Grrrs and Hisses and their Homes
Review by Archana Nataraj, for the magazine ” Teacher plus”
Grrrs to Hisses and their homes by Katie Bagli and Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick, published by Inking Innovations, is an interesting collection of poems and stories in verse about climate change and conservation. Katie Bagli has 27 published titles to her credit, nearly all of which are on endearing animals and spectacular nature. This book has been co-authored by Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick, who is a scientist and educationist.
With meticulously researched facts narrated in the voices of polar bears looking for ice to stalk their prey and turtles that feel lucky not to have choked on plastic, to Laburnum trees that are confused as to why there are no insects to pollinate their early blooms, the authors unfold the perils of climate change for the voiceless flora and fauna. The exigency is stark as we hear from the Emperor Penguins who can’t fly away from their rapidly changing habitat, the endangered Great Indian Bustard searching for his mate and the snow leopard who is labelled a thief and driven away from his own lands. As the authors spotlight hornbills laying eggs in concrete walls, weaver birds using plastic in their wondrous nests and pepper moths that have changed their colour to match the grey soot belched out by the factories, we are gently made aware of the devastating effects of human callousness, of conflict and pollution and Nature’s vulnerable species, struggling to adapt. ….
Review of ” Ishaan’s Treasures” by 9 year old Ruhaan Rajadhyaksha
Treasury of marine Life
A delightfully enthralling book, Ishaan’s Treasures is authored by well-known and much loved children’s author and avid nature enthusiast Katie Bagli, illustrated by the award winning multi-talented and versatile Chetan Sharma, and published by the Mangroves Foundation Cell.
The book begins with the migration of young Ishaan to Mumbai, and his fascinated exploration of Juhu beach, very close to the shack where he lives. Since his father, who has just taken up a job to earn a living, cannot afford to send his son to school, Ishaan spends his days observing sea creatures on the beach. His life takes a turn when he meets Nature Uncle Abhijeet, a passionate marine biologist, who is a storehouse of knowledge and an enthusiastic teacher. Complementing each other perfectly, the two set out on a journey to discover life in and around the sea. From the beach to the mangroves, and the under-water world, the duo immerse themselves in understanding and decoding intriguing and lesser known facts about various marine creatures.
Ishaan discovers that while Hermit Crabs do not have a
The Flight of the Pink-headed Ducks and Other Stories
The Flight of the Pink-headed Ducks and Other Stories, written by Katie Bagli and published by Bombay Natural History Society, was released recently. This story book is suitable for children of 8 years and above, even adults. The book has five stories about five highly endangered and rare species of the Indian subcontinent. The animals selected – the Pink-headed Duck, the Snow Leopard, the Red Panda, the Ganges River Dolphin and the Great Indian Bustard, represent the different and diverse ecosystems that they live in.
The stories bring out the love between humans and animals. The protagonists……
Let’s Peep Into The Insect World
Book Review of Let’s Peep into the Insect World by a young girl, Daanya Purohit, who writes a blog and intends becoming a naturalist.
Katie Bagli has written many books on nature. In each of her books she takes up one element of wildlife, like Mangroves, Bees, Flowers, Insects, etc. and elaborates on them, sharing many fun facts and trivia.
Recently, I read her book Let’s Peep Into The Insect World and found it interesting. In this book the author describes variety of insects and gives a short summary on each of them. Each section has beautifully illustrated pictures that show different behaviours of these insects in their natural habitat. Her way of writing helps imagine and understand the insect better.
Two of my favourite chapters are the Emerald Moth Caterpillar and The Big Fat Wedding of the Ants.
Kidengage Reads- The Zoo Around You
The book is nicely organized in short poems covering a potential place where one can identify a group of creatures, and hence can be called a zoo. The concept of a zoo existing in our homes, in the vegetables as well as inside us is sure to get a child hooked. Each poem has a box of trivia and fun facts related to the creatures covered in the poem. The illustrations are quirky and charming and are done in the zentangle art form.
The book is also a good example of a collaborative attempt in authoring a book. In the authors’ own words, one of them has done the content, while the other has done the poetry – and the end result sounds seamless, as you enjoy the verses and the little nuggets about the animals of all sizes that you see around you.
