A Saree For Ammi
by Mamta Nainy and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat
“A Saree for Ammi” by Mamta Nainy and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat. Published by Tulika. A charming story of a little girl who lives with her parents and sister in the small village of Kaithoon in Kota. Her parents are weavers of the lovely Kota Sarees.
The story gives us a peek into their family. The little girl narrates the story. She mentions that their family has been making Kota Sarees for many generations. Long ago their ancestors lived in Mysore. They moved to Kota in Rajasthan when the king of Kota called many weaver families there. Though her Ammi makes the most beautiful Sarees, she never gets to wear any of them. She is always wearing old, worn-out salwar kameezes. Upon questioning, Ammi tells the girl that she needs to sell the sarees and cannot afford to keep any of them.
The two little girls decide that they should do something about it. Maybe break their gullak (piggy bank)and see if they have enough money to buy a saree for Ammi that she herself has weaved. But then they had made a list of things that they want to buy for themselves with the money that they have been collecting in the gullak. Will they give up on those things? What do they do next? Do they have enough money to buy a saree for Ammi? Do they manage to get her the saree?
The bright illustrations complement the engaging story. Apt for children aged 5+. This was one of the first few books that I picked up on Vidya’s recommendation! My then six year old loved the book and made me read it several times with him. He was happy to know about the Kota Sarees as we had done a trip to Rajasthan in the recent past and bought Kota sarees :)
PS: And I thought it was apt to click the pic of book along with my own favourite Kota saree :)
Where to buy from?
The publishers Tulika books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
