Soul Warrior

Book Title: Soul Warrior

Author: Falguni Kothari

Genres: Fiction

Rating: 4

Twisted myths. Discretion advised.
Fight fate, or succumb to destiny?
In the dark Age of Kali, the Soul Warrior alone stands guard over the Human Realm, protecting its denizens from evil-willed asuras or demons. When a trick of fate appoints him guru to a motley crew of godlings, he agrees to train them as demon hunters against his better judgment. Suddenly, Lord Karna is not only battling the usual asuras with sinister agendas, but also rebellious students and a fault-ridden past.
Spanning the cosmic realms of mythic India, here is a tale of a band of supernatural warriors who come together over a singular purpose: the salvation of Karna’s secret child

Review 

Mythology in modern setting. It might look like everyone is writing a Mythological novel these days still can you ever have enough of it? Not if you are a Mythological fan! I started reading Soul warrior and realized in the first few pages, that irrespective of the times I have watched/read Karna's dying moments in Kurukshetra War, I can still feel the emotional overflow thanks to the Author. So, the story begins where Mahabharatha almost ends and a lot later in time.

Valentines day cards for Kids

Valentine's day is round the corner, so here is a printable for making your own finger print cards. Just print it on a cardstock, let your kids imprint their fingers and cut them out. 

You can also write fancy stuff like the ones here for older children. And add your kids name on the heart! 

Download Valentines Card here.
Download template without the heart here.

Crab Craft

We read a book called 'Little Jessie's beach fun' and did this crab craft to go with the book's theme. The nice thing about doing crafts is that it not only triggers imagination but also interesting questions, sometimes simple ones that we miss to notice. When we were adding eyes and mouth to our crab, my daughter asked if crabs have nose. And errr, I have never given enough attention to crabs in the first place, leave alone their noses. The answer is that crabs don't have nostrils like we do. They have gills to breathe and use 'Chemoreception'(using chemical signals) for smell. 

Little Jessie's Beach Fun and a Craft

Book Title: Little Jessie's Beach Fun

Author: Gowri Nat

Genres: Children (3-8 years)

Rating: 4

Little Jessie s Beach Fun Affable, young Jessie loves nothing more than a day at the beach with her dad taking in the sunshine, sand, trees, birds, sea animals and more. One day, her outing puts her in contact with a new friend with interesting things to teach Jessie. And the friendly girl has a pleasant surprise in store for her new friend. Who could this new pal be? And what special treat does Jessie have in store? Dive into Jessie s world and find out in Little Jessie s Beach Fun. Appropriate for children ages 3 through 8 but written to stretch young readers cognitive and reading skills Little Jessie s Beach Fun is a colorful, exciting and vibrant outdoor adventure that resonates with children curious about the world the natural world beyond the artificial confines of video games, smart phones, televisions and tablet computers. The easy-to-ready, brilliantly illustrated tale not only delivers a light, fun story with lovable characters, but also instills an early appreciation of nature and valuable lessons about love, kindness and cherished core values. "

Pongal Craft for the very young

Here is a quick Pongal-themed craft. My 2.5 year old daughter was very enthusiastic about it and especially liked the part involving sand. I gave her the printed pot and rhinestones and she automatically stuck them inside the circles and triangles without any directions from me. I was surprised to see that she had conceived the idea of decorating these patterns. You can download the Pongal Pot template here.

If you do not celebrate Pongal, the 4 day harvest festival in your part of the world, you can read here to get an essence of it (includes an excerpt from a book I enjoyed reading).

And I have explained below how we did it. But you can do the same with whatever supplies you have at home. After all, crafting is all about imagination and creativity :)