Category: Children Publisher: Puffin India
ISBN-10: 0143330500
Type: Fiction
Pages: 132
Copyright: 2009
ISBN-13: 9780143330509
The story of a monster, a store of magical toys and a procession of events that is more weird than fiction! Shortlisted for the Vodaphone Crossword Prize 2009.
Excerpt
Nu-Cham-Vu snatched the thumb from the man’s hand and gazed at it with fond pride. Here was his long-lost thumb! It was a miracle! He’d never expected to see it again! He pressed the ugly purple thing to his hand and knitted his forehead into a ferocious frown, shaking with concentration. When he removed his hand, the thumb was fixed as if it had never been parted from him! The dead and the living were fused together--- he was whole again!
But then he saw Chabbiya’s father’s eager face, and he was furious. A mere human had done the impossible! Now that his thumb was back, there was no way he was going to reward this filthy, bleeding, enthusiastic fellow by handing out the magic flute!
Nu-Cham-Vu reached up and tweaked the feather on his cap, thinking fast.
“Delay!” he yelled. “What flute?” He waved his many-fingered hand at the stunned man. Then he put on his dark glasses and growled out a series of higher numbers. The Jasmine Doll translated sadly: “See, it’s become dark! Why did you delay so much? The sun has already set! Don’t you see? So your chance is gone, and your girl doesn’t get the flute after all!”
Nu-Cham-Vu cackled uncontrollably.
Chabbiya’s father went deathly pale. “But—but---but---” he stammered.
“But-but-but!” Nu-Cham-Vu mocked.
Weak, angry and helpless, Chabbiya’s father said: “But that’s cheating!”
Nu-Cham-Vu roared, and the shop shook with the terrible sound.
(COPYRIGHT: Shreekumar Varma 2009)
PUBLISHER: Puffin India
Professional Reviews
Recommended by Ruskin Bond
"Shreekumar Varma excels in tales of fantastic adventure in strange lands, and the toy shop of the horrible Nu-Cham-Vu provides plenty of scope for wondrous tales within tales in an exotic setting. Never a dull moment!"
Ruskin Bond
All About how Lila chooses how to handle her "worries" about the first day of school. Another Mom's Choice Award Seal of Excellence recipient in the "Kids with Worries" book series.
