Carry Me, Mama
Author: 
Shamim Padamsee
Illustrator: 
Ajanta Guhathakurta
age group: 
3+ yrs
Number of pages: 
20
Publisher: 
Tulika
Themes:
baby animals
Genre:
picture book, realistic fiction
 

 

Is this for real? I thought to myself, when I received the book for review. I had not known that animals carried their young ones in so many interesting ways!

So, I can just imagine how delighted children will be to know that like them, even animal young ones get carried around by their doting mamas and yes, sometimes papas too! A great book elucidating the parent-child relationship and how parents even in the wild nurture and protect their young ones.

On one page we see little ducklings clamber onto their Mama’s back and then in another image, we see the fierce crocodile gently carrying her babies in her wide open mouth, whilst, the rarely seen nocturnal animal, the pangolin, totes her young ones around on her tails. What fun!

There is a wealth of information in this slim bi-lingual book. A great way to introduce young children to animals in the wild.

With simple deft strokes and soft pastel colours, without any fuss or over-crowding the illustrator has kept the focus on the animals and their young ones, making them stand out from the page.

The book will make a valuable addition to the home and the school library for it will get children interested in wild animals through their young ones. Children will feel a connect with the little baby animals especially as it come from their all-too familiar request, “Carry me, Mama!

This bi-lingual book is available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malyalam and Bengali versions.
 

Reviewed by Sunanda Sharma