I WILL NEVER FORGET : A DAUGHTER'S STORY OF HER MOTHER'S ARDUOUS and HUMOROUS JOURNEY THROUGH DEMENTIA by ELAINE C. PEREIRA

TITLE : I WILL NEVER FORGET
AUTHOR : ELAINE C. PEREIRA
PUBLICATION : i UNIVERSE STAR
ISBN : 978-1-938908-58-3

   " The dead are not buried in the ground but in our hearts.
      They will be there for you when you need them."


This book is much more than a memoir. Written by Elaine in memory of her mother Elizabeth Ward. It gives you an insight into the world of dementia, the pain and confusion not only of it's victim but also of the loved one's who have to see a beloved being ravaged by this disease.

The book takes you back and forth in time, makes you feel happy when the author takes you down her childhood lane through her tantrums, teenage rebellion, her love and affection for her family. Makes you feel sad, when she takes you back to the harsh reality of life, by taking you back to the facility where her parents and later where her mother is staying.

The story very often brings tears to your eyes. Elaine has described her mother's story with such poignancy that you feel her as well as Betty's pain and makes you think about the dementia victims across the world.

 Such simple things in life which we take for granted and dementia victims struggle with them. The  author makes you see life through her mother's eyes, sometimes very foggy and other times lucid. 
                                                                                                                                                               You see the once smart and strong Betty Ward, confused to see her name on her own credit card while paying her bill, as she is simply unable to connect her own name with herself. 

 Elaine has also shown Betty's amazing strength time and again in the book. On one of her clearer days Betty displays her strong character again and behaves like her old self and says "I hope that if this is genetic, your brothers David or Jerry inherited this gene and not you."


 The courageous lady who braved not only her husband's death also of her two sons, does not fail to admit that she is not able to remember things most of the time and finds life hazy. Such open vulnerability is simply heart rending. It is so touching to see Elaine look for signs from her dead brother, for his guidance.

 Elaine does not stick to the arduous side of dementia but has also well chronicled the hilarious side of the effects of the disease. She is  also openly appreciative of the support of her husband, daughters, the doctors and the staff of the facilities and the people who helped her cope up during this journey.

While reading the book many times I had to keep the book down because I found it overwhelming and very often left me choked up because of emotions it evoked. 

 Imagine the plight of the daughter whose biggest fear is that her mother is not going to remember her the next moment! Hats off to that mother who not only courageously fought the disease but also did not let her daughter down and left Elaine's fear unfounded!!!



Extremely touching book that tugs straight at your heart strings!!!

BEDTIME KISSES by KARIN LARSON

TITLE: BEDTIME KISSES
AUTHOR: KARIN LARSON
ILLUSTRATOR: GINGER NIELSON 
PUBLICATION: 4RV PUBLISHING
ISBN-13 : 978-1- 940310-15-2

This sweet little picture book consists of cute illustrations and  a sentence to go along with nearly each of the illustration.

It is a story of a little girl who bestows kisses on her stuffed toys before she herself is kissed and lovingly tucked in for the night by her mother. The number of kisses that she plants, increases by the toy and boy does she have a variety of the stuffed toys! 

Most of the illustrations are cute but I liked the grouchy hog's illustration the sweetest of the lot. Another thing that I liked about Ginger Nielson's illustrations is that she has not gone out of her way to make the little girl look beautiful, her focus has been on the toys and the affection that the little girl has for them.

The book portrays the affection that the child has for her toys and her sweet night time ritual. I would say it is more of a girls book. It is a picture book that can also be used for practice reading.

 I  had to check out a few of the animals for myself, that make up the little girl's stuffed toys, because I was not so sure about them. The book not only expands the kids knowledge about the animals but also augments the vocabulary of the reader as the author has used adjectives for few of the animals.

The author, Karin Larson is a children's author and a freelance writer, also a speech/language pathologist. She is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature.

Ginger Nielson, is a full time children's book illustrator and author. I found her short introduction different and also interesting. 

The target age group of the book is 0 to 5 years. 

HOCKEY AGONY BY DONNA M. McDINE

TITLE : HOCKEY AGONY

AUTHOR : DONNA M. McDINE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY : JULIE HAMMOND

PUBLICATION : GUARDIAN ANGEL PUBLISHING, INC.

Ladies and gentlemen I am back as promised with the award winning children's author Donna M.McDine's second book, Hockey Agony.

This story is of a young boy, Larry who has broken his leg and is no longer able to play ice hockey for his school Stony Point. His coach still wants him involved in the next match against Pearl River and makes him clock runner along with Matthew, who is from the opponent team. Before the match, Larry is asked by his team mate to cheat by shaving off a few seconds just in case it is required by their team.

Already having attitude and discipline problems and unsure of what to do, what does Larry do? Does he compromise and succumb to the pressure? Does he let his team win by fibbing or does he takes the path of honesty? Do read the book to find out.

