Every week, I share a story - something positive or inspiring or interesting that I find from the real world around us. This week is a little different - a treat for bookworms. Three books recommended for young readers and these book recommendations come from other young readers. You may have stumbled onto the fact that week’s newsletter is strictly not a reflection of my own views!
#Book 1 - Robodog by David Williams
Prakriti, a ‘nearly 10-year old’ recently read this book. It was published in 2023. In an imaginary city called Bedlam, villains are able to get away with almost anything. Nothing short of a superhero can save the city. Enter the robodog. Robodog is a cool character that helps the police keep crime under control. Not just that - this dog has amazing super powers. Robodog can shoot missiles at will, he can turn into a submarine and can shoot out nets to ensnare thieves.
The author David Williams has also written some of the world’s bestselling children’s books (including the Spaceboy).
Recommended for: Prakriti thinks this book is an excellent read for anyone aged 7+
#Book 2 - ‘Common Yet Uncommon’ by Sudha Murthy
Isabelle, a 10-year old recently read this book and really loved it. Isabelle is quite fond of Sudha Murthy (she calls her the best ever children’s author!). This book is a collection of stories from Sudha Murthy’s real life. They tell us the many little things that happened in her childhood and early years. The stories are highly relatable, funny and sometimes lead us to think and ponder.
According to Sudha Murthy, this book is meant for both children and adults! Here’s a quote from one of her interviews to the Deccan Herald.
"I grew up in a small town with a different culture. I met many characters while growing up and, in this book, there are fourteen unique yet relatable characters. I hope you enjoy reading Common Yet Uncommon, and I am sure you can recollect, recognize, reward and applaud such simple people”.
Recommended for: Isabelle thinks anyone above the age of 9 can enjoy this book.
#Book 3 - The Shiva Trilogy by Amish
Eesha, a 14-year old, recently read this book series (it is a trilogy aka 3 book series). The series is based on Hindu mythology - mainly centred around stories of Shiva. Eesha really loved this book series because it allowed her to think about how Gods must have lived in a world that she can relate to. The author has not narrated mythological stories as we know it, instead he tries to imagine how Gods might have behaved if they had been real people, doing normal things like you and I.
An important theme explored by this book - Bias against people who look different from the normal. People who look differently or who have different physical characteristics are often ridiculed or shunned. This is a theme this book explores beautifully. It helps us understand how many of us, consciously or unconsciously hurt others just because they do not look like many others around us.
Eesha thinks that the book can be a little hard to understand, for very young readers because there is some philosophical discussion. The main theme of the book though is quite simple - we all have some amount of good and evil in each of us, what we do with it and how we deal with them, is what really make us who we are.
Recommended for: Intrigued and want to read? Amish (the author) wrote this as a book for adults, but increasingly a lot of children as young as 10 and 11 are beginning to enjoy this book series.
Want to buy these books?
You can find them all on Amazon. Just to make it easy for you, I have put the links to them below. (I don’t get any money if you buy these, adding a disclaimer here, in case you were wondering:)
Common Yet Uncommon by Sudha Murthy
Do you have a book recommendation that you too want to share?
Click ‘comment’ below and write to me with your own book recommendation.