The Mountains of Mumbai
Author: Labanya Ghosh
Illustrator: Pallavi Jain
Karadi Tales Picture Books
Ages 4-8
The text is simple, but the subtext vast. This book is a warm optimistic conversation between two little girls about challenging one’s perspective.
When Doma, a little girl from Kashmir, visits her friend Veda in Mumbai, she is struck with a longing for the hills and mountains she has left behind. As the girls walk along the streets of the bustling city with Veda’s mom – her sari billowing behind her like a sail – they talk about Doma’s feelings.
Veda is determined to show her friend that despite the bustling traffic, overcrowded streets, lack of greenery, and brown triangular mountains, Mumbai too, could take your breath away.
The text is simple, but the subtext vast. This book is a warm optimistic conversation between two little girls about challenging one’s perspective.
Jain’s watercolor paintings are spectacular! If you’re familiar with Mumbai, the landmarks will transport you right there. In these COVID times, this book is great for the armchair traveler as well. The incredibly detailed double-page panoramic spreads demand careful inspection. The background to the girl’s conversation is riveting – busy markets, kids waiting for a (lift (elevator) after a game of cricket, the tiffin-wallahs, the rickshaws – there’s so much you will want to talk about with your kids.
The book is also special in that the protagonists are both chubby, not the usual stick figures you see in most kids books. The characters in the book seem to intentionally mirror what real Indians look like size-wise. I make that distinction, because my one criticism of the book is that most of the people depicted, with the exception of the security guard, are very light skinned.
Mumbai is truly one of my favorite cities to visit. It is an incredibly magnetic city, and this book took me right back to the sights, sounds, touch, and smells of this LA-meets-NYC++ metropolis. This book is such a lovely introduction to the city, with just the right mix of general story and cultural specificity. I highly recommend it.
The Mountains of Mumbai (Support an Independent Bookstore)*
The Mountains of Mumbai (Amazon)*
More books for this Age Group can be found here.
My thanks to Karadi Tales Picture Books for providing a Review Copy of this book. All opinions provided herein are my own.
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