Gulgul in Parapara
by Ashok Rajagopalan
“Gulgul in Para Para” by Ashok Rajagopalan. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger. A delightful adventure of Gulgul with her aunt Jinny and cousin Dinny who is looking for some Keypock feathers for her feather collection.
Gulgul is disappointed that her parents are not taking her anywhere during her holidays. Her aunt Jinny invites her to come over for her cousin Dinny’s birthday. Jinny decides to take the two girls to the planet P4R4P4R4 (which gets named to Parapara by Gulgul) to find some rare keypock feathers. Keypock and not peacock mind you :) When the mission is such, it is bound to be an exciting adventure.
Parapara is very far away and a collection of many small planets and moons which are inhabited by birds of all kinds. None of them know where keypocks can be found. All that Dinny knows is that they are like peacocks but the difference is that their feathers can change colours like that of a rainbow. She needs the feathers for her bird feather collection. When they land on Greenpara and meet the bird Win King and her three children, they tell them where to find the keypocks. But the birds do not seem to like the keypocks for some reason and do not want to do anything with them. Jinny, Dinny and Gulgul get kidnapped by giant parrots on the way. Read the rollicking story to know how they escape and whether they manage to find the keypocks after all.
My eight year old enjoyed reading the book with me. The book is part of “The Adventures of Gulgul” series. Like all other books of this series that we have read so far, this one is also filled with wordplay and humour. And funny birds with even funnier names! Coo King, Blin King, Thin King and so on. Verbs will never be the same again :) Reading the book aloud is such fun given the word play and rhyming words. Especially when the birds talk in their language and the Squawkatoo which is a device that can translate anything said by humans into bird language and back. Somehow strange, exciting and one of a kind adventures seem to follow Gulgul everywhere. So far we have read five out of the six books from the series including this one. The others are “Gulgul in Jungalu”, “Gulgul in Up-up-purra”, “Gulgul in Saregamma” and “Gulgul in Papadom”.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 8 and above.
Reasons to Read
For a fun filled light read replete with some witty and brilliant wordplay.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Speaking Tiger here.
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.