Dr Priya Tamma
Azim Premji University
Dinosaurs-long gone from this world, but occupy the minds and hearts of many human beings. There is something about these animals that captures everyone’s imagination. Our fascination with dinosaurs is evident in the number of books and movies that focus on them. From Micheal Crighton’s Jurassic Park (which was the inspiration for the movies), to Arthur Conon Doyle’s The Lost World, we have imagined what it would be like for humans and dinosaurs to coexist.
What happens when curious children are given a chance to peek into the world of dinosaurs? Mishanli Yanthan’s book, 'The Pre-Historic Adventure’, takes us into a world where three children find themselves in the midst of dinosaurs.
The story follows the adventure of Kiden, Noying, and Ezon as they explore a hidden world of dinosaurs, somewhere near the ethereal Dzukou valley. They stumble into this dinosaur world by way of a cave. They are able to move safely around in a ‘hamster ball’ that Ezon designs and makes. As they travel, Kiden describes the dinosaurs they encounter, and it is impossible not to be drawn into her narration. At one point, I held my breath as the mother Saltopus fought off raptors trying to get at her eggs. She finally sent them packing after she bit one of their tails! Apart from Saltopus, we get to meet Brachiosaurus, Mamenchiasaurus, raptors, T Rex, Diplodocus among others. I learned so much about dinosaurs, but also about their behaviours, their friends and enemies.
Kiden explains that dinosaurs existed for three periods of Earth’s history - the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. So which period is this story set in? What dinosaurs do we see? Here is where it gets really creative. We often think of time as linear, with events happening one after the other. But Mishanli creates a world where three time periods coexist. She has very cleverly allowed for dinosaurs from all three periods to coexist by separating the minspace by walls, and allowing the children to move between these spaces through keyholes. This means that instead of being introduced to a generic dinosaur world, we get to see the different dinosaurs of the different periods!
In a world where most of us do not pay attention to plants, I was also genuinely happy to meet Noying, who is portrayed as a child with an immense interest in plants. What an adorable character -appreciating plants while the eye-grabbing dinosaurs amble all around him! This says so much about Mishanli’s own worldview, and is heartening. Although fascinated with dinosaurs she exhibits a profound understanding of all things that made up the world of dinosaurs, including plants of that time. Her descriptions of behaviours, their distributions, and diet, made the book so much more interesting.
Although it would be easy to think of this as a book for young children, I think many adults will enjoy reading it too. I certainly did. Not only did I appreciate Kiden’s knowledge about all things dinosaurs, I also enjoyed being in the company of the plant loving Noying and the tech whizz Ezon. Moreover, I savoured the easy friendship of the three cousins. I cannot wait for Mishanli to write more books describing the other adventures of these three children!
Finally, this book wouldn’t be complete without the evocative and lovely illustrations by Puloto Chishi. The extraordinary illustrations complement the story so well, and bring to life a landscape and animals that otherwise only lies in our imagination. I wish they would make posters of these illustrations available too. I cannot wait to see what more is in store from Puloto!
I am sure children will love this book-both the story and the illustrations will keep them captivated!
