Book: The Ammuchi Puchi
Author: Sharanya Manivannan
Illustrator: Nerina Canzi
Pages: 32
Publisher: Puffin
Read On: Paperback
How Long it Took Me To Read: Half an Hour
Plot Summary: Aditya and Anjali love listening to their grandmother's stories, particularly the scary one about the ghost in the tree. But the night their grandmother passes away, all her stories seem to lose their meaning.
Then something happens that is more mysterious and magical than any story. Could their grandmother still be with them after all?
Stunningly illustrated and told in gorgeous, poetic prose, this is a poignant and moving story about bereavement and healing.
Review: I am partial to books about Grandmothers.So any book, in any genre about a Grandmother invariably gets added to my bookshelves. This one was on my radar for precisely this reason and the art looked stunning.
Grandmothers are the best! I loved my Thamma something special and still feel lovely when people say I remind people of her. I am often told I am curious mix between both my grandmas. Like my Dida (mother's mum) I am obsessed with socks and love fizzy drinks and mall crawling. My Dida spend over 30 years living and working in London and her favourite thing to do on payday was hit the shops and buy little treats for everyone and herself.
And like my Thamma (dad's mum) I love dressing up, stories and story telling.
Both my grandmothers are no longer here. And I miss having the joy of having a grandmother. I was 20 when my Thamma passed away and 25 when Dida did. And even though I was a full blown adult it was hard dealing with their loss. Even now, years later, it takes me by surprise how much I miss them in waves. I'll see something or find something and think of my Thamma. It took me years and years to talk about her without tearing up. I barely manage to do so now. This loss and this grief will stay with me forever.
So, I can only image what it does to child to lose someone who helps raise them. I don't know how their minds and heart handle the grief. But it is something we al have to deal with. And a book like this that deals with the aftermath of a loss is so important and critical to those dealing with bereavement. Talking to children about death must be hard and tricky. So a book like this makes it a little easy and let's a child learn about death and loss and see how other kids grieve. And there is hope and love and that grief is a part of life. I really loved that this book adresses death in such a honest yet subtle way.
The art in this book is adorable and stunning. Each page has some absolutely gorgeous artwork and it was a visual treat to read it.
See some of the pages below...
Another thing I loved about this book was how the Ammuchi was not quite your average grandmother. She loved scaring her grand kids and was so spunky and unique. She is truly a memorable character and is so well crafted even in a short book like this one.
Rating: 4/5
A brilliant little book that I cannot recommend enough. It was so good! And it's important and can be a great tool in talking about death and loss to kids.
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