The Sweet Shop Wars

by Chatura Rao and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe

“The Sweet Shop Wars” by Chatura Rao and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe. Published by Duckbill. A delightful story of little Firoza who decides to make her dadu’s sweet shop the best when a new shop opens next door and takes away their customers.

Firoza’s dadu had a sweet shop in Hyderabad. Every day she would run excitedly through the bazaar to their shop to sample the peda which was the best according to her. A new shop called “Best Sweets” had opened next door and people were slowly flocking to it. Clearly Firoza wasn’t amused by this. They could not afford to lose their customers in this manner.

Things took an ugly sort of a turn when the owner of the new shop warned her dadu that he would get his shop closed by the authorities for not being clean enough and causing flies to come to both shops. Was Firoza going to take this lightly? Could Firoza do something about the new shop? What would  she do to make her dadu’s shop better? Will things be so bleak after all? Read the story to find out.

My eight year old enjoyed reading the story. He was curious to know how Firoza would handle the opening of Best Sweets. This was his first book set in Hyderabad. So we got talking about the city and what it is famous for. The illustrations are well done with importance given to details. The bonding between Firoza and her Dadu has been portrayed so beautifully. The message that one can come up with solutions for problems if they make up their mind and put in efforts towards solving comes through so well. Also, the fact that healthy competition is what one should indulge in rather than rivalry and blame game to get ahead and do well is shown so nicely in the book. A message which is apt for everyone! This is a “hook book” and very well suited for children beginning to read on their own.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 5/6+.

Where to buy from?

An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.

Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Penguin India (Duckbill), for review. Thank you to Greeshma and Mansi, from Penguin, for sending across the book!