topics: |  children | picture-book

An enduring book for children

There were some fine books produced by the Children's Book Trust, but many others are of indifferent quality.

However, this book deserves to reach the grubby hands of our kids... the fat, jolly character of badlu singh zordar and his hairy clientele at the zoo definitely deserves to be more widely known.

Published well before the era of Tulika and Tara, jagdish joshi's bold bright pictures deserve to be giggled over, as parents read the story to their kids.

indeed, quite a few of the CBT books should have been an icon for english-reading kids. but they languish, due to a poor distribution, and also, a poor image.

Why is this book so little known? Was it published too soon for its time? Was it drowned by the poor availability of CBT books?

Perhaps in their urge to keep prices low (this colourful book sells for
rs.30), some aspects of marketing are given a short shrift. 

However, pratibha nath's text with its touches of humour, along with the
jolly artwork,  belong to every kid's bookshelf...



	Barber at the zoo: Badlu Singh Zordar

Excerpts

Badlu Singh was a barber. But he was no ordinary barber. He cut the hair of
animals in the zoo. Everyone knew Badlu Singh. He was short and fat, with a
round face and a big moustache.

He always carries tin box, on which is written:

	BADLU SINGH ZORDAR
	BARBER - IN - CHIEF

the box has three combs. A red comb for soft hair.  A yellow comb for stiff
hair. And a large green comb for untidy hair.

it has three scissors. One with long blades, one with short blades, and one
with tiny blades for trimming whiskers.


he has two towels as well.  A big one with blue and white stripes.  A small
one with pink lollipops.

...

the bear doesn't want a haircut.



badlu singh took out his diary. "but you haven't had a haircut
for two months."

"that's right," nodded the hear. "I'm growing my hair like some
of the boys who come to see me."

...

badlu does his rounds. he trims the giraffe standing on a ladder.  he trims
the baby elephant (who is throwing tantrums for a haircut though he really
doesn't need one).  while he is trimming the chimpanzee, it steals a
scissors.

then the chimp slips out of his cage with badlu, and follows him to the
lion's cage.

the lion hasn't had breakfast yet.

while badlu is trimming his mane, the chimp sets to work on his tail fringe.

...

go get your copy to read the rest!!