Payal Kapadia

PlusMinus'n'More reviews Wisha Wozzariter

Kunal Bajaj -

Wisha Wozzariter by Payal Kapadia is two books in one.

The first is the story of Wisha Wozzariter (Wish-I-was-a-writer), a ten-year old girl who wishes to become a writer. She hates good books more than a bad book because they make her sigh and feel that she could have written them.

One day, as she is reading a book, Bookworm comes out of the book and insists that she write a book. Bookworm takes her to the Marketplace of ideas through the Thought Express and gets her an Imagination balloon (once used by Lewis Carroll), which she will pay for in future with half a bottle of Inspiration.

Through her trips to various places that she visits on her Thought Express, she gradually gathers an idea, a girl-hero – Prufrock the mouse, a villain, her style and an ending.

During one of her trips, she faces Writer’s block and overcomes it. She goes to the Circus of Bad Form and gets a Structure Glue for her book. With some Luck added, she manages to write her book.

Hidden beneath this story is the second book which offers some good advice to wannabe writers. If you want to write, do not just sit around. Look for an idea, use your imagination, get inspired and start writing. You may need a hero, a villain, your own style and an ending. If you face a writer’s block, push against it to overcome it and don’t forget to give a structure to your book.

This books won the Crossword Book Award for “Best book for Children” in 2013.

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  1. Wattabuk! A fantastic story with plenty of imagination and originality.
  2. Two in one  – One for children and another for writers. One for pleasure and another is motivational.
  3. Lovely illustrations that match the story perfectly. Three cheers to Roger Dahl. I only wish it were in colour.
  4. The limericks, the wit and the wordplay, please and tease the reader throughout. For instance, the pun about how the villain Sikes and Wisha fight with a pen and Sikes remarks “the pen is mightier than the sword” is very well conceived and set in context.

Imagination aplenty.

Menaka S
December 17, 2014

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