BOOK 13 #

Title- 'Salim The Knife Sharpener'

Publisher, Year - Tulika,2015

Grade- 3rd

Genre- Picture Book

Theme- Occupation

Author- R. Amarendran

Brief Biography

R. Amarendran , also known as Amarendran Ramanan or Amar is an Indian theatre director and actor who has directed and acted in several plays in English and French. His acting career began during the 1980’s when he took part in the Loyola college production of Girish Karnad's Tughlaq , which soon led him to get minor roles in Mithran Devanesan's Gilbert and Sullivan musicals in Chennai, India. ‘Siri’s smile’ is the first book children’s book he authored.

Synopsis

This story is about a poor knife-sharpener called Salim goes from place to place sharpening knives. But who needs knives sharpened regularly these days?

Salim hardly doesn’t even have enough money for a good meal. But Eid is just around the corner. So he decides to try his at the other side of the jungle. What do you think will happen next? Would Salim will be able to make enough money and enjoy his Eid?

Reading - Writing Strategies

Pre- reading

• Show the cover page to the students and ask them if they know who is a Knife Sharpener? 
  
• Have they ever seen one in real life?
  
• If yes, what did they see?
  
• Were there any tools he was carrying?

During reading

• Have you ever celebrated Eid? What all festivals do you celebrate?
• What do you think will happen next?
• Who did Salim see in the jungle?
• Have you ever seen a Lion talk? Do animals talk to humans?

Post reading

• You can ask the students to change the climax of the story.

Or

• You can ask them to do story mapping as well.

•           Steps of story mapping are as follows-

1.         Setting of the story-

2.         Who all were the characters?

3.         Timeline - what happened when? And how?

4.         What was the conclusion?

 

Reflection

We are living in times where, numerous manual jobs that were important at a time have now become obsolete. Salim’s job as a knife sharpener is one of those. Salim travels one from village to another with his knife-grinding wheel, sharpening a variety of objects from knives to gardening shears. But even then the work is not enough to keep food on his table. And added to that is the need for extra money to fund celebrations of a festival.

The story describes Salim’s poverty and cultural background quite authentically. The idea of a knife-sharpener is bound to intrigue kids who may not have seen one. And the story is written in a quirky manner and has a nice twist. The illustrations are also very pleasing and describe settings quite well.

Sources

https://www.tulikabooks.com/general-picture-books/salim-the-knife-sharpener-english.html