Po Tricks His Foe
by Sharmila Deo and illustrated by Niloufer Wadia
“Po Tricks His Foe” by Sharmila Deo and illustrated by Niloufer Wadia. Published by Kalpavriksh and Eklavya. One of those rare books on a creature which is not so well known. An animal whose tongue is as long as it’s body. Why would it need such a long tongue one might wonder. An incredible animal which can curl up into a ball. Intrigued? Well the animal definitely is a mysterious one for most of us. I am talking about a Pangolin :)
Po is a little pangolin. One late evening, he wakes up and sets out to find some food for his rumbling belly. What better than some termites which is his favourite food! He is solitary and has no friends. All other animals find him very unusual and ugly. They make fun of his appearance. They find it funny that he has no teeth and his entire body including the tail is covered with scales. But Po doesn’t mind any of their taunts. He knows what he is capable of. He loves his tongue and scales.
After having a sumptuous meal of juicy termites, Po finds himself confronted by a leopard. All other animals are hiding and wondering what will happen next. There is total silence all around. What does Po do now? Does he have any tricks up his sleeve? Will he be able to save his life? Will the leopard give up? Does this whole incident change the opinion of other animals about Po? The story needs to be read to find out answers to all these questions.
My six year old and me loved reading up this story and getting to know about the rarely mentioned Pangolin. The book has two pages of facts about Pangolins at the end. The illustrations are well done and complement the write up beautifully. Loved the cover design too. The front and back covers have to be kept open with the book facing downwards to see the picture of the entire Pangolin. Thank you Vidya (of Funky Rainbow) for this wonderful recommendation! I couldn’t resist ordering this when you showed the cover in one of funky rainbow’s buzzaars.
