of the Big Bang Theory, that we are all made of stardust, that the atoms currently in us might have been a part of some other being before, and many other such interesting facts. But how???? No answers. This book will work for the youngest of readers to understand WHAT atoms are, but if they ask any H...

Author: Abigail Osborne Genre: Psychological thriller Rating: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: I didn’t expect to be as blown away by this book as I was! It was not perfect in its writing, but it kept me hooked from start to end. Not everyone’s cup of tea though. Check out the triggers. Story Synopsis: Fifty-five year old Jack Danvers has just lost Elsie, his wife of 37 years, in a tragic incident on Black Friday. His grief is too much for him to bear and he can’t figure out why God took away someone who was so good and caring. Jack’s religious fanatic of a father tells him to see it as a sign from God, that Elsie’s death was a divine direction for Jack to rid the world of greedy humans. Soon, Jack sets out on this moral crusades, setting him on a dangerous path that might up end up with unforeseen consequences. The story is written in a limited third person perspective. This was a very uncomfortable read. The writing makes you feel claustrophobic right from the start. The story in the first...

Authors: Christophe Blain and Jean-Marc Jancovici Artist: Christophe Blain Genre: Graphic Novel, Science, Environment Rating: 3.5 stars. A graphic novel dealing with the highly relevant topic of climate change and what we can do about it. However, the implementation could have been better. No matter what our age, gender, race, religion or nationality, we cannot escape from the consequences of our actions. As the heat wave in Europe soars to unimaginable levels and flash floods and intense rains are becoming a common occurrence every year during the Indian monsoon, it is high time we reflect on our habits and how we can be more eco-friendly. This is where the book comes in. Christophe Blain, the artist, meets with Jean-Marc Jancovici of Carbone 4 and The Shift Project to bring to us this bande desinée focussing on the topic that binds all our fates. Why and how we use energy, why we shifted from renewable energy to fossil fuels, to what extent have renewable and clean energy sources rep...

Author: Amy Harmon Genre: Historical fiction, Literary fiction, True Crime Rating: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: I went in with no expectations, and came away enthralled. A wonderful blend of fact and fiction, written in the typical Amy Harmon style of blending multiple genres. Character-oriented story, so it is slow-paced. But the writing was enough to keep me satisfied. Story Synopsis: The prologue set in 1923 Chicago tells us of ten year old Dani, whose parents are found dead the day before her birthday. Michael Malone, a young police officer on the site, feels sorry for the little girl and ensures she is delivered safely to her spinster aunts’ house in Cleveland. Fifteen years later, Dani and Michael’s paths cross once again as Michael is assigned to assist agent Eliot Ness in investigating a series of gory murders. Unknown to Michael, Dani has a special ability that might help him crack the case. How will things move from here? Read and find out. Where the book worked for me: 💜 Harm...

Author: Faith Gardner Series: The Jolvix Episodes #1 Genre: Contemporary Drama, Domestic Thriller. Rating: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Contains the usual psych/domestic thriller ingredients of gaslighting, mental health issues and an unreliable narrator. What makes it different is the outstanding role that AI plays in the proceedings. Works pretty well because of the intelligent and twisty writing. However, requires a fair bit of suspension of disbelief at the end. Story Synopsis: Rowena Snyder is a newly-married young mum who has left her job as an editor and moved from NY to her husband Jacob’s childhood home in California. Not only does Rowena miss her old lifestyle and friends, but her anxiety and depression are exacerbated in the new location. To help Rowena, Jacob gets home a new product that is still in beta testing at the tech company he works with. Enter “Maxine”, the digital AI who bonds with any one individual and can “do anything to help”. In addition to the usual assi...

Author: Pete Jirles Genre: Children's Picture book. Rating: 4.5 stars. A sweet story about a dragon who thinks he is a dog! I grabbed this book through a free deal from the publishers, and what a treat it was! When Stanley lands at Ms. Peckinpaw’s doorstep, the farsighted woman adopts him thinking he is a dog. Thus Stanley too lives his life under that assumption, all the time wondering why he doesn’t fit in with the other dogs. Needless to say, he is shunned and left out of their activities. All Stanley has is his stuffed monkey, Anderson, for company. The day Stanley meets the magic spider is the day he discovers the magic hidden within himself. I loved the cuteness in the story. Stanley and Anderson are really adorable together and Stanley’s dedication to his stuffed pal is touching. The book isn’t just fluff. It covers several themes such as feeling left out, bullying, being teased, being lonely, and most importantly, believing in yourself. My favourite line was “Don't try ...

Author: Shameez Patel Papathanasiou Genre: Alternate Realm Fantasy Rating: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Alternate realm fantasy with some hits and misses. Interesting characters, decent world building, a lot of action in the second half. First of a planned trilogy. Story Synopsis: Cassia’s younger sister Calla is dying but doctors have no clue about what’s ailing her. This is the latest in a long run of tragedies, including the death of their dad and the sudden disappearance of Cassia’s best friend Luke four years ago. Luke still keeps appearing in her dreams but what she doesn’t know then is that Luke is alive, and is trying to contact her from another realm. Soon, Cassia finds herself in this strange ‘Selene Realm’, with Luke and his new friends who call themselves “Reborns”. They have varied magical abilities but are under the rule of the original beings of the realm, the cruel “Firsts”. Cassia finds herself dealing with the difficulties and dangers of her new world, which involves a ...