The Scent of Roses-Adithi Rao (Illus. Krishna Bala Shenoi)

Book: The Scent of Roses
Author: Adithi Rao
Illustrator: Krishna Bala Shenoi
Publisher: Duckbill

I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Do you think that the environment around affects kids?

When Abu disappears one night, Bram Bram Chok comes to live inside Sajad’s heart, making him hop in anger and stomp to its tunes. Does Sajad want him to stay? Can anything make him go away?

As a book focused on an audience of 7+ years, it is very well written. We see Kashmir from the eyes of a kid and how he interprets the people going missing. Adithi also reinterprets the internal conflicts in the mind of a child as a wolf and how it rears up. The importance of family support is also highlighted quite interestingly, and I liked how the relationship between Sajad and his grandfather is nicely penned. Another aspect of the book I loved was how Adithi keeps the book simple, keeping in mind the target audience, however the message and the essence of the book comes out wonderfully. It was also good to see how a kid sees the family dynamics and the relationships between the members of his family. The climax of the book comes a perfect circle and I really loved how the book ends.

Coming to the illustrations, Krishna has done a wonderful job imagining Sajad, Abu, Bram Bram Chok and the other characters in the book. The scenes are presented quite nicely and I completely enjoyed how he brings to life the viewpoints, especially the bridge with the barbed wire. I think that was one of the most powerful scenes in the book.

Overall, this is a book that I would highly recommend to parents whose kids are starting to read. The book is a 5/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book on Amazon India or Puplio Books, or a bookstore near you!