The Champa Flower
by Rabindranath Tagore and illustrated by Jaikar Marur
“The Champa Flower” by Rabindranath Tagore and illustrated by Jaikar Marur. Published by Katha. This is book five of Tantalizing Tagore which is the set of five poems by India’s most loved poet. A good way to introduce Tagore’s works to the little ones. This poem is about a little boy whose imagination is running wild.
He wants to turn into a champa flower just for a day. He wonders how it will be if that does happen. How he can silently watch his mother go about doing her daily routine without being observed. Will his mother realise that he has become a flower? Will she be able to recognise him? Will she look for him everywhere and wonder about his whereabouts? Don’t we all wish to be a fly on the wall sometimes and watch what is going on without being observed. Well the child has such a wish and is delighted to pretend that he can be a champa flower for a day. It is a treat to watch the little boy get his share of joy out of this pretend play. His playful thoughts are expressed beautifully by the master poet.
The illustrations are charming and complement the poem so well. Loved how the mother has been portrayed wearing the quintessential Bengali saree in white and red colours. The last couple of pages have some activities related to times of the day and shadows as well as facts about Tagore.
My seven year loved this book. Though the books are meant for 4-6 years as per Katha, I would say that the children begin to understand the nuances of the poems only after 5 maybe. This is from my personal experience. I bought this book when my son was 4 and he didn’t like it so much. I gave it away and he insisted I buy it once again when he was 6! This time he seemed to understand it better and liked it. The Champa flower is his favourite. It also happens to be the tree which was in front of his classroom in school. Also his class was named Champa in the last year of kindergarten. So this book is quite special for him. A big thank you to Ashti Mudnani of Lightroom Bookstore in Cooke Town, Bengaluru for introducing us to this beautiful series.
Where to buy from?
You can buy the book from
The publisher Katha books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, where I buy a lot of my books from.
