Of Course It's Butterfingers!

On the 9th of December last year, the quiet city of Trivandrum witnessed the launch of 'Of course, it’s Butterfingers!'—the sixth in the ‘Butterfingers” series of books—released, (of course) by Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament for Trivandrum, writer and speaker of world renown. Of course, one’s entire family and the children’s friends and cousins too, wanted to be part of it, in exactly the same spirit as they had attended the release of each of the five previous books. I couldn’t bring myself to wait (of course) for the formal release and had already bought a copy of it on Amazon and greedily gobbled all of it by myself first before passing it on to anyone else.. For a book, as all know, can afford the unique satisfaction of having one’s cake, and eating it, secure in the knowledge that a thousand others can eat it too, without any diminution of the experience or loss of flavour or freshness—quite the contrary, in fact. Just a word about the release. Shashi Tharoor spoke excellently, as expected, without repeating anything from his speeches at the earlier releases, and so also did other fans of Butter and Co, a special visitor this time being the well-known writer Robin Jeffrey. As on earlier releases, one chosen young reader was given pride of place at a well-organized and professionally compered function. (All as per usual.) Now to the book. For some reason, I find it’s my favourite among the six, somewhat to my surprise, as all of them are equally good. Perhaps the novella-plus-short-stories format (as in #5) better expresses the temperaments and (mis)adventures of Amar (Butter) and Friends than a novel. Perhaps it’s to do with the developing craft of the writer. I hope to find out, perhaps with the next book, whether it’s just my joy that the new Butterfingers novel has rolled off the printer’s onto my lap, after keeping me and other readers waiting (too long, in our not unbiased judgement). The book begins with the novella “The Historic Girls vs Boys Cricket Match” which has humour and suspense, adventure and misadventure, literature and music, sport and mystery, all mixed in good measure. And the denouement brings everything together, with a prize for the ‘man/girl of the match’ going not to one who had played the game, but who had ‘earned’ the prize nevertheless. The Principal, Mr Jagmohan, is one of the shining stars of the Butterfingers series, not always for what he would consider the right reasons. However, for all his bluff and bluster it is easy to see that he is at heart a good person, and not someone who should never be around young people, however much his physician would advise that course of treatment. The children might privately laugh at some of his sayings and doings, but they defend him stoutly in ways that count, to his superiors and outsiders. One last word about the novella that opens the collection. It brought more girls into the picture than usual, and a good thing too, I’d say. At the launch the author said that one shouldn’t look for three things in her works—religion, politics, and sex—and one can see the sense in that. However, bringing boys and girls together in fiction intended for ‘children of all ages’ will probably help future generations of boys and girls and men and women to understand and appreciate and respect each other. (Perhaps, a whiff of romance might follow, and will not be looked at askance.) The bakers dozen of stories that make up the collection are all first-rate. “Mummy” is about an itinerant Egyptian embalmed mummy that prompts the young hero half-unknowingly to take on a museum-robbing mafia and outwit them butterfingeredly. In “World Environment Day”, Amar’s school walks off with a prize against all odds, all because of what might have been various buttery slips between the cup and the lip. “The Beach Adventure” sees Amar and his friends manage to hide and lose a pair of sandals hated by its owner but prized by his wife, and in looking for it chance upon a gold earring dropped by none other than the wife. “The Music Makers” lures the rock-group Heebie Jeebies to the school, thanks, of course, to Amar. “The Booby Trap” tells the tale of a childish prank that trapped a couple of robbers, without causing any incidental harm to Amar’s mother, or to his friend, for whom it had been intended. In the story “In a Spot of Bother” Amar gets chicken pox, and a dearly beloved Dalmatian to keep him company during convalescence. The (reluctant) swimming champion in a story of that title, is prodded by Amar’s butterfingers to save a precious watch, and earns a swimming medal on the side. In “Russel’s Cap” a famous musician is not kidnapped, as Amar believes, but he nevertheless saves the cap that hid a fortune. “A Sartorial Adventure” tells of an ill-advised attempt at tailoring that earned for Amar and his school a rather contrarian award. When “Amar is Locked Out” he still finds a stolen treasure; he is almost “Kidnapped” by a kid, and in the story that concludes the collection, “De Stressed” both Amar and his Principal learn to value each other a little more. I have no doubt that children of all ages will indeed relish this dab of butter with their daily bread.

Full of fun, mischief and serendipitous twists of fate, this latest instalment of the Butterfingers books is a delight to read. Just the thing to curl up with and unwind after a long day. I found it hard to keep the smile from my face and suppress my giggles as I turned the pages. I find that these books make the perfect gifts to my younger cousins, nieces and nephews. But I must admit that a reader of any age would find these books tremendously enjoyable. The prose is vibrant and the humour has its own unique flavour. But the greatest fun is in spotting the subtle jokes hidden here and there. Though we've had three novels featuring these characters, I'd wager Butterfingers & co. shine the brightest when we encounter them in short story form. The author has treated us to thirteen lovely stories in this volume. I do hope she has more in store and bestows them upon her eager readers soon. Would I love another visit to the world of Butterfingers? Of course!

It's Butterfingers time again. He's back entertaining the readers of all ages with his antics, and his penchant for inviting trouble for himself and his friends. The book keeps the readers engaged throughout. It's hilarious. It's a laugh riot. Illustrations are simply wonderful. A must read.

Butterfingers strikes all the right notes... again! With a heady mix of impish fun, humour, reverand irrevance to authority and mystery thrown in to add to the drama of everyday life, Of course it's Butterfingers has everything going to keep one hooked story after story.

It's a very great book and written in simple English. My 10 yr old son loves it. Looking to buying other books in the series also