Title: Run! Oongly Moongly!
Author: Thanmolie K. Vellasamy
Illustrator: Eva Samota
Publisher: PartridgeSingapore
ISBN: 978-1-5437-6777-3
Pages: 34
Genre: Illustrated Children’s
Book Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Author Thanmolie K. Vellasamy, along with her illustrator Eva Samota, have created a children’s story of a caterpillar who is named Oongly Moongly by her human caretaker and friend Meena in a delightful book titled Run! Oongly Moongly!
When one thinks about the food chain, caterpillars are definitely at the lower levels, and that’s what is themed into the storyline of this book. A foreshadowed drawing of a bird and a cat are in the background as Meena, who finds this colorful little caterpillar on a flower pot on her breakfast table, gingerly brings the insect outside of her house to place it in a new and safe environment. Upon holding the caterpillar close to her face, Meena hears the little insect talk to her! Wow, a talking caterpillar – so she names it Oongly Moongly.
Now is when the fun and excitement begins. Outside, Oongly Moongly is quickly picked up by a bird swooping down to eat the little caterpillar, but the cat chases and grabs the bird, causing the bird to drop Oongly onto a lily pad in the pond; a frog grabs Oongly from the lily pad, then a fish grabs it….so on and so forth as Oongly Moongly narrowly escapes being eaten by so many predators. The story truly morphs into a survival adventure, with Oongly being the victim of many near-death experiences, while Meena helping out every moment. The pace of the story is brilliantly done with illustrations and captions making for a captivating read for youngsters.
Then, later in this story, Meena learns about how a butterfly is created from a caterpillar by morphing into a pupa for a few days, then finally emerging with wings and can fly. Meena builds a net around the pupa for Oongly to grow safely, preventing birds from eating the cocoon.
Upon the finale when Oongly flies away, Meena and Oongly exchange the words, “I love you.” This makes for a very heart-warming ending, and leaves children at a place where they could drift off to sleep dreaming of flying colorful butterflies with love in their hearts.
There is never a dull moment in this exciting story which will captivate the attention and imagination of all youngsters fortunate to read – or be read too – this lovely book. Run! Oongly Moongly! Is a must-have for all children’s libraries, and we hope to see other works by the talented Thanmolie K. Vellasamy. And as for Oongly Moongly, we hope it explores the world and spreads the love.
