Book Review - Dancing on Walls by Shamim Padamsee
Dancing on Walls by Shamim Padamsee is a beautifully written and illustrated book that shows us the cultural side of India.
Author - Shamim Padamsee; Illustrations - Uma Krishnaswamy; Publisher - Tulika Books
I got this book for R when she was around 3.5 years old. We fell in love with the cover page and just picked it up. As soon as I read it to her then, she was only interested in the pictures of the book, and I left her at that. Both of us admired the awesome illustrations by Uma Krishnaswamy, each Warli painting was done to perfection. Every little detail was properly etched out and it seemed to us with the wonderful color schemes, that we were actually looking at a proper warli painting. When R was a little older, I took out the book again and started reading it for her. She loved it.
What it's about
Shirvi is a little girl who lives in the Sahyadri hills. Her parents and siblings have gone out and so Shirvi is alone at home. She wants to clean up the house and decorate it for her parents before they get back home as a surprise.
And then the story starts. Shirvi sees little white creatures falling from the moon (moon people) and helps one of them. They decide to help her back and end up cleaning the house and painting the walls. How the Warli paintings get on the walls is what the book is all about :) Exciting words by Shamim Padamsee and absolutely awesome illustrations by Uma Krishnaswamy, this book is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the cultural side of India.
So much, was I inspired by the illustrations that I have starting painting T-shirts with Warli illustrations. I would definitely ask you to look out for the last page of the book which has these amazing collage of Warli art, from a train to an airplane to a balloon.
What we liked about this beautiful book by Shamim Padamsee
1. Illustrations
2. How the part that moon has no water is subtly brought into the text
3. The simple storyline and the easy words
4. The clothes of the Sahaydri folks, it looks really authentic
5. The clean pages and the last page which is a riot of Warli art
I knew the book influenced R because whenever we see any Warli art on the road, restaurant or anywhere, she recognizes it and says, "Amma, Shirvi book drawing!"
Go on and get this one for your little ones. It's worth a buy!
This book was picked for Toka Box Warli Art Box for Preschoolers! View Details on the Toka Shop.
