Book Details
Genre: Children, Drama
Formats: Paperback
Ages: 5 to 8 years (Lowest level of the middle reader books from Duckbill)
Pages: 66
Publisher: Duckbill
Buy From amazon India
Price: Rs 112 on amazon. M. R. P. is Rs 175 as printed on book
Plot Synopsis
Sandy To The Rescue is a simple and cute story about the daily challenges and shenanigans of a seven year boy named Sandy.
Sandy finds out that he is soon going to have a brother or a sister, and he is not happy about that. Add to that, Daddy ate up his favorite evening snack last night, so Sandy has to make do with a poor substitute. Things are just not going right for him. He leaves to house sulkily to go out to play. He hides behind the hedges to bark at Mrs. Gupta's cat as usual, to frighten it, but instead of hissing, this time, it barks back, startling Sandy. Sandy soon finds out, that it 's not the cat that is barking at him, but a little kid.
A boy named Aftab, a year younger than Sandy, is alone with Mrs. Gupta. Aftab's parents were held up and asked Mrs. Gupta to keep him a while longer.
Sandy feels very sorry for Aftab. He hates Mrs. Gupta and her cat. Sandy's mother used to send him there, until one day Mrs. Gupta's cat scratched him. That's when Sandy's mother stopped sending him there, but Sandy was there long enough to know how mean and negligent Mrs. Gupta is.
Aftab begs to have dinner with Sandy at his house, but Sandy's mother does not allow him to have friends over after seven in the evening. Aftab challenges Sandy to sneak him in and the idea of harboring a fugitive in secret is exciting. So Sandy takes up the challenge. Will Sandy be able to feed Aftab without getting caught? Even if he does, where will Aftab sleep? What will happen if Sandy's parents find out? Can Mrs. Gupta figure out where Aftab went? Will she call the police because she can't find him? Read on to find out.
Highlights
The story is easy to read. My almost six year old daughter, has been reading short, three to five page, stories for a couple of months, but this one, she could easily read and understand and finished the book in two sittings spanning a couple of hours and she enjoyed it. It's great first, chapter book. It has helped with her confidence too, and now she is eager to tackle longer books, though earlier she was apprehensive about them.
It is a gentle story, that touches upon a lot of small issues. As much as Sandy loves his parents, he is also scared of them and thinks they are very harsh sometimes. This causes him to not confide in them, but that is not entirely the case. There is also the excitement of doing something forbidden. Sandy's interaction with his parents seem very real.
Another issue the story touches upon, is the apprehension kids face, when they are told they are going to have a sibling. They don't know how a sibling will change their life, and the idea may worry them. Sandy's parents find an interesting way to make the arrival of a sibling something to look forward to, rather than dread.
I loved how Aftab set up a cozy bed in the bathtub. It's just the kind of idea that made Enid Blyton stories so endearing. No wonder Sandy thinks Aftab has the better sleeping arrangement and wants it for himself.
There are some lovely illustrations by Chetan Sharma. I particularly liked the one where Sandy compares his pregnant mother to an elephant in his imagination.
Some Observations
The book makes daycare seem like a nightmarish experience. So if the child reading or hearing this story goes to day care, or is going to start day care soon, it may be a good idea for the parents to talk to the child and address any concerns the child may have.
The book obliquely suggests that children should not fear talking to their parents about problems, because even though parents enforce discipline and seem scary sometimes, they are usually keen to help their children and even bend the rules, when their kids are facing a problem.
Although Sandy is the older kid, Aftab is more fiesty, and Sandy follows his lead.
Harboring fugitives in bathtub beds, football babies, alien rats and villainous daycare managers throwing tantrums, make up just another day in the life of a regular seven year old.
Duckbill sent me this book for an honest review.
Thanks PlusMinus’N’More, for everything I learned from you about reviewing books.