1. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, A NOVEL IN CARTOONS  
AUTHOR: JEFF KINNEY` PUFFIN RS.195/-

This is the hilarious journal, NOT gushy feelings-packed diary, of Greg Heffley, who will some day be rich and famous. Only right now, he's stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons. Home is not much better, what with Mom and Dad and their unique brands of discipline.

Then there is big brother Rodrick, who listens to ear-splitting heavy metal music. Rodrick, as expected, often gets the better of Greg with his bag of tricks. Baby brother Manny can be quite a handful. He draws his huge and awful self-portrait on Greg's door, and carries Rodrick's magazine with the photo of a bikini-clad lady for show-and-tell to his play home.

Greg's school rocks, with everyone who matters vying to get a column in the school magazine and the football team. The infamous cheese is the terror of the school. It's a stinking affair, a rotting piece of cheese lying on the playground since ages. The school play is an outrageous affair. The trees keep tripping and falling over each other, while the dog sits up and begins to read comic books. Manny adds the icing to the cake by publicly calling Greg by his horrible pet-name. The entertaining, original and sparkling story and the drawings on every page will leave you in splits. This book is also, in a roundabout way, about the craziness and complexity that makes up life, not just for a fifth grader, but for everyone.

2. AKIMBO AND THE BABOONS AUTHOR: ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH
ILLUSTRATIONS: PETER BAILEY BLOOMSBURY (INDIAN PRICE ON REQUEST FROM PENGUIN INDIA)
We've enjoyed those fascinating documentaries on wildlife in exotic parts of the world.

Here's a story about young Akimbo, whose father has the exciting job of head ranger in a great game reserve in Africa. Akimbo is thrilled at the prospect of a visit from his cousin Kosi. 

His father adds to the excitement by announcing, "The baboon lady is arriving at lunchtime."

Well, this book is, among other things, about baboons, and some people think that baboons are not very nice.
These people think baboons have ugly faces, are quarrelsome, and don't seem to like humans very much.

Read on, and in the course of this story, you will learn that "baboons are very interesting animals - rather closer in their behaviour to ourselves than we might like to admit."

So what's the mysterious baboon lady like? Was she, perhaps, a female baboon? Well, explains, Akimbo's father. She's a scientist who has lived with baboons.

And the baboons treated her as one of them. Jen, the baboon lady, turns out to be a lovely woman who takes Akimbo and Kosi as her assistants on a real scientific expedition.

Observing the baboons at close range is great fun. But life isn't easy for the baboons, or for Akimbo. There's danger, with predators close at hand. This is an exciting story. The drawings, especially of the baboons, add to the charm.

The author lightens the mood with expert little touches of humour. For instance, the name Akimbo sounds typically African, until you realise that in English, it means folding your arms outward with the fists resting on your waist.