• Title – Hama-Guri Goes To school
• Author – Aditi Bose
• Publisher – Cresco Books
• Genre – Child Fiction
• Pages – 62
• Price – INR 191 (For Kindle edition)
• ISBN – 978-93-85202-02-5

Synopsis – Hama-Guri is a six-year-old boy who lives with his parents in a lovely cottage on a farm.
His life is simple, well almost. The curious mind of Hama is never at rest and he makes the humdrum routine of daily life come alive with important questions, the whys and the wherefores.

Hama’s adventures are as much about self-discovery as they are about the realization of what really matters.
Join Hama on his adventures and grow up (or don’t) with him the fun way. After all childhood (and the rest of our lives) is all about learning new things, exploring the unknown and reveling in the hidden novelty of the mundane.

These stories are imaginative yet simple and the lessons are easy to understand but often forgotten. Jump in and rediscover childhood.

Review – This is the first ever e-book I have read. Though I still have my reservations in place for reading e-books, there was something so compelling with the book’s synopsis that I simply couldn’t turn it down. To begin with, I am quite fond of children’s books and secondly it being school holidays, reading children’s books with my daughter can make for a joyful, learning experience, with time spent well bonding over inspiring stories.

I’d like to add, that Aditi Bose’s debut novel did fulfill all my expectations. The first thing that struck a chord in my heart was the thoughtful selection of topics of the five stories in the book. All five stories have an air of relatability which I believe every parent and also children can appreciate well.

The language is crisp yet devoid of any difficult words, making reading a joy ride. The narration is lucid peppered with thoughtfully crafted dialogues to keep the story flowing a natural course without getting preachy.

“She wanted to give Hama a chance to tell his story first. There would always be time to analyze actions and behavior later. It was important to allow the child to speak. Sometimes just listening is more important that talking. And it was listening time now.”

I particularly liked the thoughtfulness infused in each story, inspiring the reader (both adults and children) to see both sides of the coin. For example, in the fifth story where Hama-Guri learns about pocket-money, the wonderful way her mother teaches her about free-money and earned money holds one of the very vital lessons of life.

The beauty of the book lies in subtle delivery of the lessons. At the end of every story, I stopped to reflect over the many important lessons I learnt as a parent. I loved the playful, interactive ways involving fun and games, suggested to approach similar situations with my child.

“It is easy for children to make friends. They have lesser barriers guarding their persona and no egos to battle with.”

However, I particularly felt that the book would definitely benefit with adding the involvement of Hama-Guri’s father in the stories. Though there are places where his presence has been mentioned, but adding his active participation in his son’s life would definitely break the usual norm that mothers invest the most time and effort in the upbringing of children with fathers playing the strict breadwinners.

In the story about Hama-Guri’s fear of the sight of blood, while I appreciate the many ways his mother tries to talk him out of his fears, I believe the way Hama is shown to not being disturbed by the sight of blood (even in the slightest way) comes across as little dramatic. Though the way the story ends, it beautifully makes up for this.

I liked the example time-table shared in the last chapter. On that note, I’d like to suggest addition of a few graphics in the book to leave a lasting impression on the minds of young readers of this book. I’d love to see this book being made available in a paperback to let more and more children read it and even share it with their friends.

I wish to congratulate the author on churning out a compelling, inspiring read as her debut novel. I’d love to read many more books from her pen.

I highly recommend this book for every parent and young children to learn wonderful life-lessons presented in an interesting way.

About the Author – Aditi Bose has graduated from St. Xaviers College with Economics Honours and completed MBA in marketing from the International Management Institute, New Delhi. She has work experience in the field of research and recruitment. For the past few years, she has been freelance writing for a number of domestic and international websites. This is her debut novel.

Rating – 4/5

*P.S.- No comment has been made on the book’s cover illustrations as the e-book I read didn’t have it.