The Rumour is a lovely story written by Anushka Ravishankar, published by Karadi Tales. It's fantastically illustrated by Kanyika Kini and one of our most popular picture books. The book is now published in North America by Tundra Books. Here are some recent reviews of the book from international magazines, journals and blogs!
On the Goodreads website are several reviews from customers and readers.
Bobby writes: Often in children's books, either the storytelling is stronger or the illustrating. However, here both are superb and come together very nicely. The story is based on the old concept that if you tell someone something, and he/she tells it to just one person, who in turn tells it to just one more person, etc, by the time the last person hears it, it sounds dramatically different than what the first person said. However, the creative manner in which Anushka Ravishankar interprets this story and the large, bright, colorful illustrations make this a must have in a children's library.
Sandy writes: With lyrical language, using rich (and enriching) vocabulary, this vividly illustrated story is intersperse with rhymed text. When a man tells his wife of an odd event, she begins the cycle of retelling with ever more outrageous distortions as word passes from villager to villager. This traditional tale has a satisfying resolution when the story returns to his doorstep and the town curmudgeon laughs until he cries. The illustrations, names, and cultural references give this a magnificent sense of place, and an appealing view of the community.
On CM Magazine, Alicia Cheng reviews the book: This hilarious tale about the nature of rumours contains appeal to audience of all ages. Older children will understand the cautionary and didactic aspect of the story while younger children will enjoy a funny story. Combining elements of humour and nonsense into an Indian tale, along with Anushka Ravishankar’s wonderful verse writing, this cautionary tale of rumours is a fun and enjoyable read for any child or parent.
On Kirkus Reviews: The warm, jewel-toned illustrations play with perspective, growing Pandu’s face larger and larger as the rumor gets bigger, until trees sprout from his molars and animals of all kinds spring from his wide, open mouth. A playful take on a familiar cautionary tale is enlivened by Subcontinental flair.
On Words By Mom: So many lovable and laughable aspects to this story. The pictures are great! Love the people and the backgrounds…really vibrant and detailed. The text is great….told like a folkstory almost, it’s very appealing.
On School Library Journal: Grumpy Pandu has the unusual experience of coughing a feather out of his throat and makes the mistake of telling his wife about the incident. Their tiny Indian village is a rumor mill, and before long the story is greatly exaggerated. Soon it is reported (in verse) that he coughed out a whole forest of trees and its myriad animals, a flock of birds, and…the feather. When Pandu hears the tale, he does something even more unusual; he laughs. The stylized ink and colored-pencil illustrations are bright and cheerful and depict the village inhabitants and their vivid imaginations.
On The Record: Cranky Pandurang is so amused he laughs out loud, much to the villagers’ surprise. And his laughter is so infectious, all of them join in. This cautionary tale about rumours and how they can evolve into something far from the truth is geared to readers four to six.
On Urban Moms: This is an old Indian tale, which I have seen in other versions with different stories told, but the point of the story remains. It's a fun one, and a nice unpreachy object lesson in gossip, too. The art here is bold and bright, with enough South Asian flavour to give the story a nice feel for the area it hails from, while being nicely kid-oriented in it's colours and in the way it illustrates the story and highlights the absurdity of the ever-growing rumour. This one is a good story, great fun, and a nice intro to another culture's tales.
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