Mumbaiwale: These children’s books about Mumbai are a great escape for grown-ups too

Do you read children’s books for fun? Young adult literature? No? What a pity. Books for young readers are probably the cheapest, quickest vacation from the everyday tedium of adulthood.

Books for Indian kids are tricky. Avoid the ones that force-feed morals. Forget those India-exotic tales aimed at NRI kids. And swerve from endless retellings of folktales and myths. Try these Mumbai-themed books instead:

My City, My Dogs
In the Mumbai of this book, stray dogs run the city. They help traffic police with their duties, play with security guards, run alongside marathon-trainers, and take the first-class compartment of the local train. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy the text and illustrations, just someone who likes dogs.

366 Words in Mumbai
How to get kids aged 4 and above to understand Mumbai? By pointing out familiar sights like lampposts, ferries, crows, festivals, buildings and food. The Mumbai edition of the popular series is a child’s- eye view of details adults take for granted. When you’re done with the 366 words, go back and find a hidden ‘M’ on every page.

Good Night Mumbai
There’s a Good Night book for everything, it would seem: trains, campsites, mermaids, fire engines, dump trucks, Miami, Rajasthan and more. The Mumbai edition lets kids say good night to Elephanta Island, the museum in Colaba, the aquarium, Hanging Gardens, seasides, temples and mosques before they nod off. The most feel-good read to end a long day.

Home Away From Home
Written and illustrated by teachers at Mumbai Mobile Creches, a non-profit that runs centres for children of migrant construction labourers, it’s a glimpse into a side of the city even adults don’t often get to see. There’s friendship, theft, fitting in, and, of course, a mystery.

Sameer’s House
Where does Sameer live? The answer zooms out from Sameer’s Mumbai home, to his street, city, state, country planet and ultimately, the universe. A fantastic way to teach kids how everything and everyone is connected. And for adults to enjoy a bird’s (and ultimately a creator’s) eye view of us.

People Called Mumbai
The children’s edition of the popular book puts a kid-friendly spin on what usually comes off as cliché: street food, potters, Kolis, the film studios. A story of Mumbai via 20 lives of actual inhabitants, it’s a lovely way to remind yourself that we’re really no different from each other.

What Maya Saw
When young Maya is completing a project about Mumbai’s history at summer school, things start to get very weird. There’s something otherworldy going on and the trail of clues covers the city’s history, bylanes, foods, buses, structures and people. And you thought the city couldn’t possibly tell any new stories.

Treasure At the Train Station
If all you notice at CSMT station is the indicator announcing the next departing local, perhaps you need a children’s book to get a better view. This one brings some of the animal sculptures to life with an adventure about a missing jewel, a grandfather, his twin grandchildren, and the city.

Totally Mumbai
Kids see a completely different city from adults and it often pays to switch to a more innocent view. Totally Mumbai has a sense of humour about the big city, so facts about mangroves, birdlife, ghosts, street names and fires seem less dry. Who knows? It might answer a few grown-up questions too.

First Published: Aug 04, 2018 00:52 IST