Every day, Chotto-ma eats breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a fourth meal which consists of devouring pages and pages of J.K. Rowling's imagination. The Harry Potter books have been Daily Dietary Requirement for the past year-and-a-half when they first came home. She started book one on her sixth birthday, and I saw her world shift a little. She has been eating steadily through them since. She reads them, re-reads them and then goes back to the first book and starts all over again. Oh there are other authors in between. And there's a book on Greek mythology weighing as much as she does, which she loves (she can tell you intricate details about every god, from Hera to Cronus, and their dark and twisted lives). But even gods don't wield the same power as J.K. Rowling.
We tried to space out the Harry Potter books, googled them for age-appropriateness, but after finishing each book, Chotto-ma would sit in front of the bookshelf, quietly, looking up at the set with the mournful eyes of a cocker spaniel. "Wait till you're eight" was obviously not going to work.
She has the final book left - we've managed to keep it for the school summer holidays, which means an excruciating wait of another fifteen days. This holiday incidentally includes a road trip through Scotland and ends with Edinburgh, where we're going to do the Harry-Potter-walking-tour, and visit the cafe where J. K. Rowling wrote. The seven-year-old goes on her first pilgrimage.
While she waits this Excruciating Wait for the final book, she has decided to redesign the Harry Potter book covers since she doesn't like the ones they come in. So the books have now been covered with white paper, and yesterday, she finished illustrating the first one - 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.'
For the Muggles amongst you, the cover shows The Forbidden Forest, with a dead unicorn lying on the forest floor dripping silver unicorn blood.
Here it is, from Chotto-ma, to share with you. It made me awfully proud.
We tried to space out the Harry Potter books, googled them for age-appropriateness, but after finishing each book, Chotto-ma would sit in front of the bookshelf, quietly, looking up at the set with the mournful eyes of a cocker spaniel. "Wait till you're eight" was obviously not going to work.
She has the final book left - we've managed to keep it for the school summer holidays, which means an excruciating wait of another fifteen days. This holiday incidentally includes a road trip through Scotland and ends with Edinburgh, where we're going to do the Harry-Potter-walking-tour, and visit the cafe where J. K. Rowling wrote. The seven-year-old goes on her first pilgrimage.
While she waits this Excruciating Wait for the final book, she has decided to redesign the Harry Potter book covers since she doesn't like the ones they come in. So the books have now been covered with white paper, and yesterday, she finished illustrating the first one - 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.'
For the Muggles amongst you, the cover shows The Forbidden Forest, with a dead unicorn lying on the forest floor dripping silver unicorn blood.
Here it is, from Chotto-ma, to share with you. It made me awfully proud.
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Fabulous cover! I should have hired your dear daughter to design my book cover.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a beautiful title she would've had for inspiration.
DeleteDUDE Thats a fabulous cover with impeccable detail! Im SO impressed. What a fantastic idea, Im tempted to copy. Love to Chotto Ma <3
ReplyDeleteOoh, I'd love to see your version of it now! You must share if you do one, Revati :)
DeleteAnd Chotto-ma sends you a big smile and 'thank you!'.
Despite their age difference I think that Chotto-Ma and my eldest would get on so well, they have so many similar interests, including HP and Greek Mythology, I feel like a real dunce on such subjects in comparison! Great book cover Chotto-Ma! :) x
ReplyDeleteI think they would too. I remember photos of your eldest, sketch-pad in hand, in a museum, and thinking the same :) I'll tell Chotto-Ma you loved the cover! Thanks, Emma xx
DeleteI love this post so much, I can't tell you how much! :) Chotto Ma sure is talented - that is one beautiful cover, indeed. She's her mother's daughter all right (I don't know what her father does for a living, so can't comment on that!) :)
ReplyDeleteI myself am not a big fan of the HP books. I couldn't read beyond the first book, and found that too lacklustre. Reading too many wonderful fantasy books in childhood has spoiled me. :)That said, this lovely cover that your daughter has designed makes me want to give the series another go.
I always have a special soft corner in my heart for kids who absolutely adore reading - can see a little part of myself there, as a little girl, there, I think. So, this post has special value for me. I can't wait for Bubboo to be as mad about books as Chotto Ma is, to get just as deeply involved with them on many levels. It would make me very sad if she didn't read. As of now, I don't know whether she likes reading or not. We are trying to get her interested, though, in little ways, not forcing her, just trying to generate interest.
Bubboo is most certainly going to be a reader, because you are. And it'll come in its own time and take you by surprise. All you need to do is read and read and read to her till she can do it herself. With Chotto-ma, it also helped that we don't have TV or tablets at home.
DeleteI'm sure you'll have to give Harry Potter another shot when Bubboo discovers it!
Thanks for your kind words about the cover...must tell Chotto-ma :)
Hugs.
my god, so much talent!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteShe is incredible Pia, And you guys are amazing parents too. Rock on!
ReplyDeletePia she is incredible, the cover is so awesome!! My elder daughter is an ardent fan of HP and is a walking, talking encyclopedia on HP, so much so that most of her conversations end in and around HP :)
ReplyDeleteGreat going..
take care
Then they would get on fabulously well! Apparently everything in the world can be interpreted to have a Happy Potter reference, so I know well what you're talking about :)
DeleteGlad your Chotto Ma has entered Rowling's marvelous world. I let my Oyon start on the series at 7 and found it eminently rewarding. I've always believed that reading instilled empathy but had never seen that presumption play out on a blank slate before this. Like in your home, he isn't allowed the last volume until he turns 10 (in a few short months): I can't wait for the renewed re-reading feeding frenzy that's bound to start. Do chat with Chotto Ma about the characters (although I'm sure you already do): what little minds make of the world is inspiring sometimes. Here's where we went: http://silverliningscloudydays.blogspot.com/2015/06/yer-wizard-harry.html
ReplyDeleteGive-back-bookus :) Love Oyon's -isms. It's great to see he's on his Potter journey too. Raya's in the middle of the last volume now. And she's got the Cursed Child waiting. I was unsure of how much she would enjoy reading a play, but she read the first ten pages at the bookshop, and loved it. 'Darker' books is certainly a preference, not a problem - Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book had her completely hooked. Yes, conversations abound.
ReplyDelete