सो भी जायो , अनोखी ! Sov nu,Vesta -Linnea

I was rummaging around for children's books we haven't read in our local library and decided to look in the Hindi section for a change.  Since I was expecting to find mostly CBT/ NBT/Pratham Books/ Tullika/Tara books you can imagine my surprise when I pulled out this book ! It was in Hindi and it's title read
" So bhi Jayo- Anokhi!" सो भी जायो , अनोखी !

I was so fascinated with its illustrations and art work and knew right there and then that I have to snap out of my procrastination in updating this blog with this very book review.

Originally, this book is in Swedish published in Finland , written by Tara Appelgren and illustrated by Salla Savolainen. It has been translated in Hindi by Arundhati Deosthale and was published by Arvind Kumar publishers: http://www.arvindkumarpublishers.com/. I had never heard of this publishing group but had a hunch about who could be involved when I read on the back cover that this book translation was part of their foreign picture book series. I was right about a few members and here is a list of them.


Okay, so more about the book: Brilliant artwork. I have been going over it again and again. There is a centre spread where the artist shows the layout of the whole house. It is delightful. Also, the story line is endearing. Anokhi has trouble sleeping at night and when she does scary thoughts and monsters keep her awake. She thinks it is not right to wake her mom up every night but does like to go to her room every night and feel reassured. Her mother is surprised to find  Anokhi sleeping against her bedroom door and gives her many cuddles.

I searched a bit online and found that Vesta-Linnea books are a series. And going by the review published here, I discovered that Vesta-Linnéa’s family consists of her mother, stepfather, two younger sisters and a big brother. The stepfather angle makes me understand a little bit more of this story. Anyways, am not going to spoil it for you. It is a lovely book , Priced at Rs. 60/- it is a steal.

I am very happy Arundhati Deosthale translated it in Hindi for I would have never discovered this but I must admit the Hindi is not easy , even to a native hindi speaker like me. The text font is very small and crowded and while reading it out to your 4-8 year old you will have to cut down on many words and keep it simple. But. It is worth it.