Splendid kick off

Goal, Butterfingers, written by city-based Khyrunnisa A., was released by Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Amar Vijaykumar (second from left) and his friends at the lauch of the book Goal Butterfingers in Thiruvananthapuram

“Launched the 2nd in the Butterfingers series of delightful children’s books by Thiruvananthapuram's own Khyrunnisa. Deserves 2be widely read,” tweeted Shashi Tharoor, author and the capital city’s Member of Parliament.

His next tweet, a clarification to the previous tweet, while replying to a follower’s query is: “Goal Butterfingers!” is the2nd book by Khyrunnisa in a Penguin series that began w/ “Howzat Butterfingers!” Fun4kids aged10-16.”

Dr. Tharoor released the book at Vyllopilly Samskriti Bhavan on Sunday. Amar Kishen, a.k.a. Butterfingers, the school boy hero of the book, must have been pleased with all the attention he got during the release of

Goal, Butterfingers, a Penguin publication. His ardent fans were lavish in their praise of his antics and even his clumsy nature came in for words of appreciation. Dr. Tharoor’s only grievance was over Butterfingers’ decision to shift to football in his latest adventure at Green Park School. “I am a cricket nut and I have left football to my sons,” said the dapper writer and politician after releasing the book by handing it over to Aravind S. Kumar, a class nine student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Kochi, and a young fan of Butterfingers.

Aravind felt that the book was a good read for anyone between the ages of six and 600!

Dr. Tharoor complimented the author Khyrunnisa A. for her remarkable ability to spin stories for children without adapting a condescending tone and her uncanny knack for being able to read the minds of teenagers and capture their attitude towards teachers and adults, despite being a former lecturer herself. As the author dimpled and smiled, Dr. Tharoor admitted that he had never seen such a large audience for any book release in the city.

What made the gathering at Vylloppily Samskriti Bhavan special was the presence of Amar Vijaykumar, Khyrunnisa’s son, who inspired the creation of the lovable Butterfingers, and his friends, all of whom figure in the two books. Some of them had travelled all the way from Bangalore and Chennai for the release of the book. While hoping that Khyrunnisa would come up with more adventures of Amar and his friends, Dr. Tharoor hoped that unlike Harry Potter, she would not keep adding to the years of Amar.

An emphatic nod of her head promised her readers that she had no plans of making Amar move out of Class VIII. Dr. Tharoor wondered what the author was planning to serve next – ‘Smash Butterfingers’, about his antics with tennis, or ‘Basket Butterfingers’ on Amar’s tryst with basketball? Well, the readers must be waiting impatiently too to know more about Amar’s adventures.