Ten Heads for Tanuj by Priya NarayananMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This story is about Tanuj, a boy, who falls asleep one night and wakes up with ten heads just like Ravana, a great Indian Lord whose tales Tanuj enjoys so much. The tale continues to explore the kind of problems he would encounter, such as combing his hair and brushing his teeth while in a hurry to get to school. His parents are eager to help because of a bet his mother had with the parent of another child. It was about Tanuj winning the school’s top attendance award. But of course this is not the only problem a boy with ten heads has. He finds one or two small advantages in having this many heads but, after a visit from the mischievous Lord Ravana, he is told of the sacrifices he must make in order to return to normal. One of the things he has to do involves not doing so well in school and when he has a surprising discussion about this with the school’s Principal, Mr Khanna, Tanuj’s problems begin to get worse.
The book is aimed at children around 7 or 9 years of age and I am sure the fantasy of having so many heads would not be lost on them. Some of the drawbacks described by the author might be lost on youngsters, such as unwelcome publicity. However, that may well be counter balanced by Tanuj’ s list of silly conditions that he presents to Mr Khanna. It is often a puzzle to adults about the sources of humour that cause a smile on the face of a little one - or even a giggle from a seven year-old! The book includes some amusing illustrations and there is a simple lesson to be learnt about putting wrong things right, although I still feel there are some things in the story that might be over the heads of a child.
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