5 ways to help frustrated child learn to solve problems

 As a father with two growing children, I often find it difficult to get them to complete their activities without a sense of frustration creeping into it. My children aged 4 and one are very active, impatient and want to get things done, before they even conceptualise their ideas.

What I've discovered is that it is often a mere push that gets them the satisfaction, rather than constrict their thoughts. I've found that the following tips help them solve their problems without frustration.


1. Don't jump in too quickly to solve problems for the child. That short-circuits the child's ability to work out solutions independently. This is especially true in their early age, and is an important point we parents must remember. The less we allow independent thoughts at this age, the less likely, the child will develop an inquisitive activity later in life.

2. Help her name her emotion. She says, "This is stupid!" You say, "You're really feeling frustrated, aren't you?". Getting them to identify their emotions goes a long way in their learning to control their emotions. Often, we let children use the same emotions for all their problems. 

3. Validate his feeling. That helps him move on instead of wallowing and getting stuck. He says, "I hate this game!" You say, "This is hard work, isn't it?"

4. Help him clarify his goal. He grunts. You say, "What were you trying to do, anyway? Build a tower?"

5. Wonder aloud with him. You become a partner in problem-solving rather than an adult who holds all knowledge. You say, "Did you notice you're building it on a rug? I wonder if it would be more steady on the floor." He says, "Yeah, and look, I can make it taller!"

Book Review: God is a Gamer

Title:  God is a Gamer
Language: English
Author: Ravi Subramanian
Genre:  Fiction/ Thriller
Publisher:  Penguin 2014 September
ISBN - 10: 0143421395
ISBN-13: 9780143421399
Binding: Paperback
Price: Rs. 299 (Buy from Flipkart for Rs.189)
Pages: 324


http://dl.flipkart.com/dl/god-gamer-english/p/itmdy8bjkyuqrjfd?pid=9780143421399&affid=drvishaalb
Synopsis: This is a page-turner and will appeal to those who love a good thriller. The ending is quite exciting and many may not see the twist in the tale. Ravi Subramanian has pulled off another masterpiece thriller in the world of finance and banking!

Detailed Review: 

The book opens with the assassination of a US Senator who is en route to meet the President of the USA. Investigations ensue and the FBI are under pressure to crack the case. The focus then shifts to India where, the prime minister is headed to the US for treatment. Swami, a top banker finds that despite his best efforts, money is being siphoned off his customers accounts and his team is helpless to do anything about it! His boss doesn't want anything to do with it and and instead tries to lay the blame for the entire fiasco at his door! With a steady stream of new characters and their backgrounds, the novel appears to be going nowhere, when boom, all the threads get connected and you are left with one awesome thriller.

There is a lot of explanation about Bitcoins and the happenings about the financial world, that are integral to the narrative and at the same time, very informative for the naive among us.

There are multiple emotions at play, a father meeting with his son after ages, a couple who tries to find love, secrets hidden from each other and the world, murders of friends and socialites and the hidden faces.


Story:  Aditya runs a gaming company that is struggling to break even. A banker slips off a high rise building, plunging to her death. The finance minister has made some promises that he is finding hard to keep. The LTTE has unleashed terror in America that sends the FBI on a wild goose chase, bringing them to Mumbai.Enter Varun, part time drug dealer and full time genius. He turns around the gaming company before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, the investigators plunge headlong into the shady world of bitcoins and the Dark Net, websites that only exist for illegal transactions–drugs, sex and money. God Is a Gamer culminates in a stunning climax where money means nothing, assassination is taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems.

Positives: 
1. A top writer with many best sellers in the past. You can read my review of his other novel Bankster here.
2. Fast paced and informative.
3. Well researched as always.
Negatives:
1. Some things mentioned are just impossible these days (you can't just phish an account with only the account details and password).
 2. The ending though is very interesting and a different one from the regular thrillers, still feels a bit contrived. (I did guess the ending much before I finished the novel).
3. There were 3 or 4 places in the text where I found an out-of-place word or typo error.


Who will enjoy this? Almost anyone with a penchant for thrillers and especially those that are worried about the world of finance and the shady deals that happen therein.

Buy or Don’t Buy? Buy!  Flipkart at the moment is even giving a Rs.110  discount on the cover price. It’s a steal at Rs.189/-.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com  ... Participate now to get free books!    

