BOOK REVIEW: Petu Pumpkin: Tiffin Thief by Arundhati Venkatesh, Shilpa Ranade

A school story set in Grade 3, this book is about Pushkin, who is always hungry.  That's why his friends call him Petu or 'one who is always eating', Pumpkin describing his shape and size!

Pushkin's mother gives him several tiffin boxes for school, each with a different snack and meal. He eats up most of the things on the bus-ride to school and then in the classroom, even when the teacher is teaching.  By lunchtime, all his food is over.  Unfortunately, he is still hungry!

Desperate for more food, he turns to his friends' tiffin boxes. Though his friends like to share, they are annoyed when he doesn't leave anything for them.  They decide that something must be done to keep him from hogging other people's lunches.  

So they form a secret society to find a solution. A secret society is exciting with secret meetings, passwords, codes and hideouts.  The friends try out different ways to discourage Pushkin from eating from their tiffin boxes.  But it's only when they come up with a nasty one that their plan really works.  What do they do that pushes Pushkin away from their tiffin boxes?  Do they remain his friends?

Written in simple language perfect for early chapter book readers, the story is filled with humorous situations that make reading it very enjoyable.  The similar sounding names of Pushkin's friends do get a little confusing though (Jatin, Sachin, Nitin). 

But overall, a hilarious read for young children (ages 6+)!

When my eight-year old didn't want to get away from his favourite series to pick up this book, I read him two chapters at one night.  That was enough to get him to pick up the book! Now, even though he has read the book all by himself, he still wants me to read two chapters from it each night!

I look forward to reading the next book, "Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles".