‘Annu’s New Friend’ Original text, design and illustration in English by Zoheb A. Qazi. Printed by Kolor Kode Published by Srishti Press Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, P.O. Box No. 6430, Yelahanka New Town, Doddabalapur Road, Bangalore - 560 106. T: +91 80 40447000 Zoheb A. Qazi designed this book on ‘growing up’ as a student of the Storybook Lab at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore. Run by Matt Lee and Krupa Thimmaiah, the aim of this lab has been to re-evaluate stereotypical notions of creating books for Indian children and to make reading enjoyable, meaningful and inexpensive. Copyright © Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology 2012 Illustrations Copyright © Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology.
Annu was a short little girl. She was also a chubby little girl.
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In fact, she was the shortest, chubbiest, and littlest girl in her class.
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All the other children in her class would tease her because of how short and chubby and little she was.
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“Stop making fun of me!” she shouted angrily. But they wouldn’t stop teasing her. She decided to not play with them anymore.
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She sat in the corner and looked at the others enjoying themselves.
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She thought to herself, “I wish I had someone to play with.”
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Right then, she heard a sound and looked around.
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Behind the rocks and under the tree, she found someone crying.
“Hello. Are you okay? Why are you crying?” she said.
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It was a boy named Chintu.
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He was a big tall boy. He was also a thin tall boy.
In fact, he was the biggest, thinnest and tallest boy in his class. 11
“All the children in my class tease me because of how big and thin and tall I am,� he cried.
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“Well, don’t cry,” said Annu, “they tease me too.”
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“They say that I’m as tall as a tree,” said Chintu.
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“They say that I’m as small as a mouse,” said Annu.
“They say that I’m as thin as a snake,” said Chintu.
“They say that I’m as fat as a cow,” said Annu.
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Annu and Chintu started laughing. “We are both so different,� they said.
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And so, Annu and Chintu spent their time playing together, laughing together, smiling together and having fun. 17
The other kids would think, “Wow. They really seem to be enjoying themselves.”
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Annu and Chintu became the best of friends. 19
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Annu is sad because the children in her school make fun of her. She keeps looking for a friend that she could play with.
MRP: ` 20.00