Mehar’s World of Colours by Arti Sonthalia
My take on the book:
Mehar a fifth-grade student dreamt of colours all day and loved creating comics and drawings along with her best friend Ananya. However, her mom Gita wanted her to pursue swimming and win medals like her elder sister Saanvi. After their parents separated, her mom was even more particular about Mehar exceling in swimming than spend time drawing. The daily strict swimming practice schedule before and after school meant Mehar was always late to school and was punished by her class teacher.
On the first day of class fifth, Mehar had a new class teacher who wanted the students to refer to her as Coach, someone who will help them realize who they are. Coach did not scold Mehar for coming late to class, wanted to know what the interests of every student and brought in extracurricular activities every day after school classes. Mehar wanted to participate in comic making classes which meant skipping few swimming classes per week. Will Mehar’s mom approve of her interests that conflict with her swimming practice for the rest of the story.
The book is about a young girl who is struggling to deal with the emotional turmoil of one parent leaving them and the other parent pushing their personal choices on the kids, though unintentionally. The story majorly highlights the aspect of how parents may push their kids to pursue a field or hobby without realizing if the kid has their heart in it or not. The story simultaneously shows the importance of teachers who acknowledge kid’s diverse interests, nurture them, help resolve their emotional conflicts and be their support when needed.
The story also showcases the need to inculcate kindness, compassion, and charity in kids from a young age. Mehar and Ananya’s friendship, their insecurities, fallouts and getting back together are very relatable. The importance of family’s support above everything else, especially when the parents have personal conflicts that impact young kids is well portrayed by the author. The author succeeds in including all these aspects in the story without making the narration preachy or boring.
The standout however are Mehar’s thoughts throughout the story that bloom in bright colours as per her mood or turn grey when she encounters challenges. The story takes some time to get into the groove in the beginning; also, the illustrations in the actual dragon comic book that Mehar creates should have been included.
Pick this book for an endearing read about a young girl who makes her family proud while pursuing her passion and dreams.
My rating:
4.5/5.