Icky, Yucky, Mucky!
by Natasha Sharma and illustrated by Anita Balachandran
“Icky, Yucky, Mucky!” by Natasha Sharma and illustrated by Anitha Balachandran. Published by Young Zubaan. A wacky story of the royal family of Ickhtarpur who are unconventional in every sense.
The Kingdom of Ickhtarpur was famous for all the wrong reasons. It’s great king called as Maharaja Icky was known to have the worst table manners ever seen. He would ensure that the food was all over him as well as the place literally! It was easy to guess who had eaten with him looking at the state of their dress when they left the dining hall.
The Maharaja was having trouble finding a bride. After all who would want to marry a man who juggles Rosogullas and catches them in his mouth like a sea lion! Most princesses who met him had the “annoying habit” of fainting within five minutes of having tea with him. Not a match for the faint hearted you see :D Nothing interesting was happening in his life. When he got bored, he decided to travel across the country. What happens on these travels is the rest of the story.
Did he find a bride at all? Is there anyone at all who will not mind his annoying and disgusting habits? Will that person change him or let him be as is? Will she also have a disgusting habit like him? Can the people of the kingdom expect some change in their situation? Can the royals become good role models for the children of the kingdom? What does Yucky and Mucky in the title of the book stand for? Read the hilarious story to find out all of this.
I have had a whale of a time reading this each time with my seven year old since the last one year. We love the words used by Natasha Sharma to describe the disgusting habits of the royal family through the book. Children will find these filthy habits so funny that they will be chuckling as they read this. And the illustrations are very quirky complementing the write up so well. Overall a rib tickling read for anyone above the age of 5/6.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Young Zubaan here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.