#439 - Hungry to Read

by Arti Sonthalia and illustrated by Sumedha Saha

“Hungry to Read” by Arti Sonthalia and illustrated by Sumedha Saha. Published by Scholastic. A delightful story of how reading can be enjoyable by anyone as long as they get the kind of book that matches their interests.

Arjun is in grade 3 and loves mathematics. When it comes to reading though, he is a snail reader and hates it. When his teacher announces a competition with an exciting enough prize, he is dismayed to find that it is a reading drive between the two sections of grade 3. The section with the highest count of books read would be the winner and would get to stay for a night in the school and see the solar system through the telescope. His best friend Tejas though is super happy as he loves reading.

There were  three categories of readers in class namely Cheetah (the fast readers), Bull (the moderate speed readers) and Snail (the slowest readers). Arjun was in the last category and could hardly pick up a book. However he wanted his class to win so that he could enjoy the night in school with the telescope. That would be a wonderful experience for sure. But could he contribute to the score of their section. Despite gentle nudges by his teacher and constant reminders from Tejas, he is not able to start reading a book. He is nervous about the scores of both sections though. The cheetah reader Annika from the other section poses to be a threat to his section. She seems to be devouring books at a breakneck speed. Can Tejas overtake her or at least match up to her speed? Will Arjun’s section be able to win? Can Arjun contribute to the score of his class? Will he be able to read a book at all? What is he going to learn from the whole experience?Read the book to know how the hunger for reading is going to play out for Arjun and his friends.

This is a book that is going to be gobbled up quickly for sure. It definitely made us want to know how the plot would progress. Curiosity and thrill of anticipation were evident in my nine year old as we read the book. The book highlights the fact that there is a book for every person. If someone still doesn’t enjoy reading, it is most likely that they haven’t found the book meant for them yet. The power of reading is represented well enough by this delightful story. Also the message that we all make mistakes but learning from them, taking responsibility and accepting is what we need to do comes through nicely by the gestures of Arjun’s parents. The way they handle Arjun’s dilemma when the plot has progressed quite a bit hints to the children who read the book that they can take the help of adults and not brood by themselves when they are in a sticky situation. Every drop counts is quite evident through the story making it a key takeaway. Another interesting aspect is that the book is designed such that it seems like the bottom edges of it have been bitten by someone hungry enough :D

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 8 and above.

Reasons to Read

To appreciate the power of reading and books.