My Trip to the Fair - Mallika Appana - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Mallika Appana
GENRE: Children's Picture Book.
PUBLICATION DATE: April 3, 2022
RATING: 3.75 stars.

A picture book celebrating Indian handicrafts!

The narrator is a little boy who talks of taking his usual trip to India (I presume he stays somewhere abroad). The highlight of the trip this time is a visit to the local fair. His excitement grows with every handicraft and artwork he sees: wooden toys, handmade lampshades, pottery, and so on. He even enjoys a ride in an auto rickshaw and has a taste of “Indian popcorn” (which has always been “masala popcorn” for me!) and bhel.

The story lasts for about 20 or so pages, and the final pages are reserved for more information on some Indian art and handicrafts. This is very helpful, but I would have liked the accompanying pictures/photos to be larger.

What I loved about the book is its nod to authenticity without resorting to stereotypes. It presents a beautiful picture of the richness and variety of Indian artisanship. Though I am in India itself, the book still made me feel all nostalgic for the fairs I used to visit in my childhood, something that is not so common nowadays with the extensive urbanisation of the country and the influx of cheaper imported products in malls and even roadside stalls. The author captured the Indian vibe to the T!

Of course, the book wasn’t a perfect experience. The author has clarified in the ending note that she has based the content on her own childhood visit to a local art fair in Hyderabad. As such, the crafts are primarily those found commonly in South India, Andhra Pradesh in particular. Of course, no single book can do justice to the India craft industry, which is different state to state. But the tagline under the title – “A journey through the handicrafts of India” – becomes a misrepresentation.

The illustrations, which look like dark water paints, gave me mixed feelings. On some pages, such as the one with the lampshades or the one where ‘Amma’ is showing off her beautiful hand-painted dupatta, the sketches are outstanding. But on many pages such as the one with the potter or the puppet show, the illustrations are very blurred. How the beauty of the handicraft is expected to come across with a blurred effect, I didn’t quite understand.

All in all, I loved the book for its concept and part of its content. I would have liked the illustrations to be better and the title to make it clear that this is dedicated to just a part of the handicrafts of the world’s seventh-largest country and one of the world’s oldest cultures.

Recommended to those who want a glimpse of Indian handicrafts. You will get to know the real India, which isn’t like the one you see in contemporary movies.

Suitable for readers aged 5-10 years.

My thanks to Serapis Bey Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “My Trip to the Fair”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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