Excuse me, is this India?
Written by Anushka Ravishankar
Illustrated by Anita Leutwilet
Published by Tara Books
Now the summer is here, our thoughts turn to summer holidays. We'll be glamming it up in Somerset and Wales this year - but we'd truly love to be the little mouse in this story. After Auntie returns home with the most amazing sewn quilt, detailing her adventures in India, a child dreams that they've become a jet-setting mouse. Arriving in a strange country, the local customs seem strange but the cityscape is alive with colour, and the flora and fauna dazzle and delight.
The story playfully allows us to delve into the child's imagination as they travel the landscape, encountering different characters who dilly dally and shilly shally whenever our child-mouse asks where they are. Hence the title of the book!
Anushka Ravishankar's rhymes play with your senses as much as the book's stunning sewn-together visuals (by artist Anita Leutwilet). A beautifully descriptive book that will make you want to travel to one of the globe's most colourful countries in search of adventure. As with all the Tara books we've encountered so far, this is a treat for the eyes as well as the tongue when read aloud!
Charlotte's best bit: Racing around in a Tuk Tuk. Hold on little mouse!
Daddy's Favourite bit: A truly beautiful book full of vibrant colours, fun rhymes and such a brilliant landscape to explore in wonderment.
(Kindly sent to us for review by Tara Books)