The book is a great pick for a child who is interested in nature and animals and can be enjoyed by almost any age. It would also make for a great gift of encouragement in the holidays.
For the full review of the “the zoo around you” by Kidsengage click here
Letter from Scotland , September 2018
Review of Katie’s most recent book……The Mysterious Lovables – by KidEngage Reads
Children love animals, and animals love children. And if you look from their eyes, all you see is a playmate, ready to hop and jump with them. The concept of an animal being scary, or ugly or to-be-held-at-an-arm’s-distance is totally alien to the children. And so, it makes sense to introduce them to this fascinating world in the formative years. This would ensure a bond that will last for a lifetime! And this is exactly what Katie Bagli’s Amazing Animal Tales does in the most recent book in the series – ‘The Mysterious Lovables’.
A bird in hand
Bachi Karkaria,
Times City Lights
A flock of delightful birds landed on our table. It had none of the fanfare that surrounds the arrival of a new offering, whether of a book or booze. Yet this little tome deserves to fly off the shelves. Katie Bagli, an avid and informed nature-lover, has written an aviary full of stories, prefixed each with interesting trivia about that species and suffixed it with factoids. She has also illustrated them. Birds of Different Feathers should roost on every child’s shelf. It’s sure to lay a big egg of awareness and interest.
Book Review of Less Known Lovables
(The wildlife magazine Saevus had sent my book The Less Known Lovables to Maneckji Cooper School, to be reviewed by their students)
By the means of her book, “The less known Lovables”, the author Katie Bagli takes us on an adventure through the animal kingdom. In her compilation of fifteen moral enriched tales, she imparts some of the most valuable life lessons to her readers. With her perfectly stringed sentences and impeccable vocabulary, the author makes our reading experience a truly enjoyable one. She has touched upon various relevant topics of our day and age such as the ill effects of greed in “the crazy collector”, the importance of accepting one and another in a “salute to the royal adjutant” and discourages harmful practices like poaching and deforestation in “Hurrah for the Langur” and “Pinocchios of the jungle. The importance of feeling comfortable in our own skin has also been highlighted in “The fish that wasn’t right”. Each story has been concluded with a nugget of trivia about the lesser known creatures that exist in nature which is a good source of general knowledge for younger readers on a whole, “The lesser known lovables” will be a guaranteed success among its targeted audience, that is, the young readers.
Sameedh Shetty,
Maneckji Cooper School
Std X
On 25-Jun-2013, at 12:01 PM, Usha Desai <ushandesai@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Friends
Katie’s book on plants is paisa vasool….worth buying 3-4 copies to gift away…
It is well illustrated by coloured drawings by Katie. My favourite is white Yuca flowers with white moths against slate blue night ..different .mangroves roots are depicted well..cyclone moving the leaves of silver oak….all are graphic and speak to you about the stories to be unfolded…The stories as usual are full of what next..what next..the poem on seeds with illustrations teaches a lot about seed dispersion….worth book to buy for your kids’ school…a helpful guide for teachers.
love Usha
On 25 June 2013 15:53, Rama Bishnoi <ramabishnoi@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi
I can second Usha’s opinion .
I have gifted Katie’s book Birds of a Feather to more than 20 kiddos and it has been immensely appreciated and read by them.
Cheers!
Rama
Tuesday 27th November
Hi Katie,
Thank you for your email. I’m sorry I’ve been slow to respond to your facebook message and this correspondence but I’ve been travelling at a furious pace. After Mumbai I spoke at events in Goa, Bangalore, Chennai, Pondicherry and Delhi. I’m now in Shimla for a conference and finally have a few days before it begins so that I can catch my breath and also catch up on emails.
I remember you very well from the workshop. I enjoyed reading your book that you kindly gave me at the end of our session together. From a preliminary reading of your book, I feel you write very well for younger readers and you rendered quite difficult subject matter accessible. I have sent your book back to Australia (I had too many books to carry!) to add to my collection of Indian children’s literature.
Good luck with your future writing. I hope our paths cross again one day.
Best wishes,
Kirsty Murray
The following reviews are by Cheryl Rao , who is a Children’s writer
A delight for nature lovers of every age
2 APRIL 2013 NO COMMENT
Cheryl Rao
These four books form part of a series which includes two more books: Our Green Saviours and How Blue is our Planet? The first impression of these books, with their workbook size, glossy paper, colourful layout and delightful illustrations done by the author, is that they are for young readers and indeed this is what the caption on the books says: Nature’s Delights for Young Readers.
