Panipuri Inside a Spaceship
by Vidya Pradhan and illustrated by Arpita Bhattacharjee
“Panipuri Inside a Spaceship” by Vidya Pradhan and illustrated by Arpita Bhattacharjee. Published by Pratham. An interesting book which talks about what astronauts eat while on a space mission and why.
Chikki is fussy about food. She doesn’t like Mooly Paratha as she feels that it smells. Her brother Ninu loved all kinds of foods and made fun of her. Their mother was a scientist and father had been a fighter pilot. Chikki wanted to study science and fly higher than her daddy by becoming an astronaut. Mummy coaxed her to eat the Paratha with a promise that she would make astronaut food for Chikki on the next day if she ate her food today.
The prospect of astronaut food was very exciting for both Chikki and Ninu. They came back from school next day for lunch eagerly. They started guessing what mummy might have made. Cake and Ice cream? Pizza and Panipuri? Well all that they saw was a tube on their plates which looked like toothpaste of all things!! Mummy smiled when she saw their reactions and told them that it wasn’t toothpaste like they thought. She had mashed up rice and dal and put it in a tube. They had to squeeze it into their mouths!
Well, this sounded so bizarre to them. Mummy and Daddy had to explain quite a bit why astronauts had to eat food in this manner. Can they ever hope to have some panipuri or pizza or ice cream some day in space? Join the family to know more about the food of astronauts.
My seven year old had fun reading the book. This is a level 3 book and apt for children aged 6+. Thank you for recommending this book Vidya Mani of Funky Rainbow!
Where to buy from?
The publishers Pratham Books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
PS - The book is available online on story weaver here.