The book beautifully captures the attitude and behavioral problems of children. It is a good book with good art work done by Julie Hammond.

As all Donna M. McDine's  books, that I have reviewed, this book also imparts important lessons to children regarding honesty and behavior.

The book comes highly recommended.

POWDER MONKEY BY DONNA M. McDINE

TITLE : POWDER MONKEY

AUTHOR : DONNA M. McDINE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY : K.C. SNIDER

Ladies and Gentlemen, the award winning children’s author Donna M. McDine is back!
 This time she has two books to offer. I will be posting reviews for both of her new books. This review is about Powder Monkey.

Powder Monkey takes you back to that dark era of history when the Royal Press gang used to kidnap young boys from their homes and turn them forcibly into sailors and their powder boys.

This story is about a twelve year old boy Tommy, who along with his brother and some other boys is kidnapped from his home. He and the other boys are taken aboard a large ship where they become the minions of the crew. The boys are subjected to brutality. One day their ship is attacked at high sea and Tommy becomes the powder boy for the gang and in process loses his ability to hear.What happens to Tommy after the gun battle is over?  What about his elder brother and his parents ….. Is he reunited with his family? Does the book have a happy ending? Do read on.

It is a compelling book, despite it being a children’s book I was forced to turn the pages and finish the story as quickly I could read.

 The first time I read the story it left me with goose bumps. This book brings out the harsh reality faced by the young boys of those times to light. Though the story is fiction, woven around the facts of those dark days, it still brought tears to my eyes.

Donna M.McDine has done a wonderful job again along with the illustrator K.C.Snider whose illustrations are very vivid.

Parents, if you want your children to know a little about history and the harsh reality of life of the days gone by than this book comes highly recommended.

THE MANTARAM HANDBOOK A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR MANTRAM AND CALMING YOUR MIND BY EKNATH EASWARAN

TITLE : THE MANTRAM HANDBOOK

AUTHOR : EKNATH EASWARAN

PUBLISHER : JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought:

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those

Whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy

Whenever they speak or act. Joy follows them like a

 shadow that never leaves them.”

This is one of the famous twin verses of The Compassionate Buddha, says the Mantram Handbook.

Eknath Easwaran was professor of English literature at the University of Nagpur, India. He is the founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.The Mantram Handbook has a foreword The Brain, the Mind and the Mantram by Daniel H. Lowenstein, MD.

The Mantram Handbook is one of the most precise and simple self help book that I have read till date. I was skeptical about the book simply going by the name and the synopsis as I have a mantram of my own. It rather turned out to be a valuable and an interesting  read.

 This beautifully written book is very clear in its instructions as to how to initiate and choose your mantram. How the power of mantram can help turn fear into fearlessness, anger into compassion and hatred into love, basically keeping the mind steady ! How it can help in excitement and depression. It also gives simple and easy guidelines as to how we can become established in the mantram and how we can reap benefits of the mantram in our life.

 I could very easily correlate with the book. I am sure a lot of readers would be able to connect with it as easily.

The two things that I liked the most about the book are, that all the religions have been treated at par. Eknath Easwaran has basically said that you may belong to any religion but you can still have a mantram of your own. The power of the mantram will see you through thick and thin and will illumine your life for sure.

Second thing that I liked the most about this book is that there is no spreading of superstition of any kind. He rather demystifies the whole thing. Easwaran says “the mantram transforms negative forces in consciousness into constructive power.” Very well said I would say.

The book comes highly recommended especially to the spiritually inclined and also to novices like me. Go ahead read the book and enrich your life.

The Bible says,”As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

CAPTAIN COURAGE AND THE FEAR SQUISHING SHOES BY STACEY A . MARSHALL

TITLE: CAPTAIN COURAGE AND THE FEAR - SQUISHING SHOES 

AUTHOR: STACEY A. MARSHALL

ILLUSTRATOR:  MICHELLE MORSE

PUBLICATION: GUARDIAN ANGEL PUBLISHING, INC.

 A refreshing and a delightful book for children. The sweet little story is of a third grader, Katie, who is depressed about leaving her old friends and her school. In spite of her new school mates friendliness Katie is not able to come out of her shell. Then Captain Courage, with all his finery, enters the story and helps Katie’s class teacher with putting Katie at ease.

I would have loved to have Captain Courage in my school in my childhood days. I am quite sure that children with their vivid imagination are going to lap this story up and will be on a lookout for a super hero of their own.

I shared this book with my ten year old daughter and it resulted in her roaming about the house in a cape dangling around her back and wearing squeaky shoes!

I enjoyed reading the book and especially liked Captain Courage’s dressing sense and his exuberance. The illustrations done by Michelle Morse are good and make sure you make your child look for tortoise that she has put in each picture.

In the end the author has shared some tips for confidence building for the children.

The suggested age range for the readers is 4 to 11,but I would recommend it for a little older children, aged around 6 or so.

Go ahead and let your children read this book and let them learn that they can overcome their fears just as Katie did! 