Unputdownable: Private India - A Book Review

Title:- Private India 
Series:- Private 
Language: English 
Author:- Ashwin Sanghi with James Patterson 
Genre: Fiction, Thriller 
Publisher:- Arrow Books 2014 
ISBN 13:- 9780099586395 
Binding:- Paperback 
Number of pages:- 470 


The blurb goes like this :- In Mumbai, seemingly unconnected people are dying, strangled in a chilling ritual and with strange objects carefully arranged with the corpses. For Santosh wagh, head of Private India, the Mumbai branch of the world’s finest investigation agency, it’s a race against time to stop the killer striking again. In a city of over thirteen million, he’d have his work cut out at the best of times, but this case has him battling Mumbai’s biggest gang lord and a godman who isn’t all he seems. And then he discovers there may be an even greater danger facing Private India. Hidden in the shadows is someone who could destroy the whole organisation - along with thousands of innocent Mumbai citizens. 

 Quick Review: A thriller. This book is simply unputdownable. Right from the beginning of the book, you will be hooked to the simple language and fast pace of the story. The characters make it all the more interesting as none of them appear to be what they are! You’ll keep guessing till the end, what the actual story is all about. The only negatives I felt was the poor editing and too many side plots that needn’t have been there.  

Detailed Review: Ashwin Sanghi is a famous name in the Indian writing circles and I have reviewed a book by him “The Krishna Key” previously. I had called the book, a poor man’s Da Vinci Code. For this reason, i was a bit apprehensive when I began reading this book. For this novel, Mr. Sanghi has teamed up with James Patterson, who seems to be a prolific writer (Forgive me, as I’ve not read any of his books before). 

The cover page is well done as it reflects Mumbai in the backdrop with the Gateway of India and a man running away from a lurking danger with the Bandra – Worli sealink in the background. 

The story is set in modern day Mumbai and the beauty and mystery of the city has been brought to the fore in an elegant manner. Private India is shown to be the #1 private detective agency in India, and a subsidiary of “Private Worldwide”, A world-wide agency of detectives.

The book opens with a wannabe reporter at a high end party, where the attorney general of India is a guest and soon spirals into the first in a series of murders by the end of the first chapter.  The murdered women is of Thai nationality and peculiarly, the only clues left behind by the murderer are a yellow scarf with a single knot and a strand of hair, which does not belong to the victim. The resort where the murder takes place employs Private India as its in-house detective agency and Private India gets to the scene first. Santosh Wagh a retired police officer who is a rough image of Detective Spencer of True detective, is the head of Private India and his assistants take note of the scene and ask the police to be called in. The Mumbai police team arrives and is headed by Rupesh, a one time partner and friend of Mr. Wagh. The police team allows Private India to continue with the investigations provided the credit for solving the case goes to the Mumbai police.

As the storyline advances the murder turns into the first of a series of seemingly unlinked murders that take place across the city. It is for Santosh Wagh and his team to discover the links between the murders and solve the mystery of the various clues left behind by the murderer at the crime scenes. 

Private Worldwide investigator Jack Morgan comes into the picture at one of the points in the storyline and immediately is a prime suspect in the series of murders. Same goes with most of the cast, including the team members of Private India, all of whom seem to have a dual identity and multiple layers to their characters.

Add some interesting sub-plots, expose the underworld-godman-prostitution nexus and Private India makes for one of the most exhilarating thrillers you will ever put your hands on.

Positives: 
  1. The story is weaved well and the way it all comes together in the end is the best part of the book. 
  2.  Fast Paced – At no point of the reading did I feel that I needed a break. Keeps you hooked to each word, looking for that elusive clue, where you can piece the story together by yourself.
  3. The font is good-sized and legible. 
  4. The writing style is simple and the English used is a little on the colloquial side.
  5.  For someone who lives on thrillers and suspense novels, I could guess the ending and the identity of the murderer well before the middle of the novel. However, the storyline has enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested till the end.
Negatives:
  1. Grammatical and spelling errors. For a novel that boasts of two renowned authors, the number of errors is too damn high! Come on, couldn't you guys hire a good proof reader?
  2. Too many sub-plots that did not have to be included. Also, the sub-plots could have been left hanging for a possible sequel?!
  3. The characters could have been given more depth, including the protagonist. Sure, that would have increased the reading length, but would have been a nice touch for subsequent novels on this theme.
Who will enjoy this? - People who like a breezy read and a break from their hectic schedules. Almost everyone who reads books I guess :)

Buy or Don’t Buy? –
Definite buy, however do understand that the grammar may put you off a bit! The story and plot will however make up for any shortcomings.
You can buy it from Flipkart (60% off cover price), or Amazon India (60% off cover price) or if you are not residing in India, from Amazon (Private 8).


