mumbai as theatregoers in the west continue to reel under harry potters spell wizardry of a different sort has been rolling off the printing presses in kerala specially conjured up for kids on chacha nehrus birthday on november 14 gift hampers of books produced by dc books have been doing brisk business all over the state one of the books from the hamper thengede moodum moongede moolum coconuts boots and owls hoots a collection of science whimsies by acclaimed writer ap jayaraman features what could be a malayalee version of hedwig potters large snowy owl pet which doubles as a mailboy whats more magical mr jayaraman owlish takeoff is based on actual research done by dr alexander rowling no relation jk rowling who conceived harry potter from the berne university in switzerland says mr jayaraman who serves with the bhabha atomic research centre in mumbai while the book is anchored firmly on cutting edge science ive dressed it up with elements of zany fiction to entice and entertain the kids call it fusion if you will says sankaran nair sivadas arguably keralas most celebrated sciencelitterateur also featured in the childrens day pack its a new type of genre which like a character from the pirandello play is still in search of a label creative sciencewriting is not the same thing as popular sciencewriting explains the 61yearold kottayambased writer who is on a private visit to the city the latter largely involves simplifying science for the nonspecialist creative sciencewriting on the other hand can be looked upon as a plant which is firmly rooted in the substrate of science but which ultimately gives out a literary bloom while the critical jury is still out debating on the categories mr sivadass audience children between the ages of eight to 80 dont seem to be having enough of him most of his books have run into several editions and the circulation of one vayichalum vayichalum theeratha pustakam the neverending book has crossed one lakh copies after an outpouring of nearly 90 books spanning a torrent of over 35 million words which has won practically every national and state award for childrens literature mr sivadas is now chief editor of labour india publications which brings out 30odd educational journals his latest volume parus experiments in the kitchen will be out next month and he is already at work on the next book mr sivadas says he wants children to have great dreams for great dreams lead to great deeds and achievements he adds i am appalled by the depressing regimentation of minds and the manner in which we forcefeed our kids to run the tofelgre obstacle race as if that is only thing that defines success in life i want children to be children not robots i want them to smile to play to ask questions discover things and get excited by life and all its wonders it was a childs postcard which for example sparked the odyssey of one of my most