True, the messages of the short stories are simple and are aimed at children, as is the layout with information boxes before each story and interesting tidbits about the mammal, bird, insect, or ocean creature entertainingly related in first person – occasionally accompanied by amazing facts that serve as icing on the cake.
However, one has to spend only a little while going through the books before one realizes that they are much more than a simple collection of tales and snippets for children. They are a body of work conceived and executed by someone with a wealth of knowledge and there is something new to learn on practically every page.
It is not surprising that the author is a self-confessed ardent nature lover. Her love of the environment and every creature in it shines through and inspires and educates readers.
Whether you are reading the story of the vultures or the poem about the flamingoes, whether your encounter is with a yak at the top of the world or the gentle giant of the sea, whether you sympathize with the papa sea horse or root for the Blue Streak fish, or whether you find the wasps and the ants and the silkworms and the dragonflies the most intriguing, remember that you are setting out on an adventure of your own into a world most of us have taken completely for granted because it has been around us for millennia.
The striking aspect of these books is the concept of fiction and poetry with animal/bird/fish/insect characters, at times interacting with humans, at times on their own, and then the addition of facts about different species is something that is unique and lends the series its charm.
However, young readers may struggle with the language and the turn of phrase used by the author in the series. For independent readers, it is probably more appropriate for the age group of 12+ or for precocious readers, but anyone who has the support of teachers/parents to help them with unfamiliar words and expressions will also benefit from these books.
It is a valuable addition to individual and school libraries for the wealth of wisdom that it presents. One cannot come away from even a cursory look at the books without indelible images being stamped on the mind and a number of resolutions being made to look out for the birds around us, appreciate the insects we crush so easily under our feet, or maybe go on to work actively for the environment, as the author has.
The reviewer is a children’s writer. She can be reached at cherbrag@yahoo.com
July 2018 teacherplus book review “On the Wild side” by Sunanda Ali
Ideal textbook material
Stella Pauline Punitha
It is so refreshing to write this review for Katie Bagli’s creation “HABITATS and their denizens”. One must appreciate Katie for her choice of title and theme. It’s ‘Home sweet Home’ for anyone. Man’s home has become a mansion with the advancements made in technology and development. However, it does excite us to ascertain and comprehend the simple but cliquey and luxurious places in which our animal and bird friends live.
We are alerted to remember that from a tree to the clouds, habitats are not confined to those five or six types that we read about in social studies textbooks. On the contrary there are about 17 types of habitats and two niches that the book portrays.
For a 10 or 12-year-old child, Katie presents a ‘word video’ which takes the reader to the habitat or niche and experience the feel and perceptually capture the community of animals and birds that live there.
There are solo habitats like a Tree and endless canopy like Clouds between which are mountains with alpine forests, deodar forests and mangroves. In the urban setting we have gardens, above the ground the grasslands, and below the ground the underground habitat. Water based habitats that invite readers to a fabulous life are bets, high tide zone, low tide zone, coral reefs and ocean floor. It would be incomplete if the regular habitats like rivers, ponds and phumdis are not mentioned. The list includes hot desert and cold desert.
The fascinating aspect is the colouring activity for all the habitats which makes the reading more absorbing. The book targets pre-teens and early teens to enjoy the diverse life around us. The visual cum text effect surely will leave a lasting impact of the habitat and will make every reader an environmental steward.
Unlike other books, HABITAT takes just a few hours to complete reading and also acquire comprehensive knowledge about the animal life that inhabit a certain habitat. The language is lucid and clear but very specific and context-based. The style of narration will tempt readers to read again. As an educator, if given a choice, I would replace the subject textbook with Katie Bagli’s creation – HABITATS, to ensure learning.
HABITATS is not prescribed for young readers alone but also for the teachers who teach various HABITATS!
The reviewer has worked with school students for nearly two decades and believes in every child. She is the Principal of The Schram Academy, Chennai. She can be reached at stellappunitha@gmail.com.
Watch Katie’s interview with Lumière Business Solutions, which is a research, consulting and design firm. They work in the area of innovation and transformation and celebrate inspiring achievements.