‘The Baby Bomb’ that hates exploding
Works like this are essential to root us in our humanity and show us the power of non-violence
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Book Title: The Baby Bomb
Author: Govind Sandhu. Illustrated by Allen Shaw
Some books are like onions. They reveal layers and layers of meaning. At the outset, it must be stated that ‘The Baby Bomb’ might be written for children, but it is intended for adults as well. Not many children’s books can walk the thin line between being interesting for children and holding the attention of adults as well.
The book takes as its subject matter the feelings and thoughts of a bomb — Baby — whose claim to fame is that his grandfather was Fat Man, the bomb that caused incalculable destruction in Nagasaki during the Second World War. This made Baby earn serious cred amongst the bombs that are shown as being indoctrinated to consider detonation and maximum damage as their only goal in life. But Baby was different. He was afraid to explode and die. He was, therefore, not a ‘good enough’ bomb. But Baby never told anyone his fears.
Finally, when the time came to explode, Baby held on to the aircraft for dear life. The rest of the book follows Baby’s journey as an unexploded bomb.
The book is imaginatively written — one does not feel the need to willingly suspend disbelief that a bomb could have feelings, let alone make friends or any significant contribution to the world. This could be because Baby could also be seen as an allegory of how everyone — children and adults — reacts to peer pressure; how it can be nerve wracking to be different from the ‘norm’; how stifling it can be to carry very personal truths deep inside one’s heart.
Sandhu has imaginatively tackled the important issue of armed, sanctioned violence that pervades the world around us. He does mention that the state of children in Gaza and Ukraine prompted him to write this book. In that sense, by his own admission, it is a book about parties who are casualties of wars that they did not start or have no interest in continuing.
The question then poses itself: whose wars are these?
The narrative style is easy to read. There are multiple voices and moments of genuine laughter. The emotions expressed in the book are beautiful in that they genuinely draw you in and make you root for the characters. It is an excellent resource for students of Peace Studies and, of course, for all those who wish to make children understand the need for peace, for being at peace with oneself, for being different and for teaching the value of friendship and community. Adults can also take a leaf out of this book.
Sandhu’s work is appealingly produced and the illustrations by Allen Shaw are spot-on. These supplement the narrative rather than overpowering it. The colour scheme is kept muted to possibly depict the dire straits the world is in.
In these times, when chest-thumping and sabre-rattling have dominated our visual and auditory perceptions, works like ‘The Baby Bomb’ are essential to root us in our humanity and show us the power of non-violence.
— The reviewer teaches at All Saints’ College, Thiruvananthapuram
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