Chitti’s Travelling Books Box

MY THOUGHTS

I love this book, and I think I would be a great Chitti in the movie version of this book! Where my casting directors at?

During the pandemic, a few friends and I got together and set up a library in our apartment building. We sourced books from people who were spring cleaning, moving, or those who had books to give away! We now have a library with over 600 books!

In Chitti’s Travelling Book Box, Chitti and her friends love playing on an old tractor. Chitti and her friends — Lachu, Chokka, and Muthu spend their days playing pretend. When Chitti comes back from her holiday to Chennai, she comes back with a new passion. She has fallen in love with books and brings back books for all her friends to read. But soon realises her friends are not interested in reading! What will Chitti do? How will she convince her friends to read? Will she be able to make them fall in love with reading, or will she lose all her friends?

I loved the absolute simplicity of the book. Author Kavitha Punniyamurthi creates a world where children pretend they are astronauts ducking UFOs. A time when the most valuable gifts one can bring back from their holiday are melt-in-the-mouth Mysore Pak, and when we wouldn’t hesitate to do anything to stay friends with our childhood buddies. This is a time and era far removed from today’s Game Boys and Roblox competitions.

While kids will love the book and relate to its characters because of simple summer fun, there are important lessons for adults, too! Raising a reader is easy; simply surround them with books! Choose themes that tie in to their hobbies and read stories aloud. Writing an endearing story about it is way better than making Raise a Reader reels, right? Illustrator Nivedhitha Subramaniam’s illustrations of the kids are the most adorable thing I’ve seen recently. Chokka’s mop of curly hair, Chitti’s pavadai, Muthu’s math equations add so much character to the story. The book titles will make you wonder why they haven’t been written yet and add to the humour quotient of the book!

HoleBooks are small chapter books that are created to hook newly independent readers with bright colours, fantastic stories featuring children just like themselves. These books are gorgeously illustrated and ensure the reader will finish the book. Chitti’s Travelling Book Box is another super successful HoleBook, and a must-add to your child’s collection. Hopefully, this will inspire them to start a library and WILL definitely help in raising a reader!