“Grraaawrrrrrrr” roared my daughter imitating a Titanosaurus. Her friend growled back like a Rajasaurus narmadensis and chased her around the house. Our living room had been converted into a dense tropical forest in the Cretaceous period of dinosaurs! The reason I can flawlessly recite the names of these extinct creatures is not because I have been pouring over encyclopaedias, but simply due to a delightful new book called “The Adventures of Padma and a Blue Dinosaur.” (Buy the book here)
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About the book:
This thrilling story not only effortlessly weaves in information and learning about dinosaurs within a grand adventure but also exposes curious young minds to an astounding revelation, that dinosaur fossils and eggs were discovered in our very own country.
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So, what is the story about?
Padma, the protagonist, is a curious girl who lives with her grandmother in a small village Rahioli in Gujarat. She spends her afternoons looking after the cattle. One day a well-known palaeontologist, whom she fondly calls Rock Uncle, gifts her a dinosaur egg. The next day her village flatlands magically transform themselves into a forest going back 70 million years. Here she meets an adorable blue dinosaur who is lost and searching for his family. What follows is a whirlwind adventure as they set off travelling on the fossil-rich banks of the Narmada river.
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Dinosaurs in India? Really?!
The book ends with a fabulous non-fiction section which talks about all the Indian dinosaurs. My daughter and I were simply stunned and wide-eyed to read that the small village of Rahioli in Gujarat is the third largest dinosaur fossil excavation site in the world and second largest dinosaur egg nesting site. The book wonderfully explains how dinosaurs came about, why they have absurd names always ending in “saurus”, has a fun section talking about palaeontologists and what tools are required to discover fossils and curious terms like prospecting, brushing, quarrying and even a superbly illustrated map of India showing where each dinosaur was found.
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My daughter’s review :
“I love the book and want to find dinosaur bones and eggs like Rock Uncle”.
My daughter simply can’t get enough of the book often cajoling me to read it with her again and again. Seeing her sparking sudden interest in dinosaurs and fossils, I even got bought her a small dinosaur excavation kitshewith in the sand pit, hiding the toy dinosaur and making a rare discovery, day after day.
Why should every parent buy this book?
Vaishali Shroff, the author, has written the book beautifully. Her artful storytelling gives details in simple yet engaging ways, introduces many surprising twists, thus making the book a definite page-turner. Her rich descriptions accompanied by the spectacular illustrationsofMistry, give a real feel of the dinosaurs and the period they existed in. The non-fiction section is not only well researched but also well presented, principally keeping in mind its main audience: a child. It gives facts and information without the heaviness of an encyclopaedia.
Buy the book, not because your child loves dinosaurs, more because some stories are just so much fun to read and then be imitated at home.
KSP Team
Janani S Koushik
Mansi Zaveri
Neha Savla
