Here is something totally new for Tamil readers. Thirty-five children’s poems in Tamil in one book! Call them rhymes or poetry, ipaati is the original work of Karky, an educationist by profession and poet by passion. The poems are a sure departure from the likes of the age-old “Nila nila odi vaa”, for they are built on themes ranging from geography to history, science, entertainment, sports and technology. Even concepts like family and time appear in verse.
Poems and pictures
The book’s editor Nandini Karky has designed it keeping in mind the young learner whose knowledge of the language could be anything but perfect. Helpful tools like a picture dictionary and English transliteration of all the 35 poems are an added attraction to the hardbound book with large pages of computer generated illustrations.
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To top it all is the audio CD that comes with the book. More than 10 singers have given life to the poems with their voices in Rizwan’s music. The rap interlude in Chutti Ponnu and the modulated narration of the Helen Keller story stand out. Impressive poems on the moon, cricket, sunshine, mobile phone, trees, rain and even Gandhi thatha and comedian “Mr. Bean” present with finesse the author’s perception of a child’s world. The positive attribute to every theme, finger-snapping music and fitting voices make ipaati from Mellinam a truly commendable product of some well-conceived ideas.
ipaati, Mellinam Education Private Limited, Rs. 499