LET'S TALK MONEY - ROADS TO RICHES MADE EASY BY AKHIL KHANNA

TITLE : LET'S TALK MONEY - ROAD TO RICHES MADE EASY
AUTHOR : AKHIL KHANNA
PUBLISHER : TIMES GROUP BOOKS



I’d call this book a self help book for understanding the finer nuances of finance. This book by Akhil Khanna, comes with a tag line of “Road To Riches Made Easy”. I don’t know about the road to riches but the author has definitely made the world of finance along with its jargon very simple and easily understandable.

Akhil Khanna, is an MBA from University of Sheffield (UK) and he specializes in Financial Management. His motto with respect to this book seems to be: “It is not important what one earns; true wealth is what one manages to keep.” Very aptly said and I heartily agree with him.

Akhil Khanna has nearly covered everything in his book to give you a basic understanding about how the financial world works and how we should go about it as an individual or an entrepreneur.

The author has discussed money, property – evaluating the nature and the earning potential of the property, multiplying fixed income, debt and earnings, changes in the world economy and its effect on investments and other factors effecting investments. He has even discussed the professionals managing other people’s money, how insurance companies work and how having the right insurance is beneficial and can make your life stress free. He has discussed the world financial crisis of 2008 and the effect of this on financial institutions/households/corporate s and governments.

Akhil Khanna in midst of discussing the various fields of the financial world has dedicated one whole chapter to investing in happiness. This definitely came as an unexpected pleasant surprise.

I would recommend all readers to go through the book really slowly so as to grasp the fundamentals.

This book is highly recommended to all laymen like me. 

I’d sum up by using Akhil Khanna’s words

”Where you reach on the last day of your life is not as important as the consistent happiness with which you enjoyed the journey.”

STOP ME IF YOU CAN !! - An IIM Grad's Tryst With Sales

TITLE : STOP ME IF YOU CAN !!
AUTHOR : MAYANK JAIN
PUBLICATION : ALCHEMY PUBLISHERS

It is about tryst of a young, confident or should I say over confident, Rohit Salaria's foray in the world of sales. Armed with a business management degree from the prestigious institute, IIM-C, Salaria considers himself a priceless gift to his company and to the world of sales in general. His antics, blunders in his professional life and his overall attitude towards all his failures and his life make up the book.
 Priya, the girl of Rohit Salaria's dreams and his bosses and colleagues at ABC further spice up the story.

I found the book interesting in the beginning but the author soon lost Rohit Salaria's panache in the frivolous incidents that mire Salaria's life.

The story though hilarious at places and easy to connect with, did not come anywhere near my expectations, maybe because the author has tried to pass on parts of the story, which as a person with a logical mind, I am not ready to accept.

THE WATER CYCLE : WATER PLAY SERIES BOOK 1 BY MAYRA CALVANI

TITLE : THE WATER CYCLE :  WATER PLAY SERIES BOOK 1
AUTHOR: MAYRA CALVANI
ILLUSTRATIONS BY : ALEXANDER MORRIS
PUBLICATION : GUARDIAN ANGEL PUBLISHING, INC.


 This is Mayra Calvani's second book that I have read. While the first one was sweet, this one is simply outstanding.
                                          As the name itself suggests, this book is about the journey of water droplets from the clouds to earth and then again back to the clouds.The book is very comprehensively written in lyrical form. It covers nearly everything on the topic from drizzle - rain - downpour - flood - hail- snow -blizzard! Not only there is information on all the aspects of water cycle but also how water reaches our homes. The book is peppered with interactive questions, that makes it more interesting and easily understandable for children. At the end of the book there are activities like, seek and find words, puzzles etc.
The illustrations have been done by Alexander Morris and are wow, simply excellent!
 In my opinion, both  Mayra Calvani and Alexander Morris have done a very good job. The book teaches, but does so in a very playful manner. The suggested age for readers is four to eight.
                                                   I loved this book and would definitely recommend it to all kidlit readers.

The Doll Violinist

Title :The Doll Violinist

Author : Mayra Calvani

Illustrator : Amy Cullings Moreno

Publication : Guardian Angel Publishing , INC

This is a story about an orphan child Emma ,who just a few days before Christmas is captivated by one of the dolls in the toy store display window . Everyday Emma stands outside the toy shop inspite of Madame Dubois, the shopowner , shooing her away time and again, to admire the doll with the violin and cringes with fear when one of the dolls is bought . There is also an emotional angle between Emma and her liking for the doll with the violin .

Read on to find out whether the Christmas season casts its usual magic and Emma gets her beloved doll or not .

It is a very sweet , a typically girlie girls book . Amy Cullings Moreno has done a good job with the illustrations . Mayra Calvani has told the story in a way that will hold the kids interest till the end and along with that teach them a very important lesson that life is not exactly easy for a lot of people and to be kind and considerate towards the lesser fortunate ones.

The book surely goes well with the spirit of the festival season .