Kali and the Rat Snake
by Zai Whitaker and illustrated by Srividya Natarajan
“Kali and the Rat Snake” by Zai Whitaker and illustrated by Srividya Natarajan. Published by Tulika. A story of a boy named Kali, who belongs to the Irula tribe, and his experiences when he joins school.
The Irulas are a tribe from Tamilnadu. Kali’s father is one of the most famous snake catchers among his tribe. Kali feels left out at school as he has no friends. The excitement of joining school two months ago had now changed to indifference.
Kali felt that others looked at him as a weird boy. For the first time in his life he did not feel proud to be an Irula. His classmates had laughed when he told the teacher that his father was a snake catcher. He was now avoiding school and wishing that he could fail and be thrown out of school. His teacher likes him but that doesn’t change his mind to like school.
Will Kali ever make friends? Will he continue going to school? Will Kali’s ability to catch snakes make a difference? Do the other children school accept him for what he is?
The book introduces children to the Irulas in an engaging way. The beautiful illustrations add charm to this lovely story. Inclusion, empathy, don’t be prejudiced by outward appearances are some of the topics addressed in this book without being too preachy. Would recommend this for children aged 6+ or maybe 5+ if the child is an advanced reader.
Below is one of our favourite pages from the book where Kali is walking through the forest and sharing his thoughts about school with the bushes. Loved the colours used in a dreamy sort of way to show the sunlight getting filtered through the canopy of trees. Two birds and a chameleon have also been shown and Kali’s expression has come out so well.
The book is part of the Wordbird series from Tulika where unfamiliar words from different languages used in the story are explained with the help of word birds. This gives a regional touch to the story. Some of the other books from this series that we have read and liked are “Gulla and the Hangul”, “The Sweetest Mango”, “Race of the Rivers”, “The Why Why Girl” and “The Trickster Bird”.
P.S. - Zai Whitaker, the author, comes from a family of naturalists. She is the niece of Dr. Salim Ali, the renowned Ornithologist. She now lives and works at the Madras Crocodile Bank near Chennai which she helped Romulus Whitaker set up 45 years ago. She has written quite a few books for children. Apart from this one, we have read and loved her book “Salim Mamoo and Me” also published by Tulika.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Tulika books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.