| Author: Radhika Chadha Illustrator: Bhakti Phatak Book Review By: Anandi Narayanan Grade: 4 |
Basava and the Dots of Fire
Basava and the Dots of Fire is about a boy named Basava written by Radhika Chadha. He lives near a forest. Every day, Basava goes into the forest to collect sticks. His mother makes a fire with the sticks.
When Basava goes to the forest, his mother says come back before it gets dark. On one day, Basava is late. He tries to hurry up in the forest. But he has to help a butterfly to escape and then a dragonfly to escape. The butterfly and the dragon fly thank him and say they will help him later. Basava doesn’t know how they can help him because they are so small.
Basava goes deep into the forest to pick up more sticks. And when he is finished, it is too dark to see. Basava is scared and worried. “How will he go home?” He thinks.
Basava shouts for help, and the butterfly and dragonfly come there. They say they will help him. Basava asks them how they can help him. They bring their friend, a firefly. The firefly goes and calls all other fireflies, and the whole forest is full of light from them. Basava sees his mother waiting for him and he runs to her. But when he turns to show her the fireflies, they are not there.
It is nice of Basava to help the butterfly and dragonfly even though he is late. Even though they were small, they brought their friend to help him. This story reminded me of something in my grandmother’s village. In the village they used a choola to cook with fire from sticks.
I liked the pictures in Basava and the Dots of Fire. My favourite part is when the fireflies all shine their light in the forest. It is very beautiful. I have seen fireflies when I went on a holiday. There were hundreds of fireflies and the lights shined on and off on the bushes.
I definitely recommend Basava and the Dots of Fire to children 4-10 years.
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