Book Review:

All about mice

Title: The adventures of Sokadi, the line-room mouse

Author: Sakuntala Sachithanandan Sakuntala Sachithanandan's most recent work is a charming story for children featuring a "pretty young mouse with bright eyes and a dear little wuffly nose". Sakuntala's lively way with words and colorful illustrations combine to capture the life of Sokadi who ventures out of her "nest of chewed up rags, grass and wood chips" in the line-room of Amara, a tea-plucker, into the brave new world of a tea factory.

The cover illustration, painted in vivid colours, showing part of Amara's figure holding a threatening broom and a little mouse scampering up a post draws the reader into the story right-away. All the illustrations are painted in water colours by Sakuntala herself. She has a painterly style and a nice touch with animals. My own favourite illustration pictures Alubool, the elderly tea factory mouse, dragging young Sokadi by her tail going "bumpitty-bumpitty - bump" on her first adventure.

The endearing and often comical names like Meekelli, Meesookiri, Kossetaya and Chickachee help to make the mice come alive.

The way in which Sakuntala weaves into the story information about the working of a tea factory and the basic Tamil words spoken by the workers make it educational as well as entertaining.

The Adventures of Sokadi, the Line-roo Mouse is sure to appeal to young readers.

An adult would enjoy reading it out loud to children too young to read it by themselves. Sakuntala Sachithanandan is a poet as well as a story teller.

She won the Gratiaen award 2010 for a collection of her poems.

- Chitra Premaratne-Stuiver