Kozhukatta – a children’s book review

Sumi Chandrashekharan’s ‘Kozhukatta’ was read once by me a couple of weeks ago sitting with her, sipping tea in the patio, in about 5 minutes. Yes, it’s about 8 pages, illustrated story book and that’s the time it would take it for an adult to read silently cover to cover. But it is a whole new matter when you read it again, time extends from the 5 minute of quick read to about a good 10 minutes. You discover some new illustrations and several new words that you glazed past in your first read. Then, if you read aloud to yourself, it would take you anywhere from about 15 minutes to as long as 25 minutes. All of this calculation of time taken to read goes for a complete toss if you read it aloud to a child!

That’s right. When you are reading to a child, the story of ‘Kozhukatta’ is  exactly that. Something soft, something white, something round, something delicious… literally and metaphorically. The character of forgetful Ponnu is at the same time irritating and endearing. It is that of a child and also of a grown person. The setting is Kerala, a state in the southern part of India and is adapted from a traditional tale but is quite transferable to any geography. On a visit to a friend’s house, forgetful Ponnu is offered delicious dumplings. He has no intention of letting its name slip from his memory… what happens next? Find out in this noodlehead story.

‘Kozhukatta’ – pronounced Ko-rrru-ka-tta, where the zh is like the rrr in purr says a cat (go look for it amongst the many bold and some subtle illustrations on the pages) is a fun read. You can see the author’s understanding as an early childhood educator herself, of what makes a good story for young children. For those who have read stories to children know that children like to listen to the same story over and over again. Young children enjoy simple stories that are layered so that while it is being read to them for the nth time, they can ask you something or exclaim at something or anticipate something each time. Children look at illustrations while you read to them and just you finish the last word or sentence on the page, they are still looking at something on that page and ask you to wait a few seconds more before you flip to the next. The narrative and the illustration of ‘Kozhukatta’ provides adequate opportunities for both.

So this morning when I read ‘Kozhukatta’ the 8 page, 5 minute to read and see book for an adult, the educator in me took a good half hour. I found that crow peeping out from the bush as the birds flew with the word. I discovered that each of the alphabets had a body shape to it – just like I have seen our preschool teachers working it out with the children. That Ponnu had his dress folded up while performing the alphabets just as it is done by men in Kerala when they get up to start a walk or ride a bike!

P.S. I had a noodlehead moment myself as I was telling about the book to a friend whether it was ‘Kozhakattu’ or ‘Kottukazha’ or ‘Kokkazhattu’…  So is there a Ponnu – noodlehead story series in there somewhere Sumi from this part of the world?

Illustrated by Zafouko Yamamoto and Published by Tota books, the book is now available in stores and on amazon.