The Day It Rained Letters

by Nury Vittachi

???In a world where there are no storybooks, a few letters of the alphabet fall ???donk!???on a little girl???s head. This sets Minky Binka and her friend Rama Khan off on an adventure--to their school, the library, the post office, an old printing press??? well, across the whole town. ???They discover books and storytelling, and best of all, they find that reading unlocks a wonderful dream machine, called Imagination, hidden in everyone???s head. Written by Nury Vittachi, one of Asia???s top storytellers, and illustrated imaginatively by Eamonn O'Boyle, About The Author: Nury Vittachi is one of Asia???s best-known writers, the founding editor of the Asia Literary Review and chief judge of the Australia-Asia Literary Award. He has published more than 30 books, including the comedy-crime novel series The Feng Shui Detective. His columns on his website www.misterjam.com are read by more than a million people a month. However, his biggest love is children???s literature, and he has written many books for them, including The Paper Princessand The True History of Santa Claus. Vittachi currently lives in Hong Kong with his wife and their three adopted Chinese children.

Genres: Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2004

About the author

Nury Vittachi is a journalist and author based in Hong Kong. His columns are published daily, weekly in a variety of newspapers in Asia as well as on his website. He is best known for the comedy-crime novel series The Feng Shui Detective, published in many languages around the world, but he has also written non-fiction works and novels for children. He is also noted for his role in founding the Asia Literary Review, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the Man Asian Literary Prize, and was the chairman of the judges of the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award in 2008. Vittachi currently lives in Hong Kong with his English wife Mary-Lacey Vittachi and their three adopted Chinese children. Also writes under the name Sam Jam.

Reviews

[Sudarshan Wagh (swish_ndflick) · Rating 5 out of 5]

you ate them with your eyes...

Imagine a land where there are no storybooks. Hard to digest for my audience, but stay with me. A land where there are no storybooks on the shelves, no bedtime stories, no playtime in schools but lessons, no curiosity, no dreams, no imagination, no nothing at all. Appalling, isn't it? This is where our little girl, Minky Binka, lives with her parents. 

So it happens that one fine day, as she is walking through a park, something falls on her head. Uncertain of what it is, she and her mom pay a visit to old Mr. Reed, the town's encyclopedia. He tells them surprisingly that what fell from the sky was a 'letter' from the alphabet, many of which were very rare and were used to make up 'stories'. Now again, unsure of what 'stories' were, Minky inquires further. Mr. Reed explains to her that 'stories' were wonderful, enjoyable, scrumptious things that were served on thin plates called pages and were supposed to be eaten by eyes, which eventually turned on the dream machine inside their heads and gave rise to 'imagination'. 'Imagination', as he describes it, is the ability to dream dreams with open eyes, embark on adventures without any danger, become whatever and go wherever they want without moving so much as an inch from their chairs. Minky is amazed by hearing all these and is determined to find more such 'letters' with her friend Rama.

Will the duo be able to find as many as ten thousand letters as told by Mr. Reed? Will the flurry of letters be able to make their way into the old printing house on the edge of the town, which hasn't made more than empty cardboard boxes in the last many years? What are you waiting for? Grab a copy ASAP and help Minky and Rama find more letters so that they can also cherish what we have always taken for granted - the 'stories'!

The Day It Rained Letters is a beautifully written and vibrantly illustrated tale of how stories came into existence, more so like an attempt to address the dying culture of reading books in the modern world with the advent of newer technology like films. A must-read for all modern-day parents and children alike. 

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to read a book about how letters fall from sky. In a place where there were no books, once letters start falling from sky. People collect the letters and thus, they bring treasury of books. Wonderful book for the kids.

[Uma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice concept... What happens when we lose all the letters of the alphabet? Here is the story that takes you on a journey of life without letters and what happens when it starts raining letters...

Very enjoyable