Spread the love          The fierce summer heat nearly drained out my entire energy this year. Apart from my daily routine, work and the mandatory socializing my life requires me to do, I had to engage my two girls through their vacation. It was the heat that sapped my energy….not theirs! As I waited for the constantly eluding summer shower that would lower the temperature, the girls seldom seemed to be perturbed by the fiery heat of the season. The energy levels at an all-time high once the schools closed in the first week of May, they spent the first few weeks cycling around the cantonment, binging on mangoes and ice creams with friends from the neighborhood, running on the streets and just doing other crazy things we adults wouldn’t imagine. It’s amazing isn’t it? When we let kids be just kids they are happy and don’t complain about the things we adults often do- such as the heat. Love for reading Much as I was glad to see them be just kids, the sweltering heat in the afternoons made me force them to stay indoors. I am glad the older one loves to read which made the afternoon hours pass by. The library in the neighborhood is now a favorite weekend outing. Thankfully it is a generous place that allows us to borrow five books at a time. This generosity has allowed the older one to explore books of various kinds. Puffin’s gift So when Puffin sent them an anthology of short stories, the excitement of the girls could just not be contained. The Puffin Book of Holiday Stories turned out to be a favourite book for both of them this season. Where the older one read the entire bunch of fourteen stories all by herself, I enjoyed the time spent reading these stories aloud to the little one. Though a perfect read for a ten year old, the stories with a little bit of simplification worked for my younger one too. The stories are drawn from everyday objects and experiences. From the clever parrot called Carrot who enters summer school, to a young boy who swallows a whole snake, the tales are hilarious. The book features some lovely authors such as Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, Shabnam Minwalla, to name a few. The collection has stories of courage, humor, adventure, friendship and family. So along with just reading out the stories, it made for a lovely session to discuss such matters with the girls. The season winds up as monsoon descends upon us The last few days of vacation are probably the laziest of days. The girls reluctantly prepare their things for the new school session. Summer season has almost come to an end and the fierce sun has slowly moved behind the clouds. The walls of my home are still lined with the pink tinted bougainvillea, as I patiently wait for the monsoon showers to lash down. It is a season I love the most, with the freshness that it brings to everything around. Hoping there would be more books to read as we dig into crispy pakodas and a cup of hot chai to go with it.    *This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest and unbiased review Spread the love