Topi Rockets from Thumba

Topi Rockets from Thumba by Maneka Raman is the story of India's first-ever rocket launch from the tiny village of Thumba in Kerala.------Mary who is nine years old is bored of her life in Thumba as fishing is the sole activity there. Like every other child, Mary dreams about living in city and have some excitement in life.But enter, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai - the tall man with funny ears (as per Mary) who intends to launch India's first ever rocket from Thumba, the tiny fishing village, just off the coast of Kerala, at the foot of India.A factual tale told through the eyes of Mary recounting the episodes of the year 1963, this book is a joy read. Through Mary's innocent questions, readers get to know about equator, parts of the rocket, about the launch and lastly Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and his role in India's entry into space exploration.My six year old son absolutely loved reading this book, asking many questions like the author's fictional character - Mary. I am glad that the author kept it simple yet engaging for children. The illustrations by Annada Menon are captivating, breathing life into the book.If you are planning to talk/introduce space to your child, then this book is a must buy. We absolutely loved it.

So we picked up a book to read after a super long time. This time, Tia & I had our read aloud session of this book 'Topi Rockets from Thumba'. No points for guessing that someone loved it so much, she read the book twice. Yeah.Mary, a 9 year old from Thumba, was bored of her routine life. She, like any other child wanted to live a life in the city, thinking city life would be filled with fun and is exciting.Then Dr. Vikram Sarabhai comes to Thumba and there begins fun for Mary as he was preparing to launch India's first ever rocket from Thumba.Mary's thinking & her way of asking questions innocently is a joy to read. The illustrations were eye catching & Tia thoroughly enjoyed reading it while watching the beautiful art work. She asked me endless questions, which was a good way to bond with her over sharing of information.Liked the way the author made the language simple & readable for little readers as well as their parents. If your child is inquisitive about space, rockets, I think this book is a good read. Totally recommend.

Purchased this for my granddaughter. She arrived yesterday and when she opened it the book was all messed up. We got a copy with bad binding - the outside looks great- but the pages inside are not properly cut, pictures are skewed- printing error- but unfortunate that we discovered it too late. Disappointing because it’s hard to read the book with all these imperfections and my granddaughter doesn’t even want to try- can’t say Anything about the story- this is just a review about the quality of the book we received.

Every child must have this book in her or his library! My five-year old grandson loved the story when I read it out to him. Wonderfully illustrated, too!Kallol Banerjee