#450 - When Mommy Was a Little Girl
edited by Pranav Kumar Singh and illustrated by Abhilasha Khatri
“When Mommy Was a Little Girl” edited by Pranav Kumar Singh and illustrated by Abhilasha Khatri. Published by Ponytale Books. A delightful anthology of stories written by fifteen mommies from different parts of India about incidents from their childhood.
The book is a tribute to the modern classic “When Daddy Was a Little Boy” by the Soviet author Alexander Raskin. We have all wondered at some point about how our mothers must have been in their childhood. It is quite hard to imagine them having been little girls once upon a time. Was little mommy well behaved or of the mischievous and pranking variety? Was she lost in her own world or very attentive? Was she an indoors person or someone who loved being outdoors and adventurous? Did she ever steal and then get caught? Did she cycle or climb trees? Did she love to dress up like her mother? Did she admire herself and dance in front of the mirror? These are questions that might have crossed our minds when it came to the childhood of our dear mothers.
The book gives us a glimpse into such facets of childhood of fifteen talented mommies who take us back in time while they narrate their stories. They talk about the fun they had, the pranks they played, the adventures they ended up having, their relationship with their siblings, the troubles they caused their parents and the likes. The contributors are Arthy Muthanna Singh, Cheryl Rao, Debjani Mukherjee, Lipika Bhushan Uniyal, Madhumita Mandal, Mamta Nainy, Mitra Phukan, Nandini Nayar, Rati Girish, Ratna Manucha, Richa Jha, Rohini Vij, Shyamala Shanmugasundaram, Varsha Pillai and Vidya Nesarikar.
The stories are so full of warmth and nostalgia. Their innocence and playfulness are sure to make you adore the little mommies. My nine year old loved the stories. He couldn’t help laughing out loud at some of the mischievous ones. Being true stories and featuring a range of themes like jealousy, facing fears, sibling rivalry, simple joys and desires, revenge, these are so relatable. The vivid narratives along with the cheerful illustrations brought the stories alive. We felt like we were right there in the scene watching all the action unfold. Some stories are outright hilarious and endearing. We have met a couple of the contributors and it was so hard picturing them as those charming little mommies. In each of the stories, the writers have addressed their parents and grandparents by the names that their children would address them in their local languages. So there is representation from quite a few languages and regions! There is a game based on this at the end of the book making it a fun activity. Overall this is a book that deserves to be widely read to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions of our mothers in our lives. We are curious now about how daddy must have been as a boy and read the book about that as well :)
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 8/9 and above.
Reasons to Read
The stories of the little mommies are sure to tickle those funny bones and have a rollicking time :D