Shelly’s Stocking Goes Missing By Anitha Rathod | Book Reviews

The Christmas 2018 is approaching and the authors who delve into children special literature are trying hard to come up with something special for this occasion. Of course, seeing an innocent smile on a child’s face is something very special, and one would like to go to any extent for the same :).

In fact, we love reading kids special literature and share our unbiased and genuine views and reviews for the same. Here are some quick links for children and young adult books/movies we’ve reviewed recently:

• Ira Ki Kahaniyan by Pranav | Book Reviews
• A Chest’s Tale (The Mystery Crackers Book 1) by Jinal Shailesh Doshi | Book Reviews
• My Feathered Friends & The Book of Poems : Part 1 by Sunil Bhatia | Book Reviews
• Jumanji (1995 Movie) | Views And Reviews
• Temples Of India : Tirupati, Vaishno Devi, and Konark : Amar Chitra Katha | Book Collectoin Reviews
• Toonpur Ka Superhero | Hindi Film | Bollywood Movie | Views And Reviews
• Despicable Me | English Animation Movie | Film For Kids | Personal Reviews
• Despicable Me 2 | English Animation Movie | Film For Kids | Personal Reviews
• Zootopia | A Nice Animated Film For Kids | Personal Reviews
• Minions | English Animation Movie | Film For Kids | Personal Reviews
• Jumbo | Animation Movie for Kids | Personal Reviews
• Stuart Little | English Film For Kids | Personal Reviews
• The Lion King | English Animation Movie | Film For Kids | Personal Reviews

So, when we are approached by Anitha Rathod to inform us about her latest book Shelly’s Stocking Goes Missing, we’ve decided to read this small EBook out of its turn in our long book queue!

Anitha is an author and illustrator and can be reached at: http://www.anitharathod.com/.

Let us take a look at the book cover.

Whatever we say philosophically about not judging a book by its cover, we subconsciously do it. The book cover definitely influences purchase and read decisions. The cover page of this book is what you can expect it to be for a children special book.

It is not too detailed or super smooth, it rather is simple yet effective. An illustration of a girl looking at her flying stocking while trying to get it looks nice in the background of starry sky. It represents the theme of the book quite effectively.

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the book plot while trying to make it as much spolier free as possible.

Book Plot:

The story revolves around the Christmas time.

Shelly, the protagonist of the story is a cute young girl who is in a dilemma about how will she made a stocking for the upcoming Christmas day! She has her own little problems as she needs to make it ready before Santa arrives!

As it is said “if you look for the answers, you will find them”, Shelly found an old purple bag which she can convert into a stocking by putting in some efforts. She dedicatedly does her work and she was finally able to make a stocking from it. It was not very smooth, of course. But, it is something that will work for her at that point.

She placed the stocking at the desired place and started waiting for Santa. Sleep tried to overpower her and she fought back to keep her eyes wide open. But, how much a young kid can do? She ultimate lost it to sleep.

It was when the stocking gets away from the window! And its journey to the real world began.

So will Shelly find it back? Will the stocking get trapped anywhere? How things happen in the small fantasy world of Shelly and her stocking is explored in the rest of the book.

I often say that writing a kids special stuff is not a kid’s play. While you need to make the tale interesting and gripping, you cannot go beyond a certain limit in terms of literary aspects also. You need to keep the language simple and interesting. You cannot go into detailed explanations and build scenes and surrounding, and yet you need to convey the things in an effective manner. It is not less than walking on the tightrope.

Here is an example of writing from this book:

She started counting the
Bricks on the wall and
Strands of her hair, but
Staying awake was hard.

Anitha is an experienced author, as she already penned 5 books earlier. Another aspect of the book which came to help her is the illustrations and graphics. Yes, the book is a graphics or picture book. The story moves ahead in one or two lines at a time while an attractive graphic is there in the background. It makes the book an interesting read.

The story is simple, and the kids growing up in the environment influenced by convent culture will relate to it quite easily. And in that way, it appeals to international readers as well.

The innocence of kids and their way of living in their own small fantasy world is something explored nicely in the book. Through the journey of the stocking and Shelly, the author explored various things quite effectively.

The book is quite costly and small.

The layout of the book reminded me of “Dora” books which explores her different quests. If printed on thick pages like them, this book can be a good competitor.

It is worth to note that its paperback version is available in US only. In India, just Kindle version is available whem I am writing this.

Summary:

A book meant for kids and consider it that way only. It is costly and effective. The children below the age of 7 will find it a good read.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle EBook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle Ebook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback

If you already have read the book do share your remarks and thoughts via comments below. Does this review help you in making your decision to buy or read the book? Do not forget to share this article with your friends over various social networks via Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and others. And yes, you may like to subscribe to our RSS feeds and follow us on various Social networks to get latest updates for the site to land right in your mail box.