Book Review : The Moon Wants to be Spotless White

Title : The Moon Wants To Be Spotless White

Author : Priya Narayanan

Illustrator : Suhita Mitra

Publisher : LeadStart

ISBN : 9789381576342 

'Daag achche hain' (Stains are good) if they happen to be the price for joy, happiness and love - this is the premise of Priya Narayanan's 'The Moon Wants to be Spotless White'.  Moon who is otherwise quite vain and is drunk on his own beauty, gets the shock of his life when he overhears a bunch of stars talking about his dirty spots. He finds a patient ear in a little girl Mitu who enjoys looking at the moon from the window of her room and always admires his grace and beauty. Moon comes up with a plan that he needs to get himself scrubbed clean in order to get back his pristine white looks. Mitu feels very happy to help the moon by letting Dhobi Kaka into the little secret. Dhobi kaka is kind enough to use his special secret formula on Moon so that the moon regains his spotless whiteness back.

The trio get together at the dead of the night to work in this rare kind of mission but by the time they are done with washing and scrubbing, it is time for the day break. Now the moon will have to wait for the night fall to go back to the sky. What happens when the moon finally meets his heavenly friends in the sky? How does he narrate his adventure of previous night when he took a trip to the dhobhi ghat? Can he boast of his spotless white looks in front of them? Is he really as spotless as he wanted himself to be? Does his vanity win or the love of his friends? Head on to this rare adventure along with the moon who is ready to take all the trouble to satisfy his pride of being the most handsome in the sky.

A great way to reiterate and reinforce the life value that life is just not about the external appearance, it is much beyond that. And this the moon realises at the end of the story when he observes that his friends are glad, just to be with him - with or without spots.

It is a simple, feel-good story which would appeal to all little children, however, the length of this story goes against its appeal to the age group that it is targeting. It is hard to finish complete reading of the story in one sitting. Moreover, stories adhering to commonly observed practicalities, always make more impact. In 'The Moon Wants to be Spotless White', Mitu's mother sending Mitu with Dhobi Kaka at night, feels a little unreal and impractical. Barring these two irritants, it is quite an interesting read for young readers (Age : 6-10 years)