Children’s author Khyrunnisa A seems to have been clean bowled by Brett Lee! She is yet to get over her excitement of meeting Australian fast bowler and musician Brett Lee at a function in Thiruvananthapuram. “Imagine, he has been mentioned in my new book Of Course It’s Butterfingers and there, Brett Lee is in the city for a function as a brand ambassador for a philanthropic cause,” she squeals in delight.
As with all the city-based author’s books on Amar Kishen, a.k.a. Butterfingers, this one, a collection of 13 stories, of which one is a novella, has children involved in some sports or the other in many of the stories. The book, published by Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Random House, India, has been illustrated by Abhijeet Kini. Of Course It’s Butterfingers has a mix of stories old and new. Three of the tales, including the novella, are brand new, while the rest are stories that appeared as comic strips in Tinkle , a magazine for children. Butterfingers had appeared first in Tinkle in the nineties before making his way to a book.
The cover of the book
The 13-year-old teenager has a flair for getting entangled in the most hilarious muddles. And how Butterfingers solves them despite himself takes readers on a fun-filled read.
Centred on sports
As playgrounds and open spaces get consumed by buildings, her books resolutely speak up for playgrounds and sports and why we must ensure that children have ample space and time to play outdoors. “Earlier, every school had time set apart for games, reading, craft and drawing. All these activities are necessary for the wholesome development of the child. Unfortunately, now many schools have erased that part of the curriculum or made it optional. The focus has shifted to academics alone. That is a matter of concern,” says the award-winning author.
In fact, all her books, right from Howzzat Butterfingers! in 2010, have been centred on sports and the great outdoors. A sports junkie, though she does not play a particular sport herself, Khyrunnisa makes it a point to weave the plots of her novel around sports. So if the first novel was all about saving a playground, Goal, Butterfingers! (2012) was about a rumbustious game of football, which was made up by students of Green Park Higher Secondary School, and Clean Bowled, Butterfingers! was about a cricket match between the students and the teachers. Then came two collections of short stories, which also have plenty of sports within the pages of the books.
She says emphatically that it is time that parents and teachers make the effort to get children away from screens of different kinds and motivate them to play games outdoors. “And I don’t mean only cricket or tennis. Whatever happened to games that children used to invent with so much imagination and creativity. Let them play, climb on trees, graze their knees and learn to be on their own for some time at least instead of micro managing all their leisure time,” says the former teacher, who retired as Associate Professor of English from All Saints College.
Perhaps it is that mix of fun and mischief that makes Butterfingers a favourite read of many eminent sportspersons themselves who have endorsed the book or written the preface for it.
Words of appreciation
One prominent name on that list was the legendary MAK Pataudi who wrote her a personal letter of appreciation on his letterhead, one that Khyrunnisa treasures. Manu S Pillai, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid are some of the celebs who have been bowled over by her books. Her new book has a preface by none other than Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, and eminent historian and political scientist Robin Jeffrey.
As she puts on her thinking cap for the next book in her shade-filled, book-lined home near Pattoor, I ask her if her next book will pack a punch with a tale on Butterfingers wrestling with the idea of taking up boxing, inspired by Olympian Mary Kom’s wins. “Let’s see,” laughs Khyrunnisa.
The book will be released by Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on December 9 at Senate Hall at 4.30 pm.
FACT FILE
* Amar, named after Khyrunnisa’s only son Amar Vijayakumar, is called Butterfingers on account of his clumsiness and ability to drop things or scatter everything around.
* Roald Dahl, PG Wodehouse, Anthony Buckeridge and Richmal Crompton are some of her favourite children’s authors.
* Butterfingers’ adventures are inspired by incidents that happen to her and her family and friends. Of course, those episodes are gift wrapped in creativity and imagination to present Butter’s ‘misadventures’ to the world.
