Manasi Subramaniam

A young woman named Parvathi is given a fascinating story and a beautiful song as a wedding gift in this retelling of a Tamil folktale. Promising to pass them along, Parvathi becomes so busy in her married life that she forgets about them. Trapped inside her, the story and song grow restless and resentful, eventually escaping in the form of a sneeze and making off with her husband's most beloved possession. This precipitates a quarrel between husband and wife, something which is resolved when Kamban (the husband) visits the local temple and overhears the spirits of the village's lamp flames talking about what has occurred. Those same spirits, wanting to help, convince the rebellious story and song to return to Parvathi, who can now share them...

The Story and the Song was an engaging book, pairing an engrossing, thought-provoking narrative from author Manasi Subramaniam with colorful, eye-catching artwork from illustrator Ayswarya Sankaranarayanan. The importance of transmission, in any traditional body of lore, is highlighted in an unusual way here, as story and song are anthropomorphized, and invested with a sentience and agency of their own. This provokes the reader into considering what they owe to story and song themselves, and suggests the idea that it is only through being shared that such works can survive. There is much to ponder in the story here, just as there is a wealth of visual detail to peruse. Sankaranarayanan's artwork is expressive, capturing the human characters' changing emotional states, as well as the rich tapestry of their physical lives. I really enjoyed this one, and am glad to have discovered the publisher: Karadi Tales, based in Chennai, India. Recommended to young folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone looking for children's tales about the importance of story and song.… (meer)