Sneaker Paati

MY THOUGHTS

Isn’t it the coolest when your Japanese-speaking, headstand-doing, sneaker-wearing Paati helps you fight your battles? Eight-year-old Kittu cannot be trusted to be left alone at home, especially when his parents need to travel for work. So, his father calls his aunt to watch over Kittu. Little does Kittu know that Shobha Attai or Sneaker Paati would turn out to be so uber cool!

Kittu and his family have recently moved to Bangalore, and he is having a hard time settling in at school and in his housing society. He is being tormented by a neighbourhood bully, B B Abby, and is scared even to go down and play! Kittu and his friend Bunty confide in Sneaker Paati, hoping she can teach the bully a lesson. Will Kittu and Bunty be able to make B B Abby pay for his behaviour? Can they now use the society pool and trampoline without being bullied?

When reading an Anita Nair book, you know you will instantly fall in love with her characters. They are endearing, quirky, and memorable. Her earlier book, Bipathu and a very big dream, featured nine-year-old Bipathu dreaming of becoming a football star, with her family and friends—Madama, Maash, Saad, and Rahul—helping her out. The setting was new, the tone of the story was fresh, and the book was a delightful read. Now, she is back with Sneaker Paati, a book that will surely resonate with young readers, whether they are dealing with a move or a bully in their life.

By literally turning the character of a grandmother on its head, Nair nudges the reader to think about solving problems differently, maybe with kindness. Sneaker Paati’s ideas are fun, inclusive, and unique. There is a lot of humour in the story, making it an effortless read. Habib Ali’s illustrations add that layer of quirk and fun as he brings the character of Sneaker Paati to life.

I marvelled at how Anita Nair was able to create a book with a head-standing grandmother and still keep all the other characters so relatable. From Kittu’s time-starved parents to B B Abby’s doting mother. From Abby’s caring sister, Shikha, to the Punjabi-accented Bunty, even her supporting characters add energy and nuance to the story.

This is no doubt a super fun story to read, but there is so much to take away from it. The real reason a child begins to bully his peers, the loneliness a child feels when parents are unavailable, the difficulty coping and settling in a new place, and the incredible strength children draw from their friends are just some of the underlying themes in this book.

This book is a great read for a middle grader, but is also a fun book to read out loud to your child. Definitely get yourself a copy of Sneaker Paati!