This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Ramayana: Rise of The Sun Prince - Book Review

Title:-  Rise of The Sun Prince, Book 1
Series:- Ramayana: The Game of Life
Language: English
Author:- Shubha Vilas
Genre: Mythology
Publisher:- Jaico Publishing House (2013)
ISBN 13:- 9788184955309
Binding:- Paperback
Number of pages:- 256
Price:- Rs 250 (Available on Flipkart at Rs.175)


The blurb goes like this :-
The narrative closely follows Valmikis Ramayana, gently weaving in folk tales as well as the beautiful analogies of the Kamba Ramayana. The first of this six-volume series, Rise of the Sun Prince, takes you through the divine story of Lord Rama from his birth up to his marriage. Through these pages, the tales of Dasarathas leadership, Vishwamitras quest for power and the intriguing story of a little-known stone maiden are revealed. Ramayana: The Game of Life has all of this and much more – food for contemporary thought drawn from an enduring masterpiece.
http://bit.ly/1nx9kVr 
Quick Review:  There has been a sudden interest in retelling the Hindu/Indian mythological stories in recent times. The problem with this is, there is only so much you can tell. The book - Rise of The Sun Prince is book 1 in a 6 part series written by author Shubha Vilas and attempts to retell the Ramayana, interpreting the various events from a different perspective. However, it ends up as just another book in the market, trying to overdo things.

Detailed Review: 
The Ramayana, story of Sri Rama or God Rama, is a story which every Hindu knows. Some know the intricacies in the story line,  but most of us have a working knowledge. It is something we hear during our childhood and stays with us for life. To tell this story again, and bring a freshness to it at the same time, needs a brave heart and a person who has tremendous self-confidence to pull it off. 

The author Shubha Vilas, promises to this and much more in the introduction to the book. He starts of well, providing a brief yet precise background to the story, not delving into too much detail, but introducing the major back story needed to delve further into the Ramayana. He does introduce a few aspects that may not be commonly known among people who've heard the Ramayana stories. (Most of us would be surprised to know that the Ramayana was written and completed during Rama's time, or that his sons sand the story to him.)

The story begins with Ratnakara, the hunter-thief who is transformed to the great muni Valmiki. It shows the trials he goes through to finally become great enough to start writing the Ramayana. The book also traces the life of the other great rishi of the times Vishwamitra. The author even says that Vishwamitra is the hero of this book. However, I found nothing new in this part of the story. To the uninformed reader, this book may be an eye opener, but for someone who has read the Ramayana in its original, this book may seem dull.

The rest of the book is a simple retelling of the most famous (after the Mahabharata) epic of Hindu mythology and except for a few aspects, doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Positives: 
1. The writing style is fluid.
2. A sense of drama is created.
3. A very light and breezy read for the uninitiated.

Negatives:
1. Foot Notes. At some places the footnotes fill in almost the entire page.
2. Author wants to do a modern retelling. However, some parts of the books stick to the miracles and stuff when a scientific and rational explanation could have been given.


Who will enjoy this? - Children. Adults who want a simple book to read to their children.

Buy or Don’t Buy? – The book is a very simple retelling of the Ramayana. True it has footnotes that highlight the moral aspects and Life Lessons’ or ‘Sutras’on each page, which may be helpful to those telling the stories to the kids. For me though, it does not work well. If you do want it, you can buy the book at Amazon India for Rs.159 (Rs 89 off the cover price) Or on Flipkart at Rs. 175(Rs. 75 off the cover price).

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!
 

Statutory warnings - a hypothetical threat?

Right from the childhood days we all are aware of the warnings going around about Cigarettes, Liquors, Movies... But in spite of that, we were ready to take the risks involved - to find out what's it about these things that people are cautious about (or at least pretend to be cautious about). What were they keeping us (children) away from?

Take the case of Cigarettes. A doctors warning or a statutory warning goes along every pack. But still we have so many guys/gals smoking. I bet its because of the warning that they are trying it out... the more you try to keep him/her away... the more enticing it's gonna be.

Then comes... drinks.. who cares about the warning on each liquor bottle .. a hypothetical threat if one may call it... A big warning goes before you start drinking .. then we have responsible drinking, not driving after drinking and terms like DUI...

One wonders is it worth paying attention to them? It's like a Chess game I believe .. the whole game is controlled by hypothetical threats and possibilities that never happen, but which could have happened if you did otherwise. Yeah.. I mean that's why they keep smoking... and the smokers know that the warnings are nothing but BS.

Be careful though... the've started changing the warnings... But hey it's okay to include some while you post messages... 'cause then you know - this post must be read ( in a similar way that we used to try the ones that carry the Statutory warning!)
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