Class - VII [Raintree Coursebook Theme - 5: For the Love of Books] Chapter - 10: The Girl Who Ate Books by Nilanjana Roy

Summary: The Girl Who Ate Books

The Girl Who Ate Books is narrated by a girl who is obsessed with reading. Even as a young girl

of three, the narrator loved stories. She says this is because of her mother. Every night the

narrator’s mother would tell stories to the narrator and her sister. Characters such as Red

Riding Hood, Baba Yaga, Brer Rabbit, Tar Baby and Tuntuni featured in these stories. But the

narrator’s favourite stories were the ones her mother made up using only her imagination. Her

mother would make even the most ordinary things like pictures on curtains come alive with her

storytelling. This created a huge impression on the narrator. She would demand stories from

everyone and the stories had to be told with as many details as possible.

The narrator is three when she realises that books contain stories, but each time she opens a

book, the words look like ants to her—she cannot read. This upsets her until one of her uncles

decides to teach her how to read.

The narrator remembers the first words she read very clearly. She opens the hardboard book

and initially all she sees are crawling ants. Then, slowly, the ants stop and words come into

focus. When she reads the lines of poetry on the page, the narrator feels powerful. This is

because she no longer has to beg adults to read her books, she can do this herself. This makes

her feel as though she ‘owns’ words.

The narrator feels as if she is living in a house of magic, surrounded as she is by books and

stories. If words sound so good, she wondered, how good would they taste? She licks a page

from the book. The smell of the paper is so tempting that she tears off a corner of the page.

Then she panics—the tear is big, not small. She is anxious that she will be caught and punished.

So, to hide the evidence of her crime, the narrator rips out the entire page and eats it. This

deed troubles both her stomach and her conscience. And yet, this would not be the last time

she ‘ate’ books. 

The Girl Who Ate Books is a light-hearted narration about the love of reading. It is about the power of imagination and what a big impact it can have on people. The narration is very well written. The images (such as those of the ants or the storybook characters) used are very unusual and the writer, just like the mother in the story, makes the passage come alive. You can feel the narrator’s pain at being unable to read; her wonder and joy the first time she reads by herself; and the immense guilt she feels for eating the paper. All together, The Girl Who Ate Books is a very creatively written passage. 

Story Analysis

Setting: A contemporary Indian city, blending the real world with a fantastical element of books and reading.

Character: A curious and imaginative young little girl, with a deep love for books.

Central Idea: The Little Girl's adventures revolve around her unique ability to "consume" books, revealing her deep connection with stories and the power of reading.

Themes: The power of literature, the importance of imagination, self-discovery, and the impact of stories on identity.

Message: Books can shape our lives in extraordinary ways and foster a deep connection to the world.
Underlying Message: The more we read, the more we grow and understand the world around us.

Comprehension
A. 1. T

2. NT: The child’s family considered her a pest because she would ask them for stories each time she
met them.

3. NT: The child lost her peace of mind because she realised that books contained stories but she
could not read them.

4. T

5. NT: The child wanted to taste the book because she wondered how good the book would taste if it
sounded and smelled so wonderful.

6. NT: The child tried to hide her mistake by eating the entire page.

B. 1. a. Black ants are what words looked like to the child because she could not read.
b. The ants are saying nothing to her because she cannot read.
c. The ants made the child feel terrible that she could not read.

2. a. reading a poem from the book successfully made the child feel this way.
b. The words made the child feel powerful because now that she could read herself, she would no
longer have to beg people to tell her stories. Knowing how to read also meant that the entire
house filled with books was now open to her.
c. The house was filled with many story books. Now that the child could read, she could get
stories from all those books.

3. a. The child ate an entire page of the book she was reading. This gave her digestion problems.
b. ‘hard to digest’ means that something she ate upset her stomach and gave her digestion
problems. It also means that some of the books she would read in the future would be hard o
understand or like.
c. This sentence means that the child will go on to read a lot of books in the future, some of
whom will be hard for her to understand/like. It could also mean that she would continue
eating paper.

C. 1. The child’s mother was a major influence on her. She would tell the child and her sister stories
every day. Some of these stories were children’s classics—like Winnie the Pooh, Brer Rabbit, Red
Riding Hood and so on. But the stories the child liked best were the ones the mother made up.
The child’s mother was very creative and an amazing storyteller. She could take things as simple
as the cartoons on the curtains or the characters on the child’s pajamas and spin amazing stories
out of them. This nightly storytelling made the child fall in love with stories. It is what made her
desperate to hear stories from everybody else. It is also what made her desperate to learn how
to read. This love for reading and stories is probably what led to her becoming an author in the
future.

2. The child compares them memory of the first words she read to the memory of the time she
almost drowned in Goa. The drowning incident had a very strong impact on the child. The salty
water, the feeling of being unable to breathe, the struggle for life—these were not things the
child could forget. Similarly, the child cannot forget the first words she read because it was a very
emotional and powerful moment for her. The feeling of finally ‘owning’ words and being able to
read was very important to her. The thought that she was in a house full of books she could read
was magical. She also remembers this incident well because right after she read the book, she
ate the page to taste the words. The digestion problems she had after that and the fear that her
parents would find out, were also things she could not forget.

3. The child was very imaginative. We know this because she would imagine all the story characters
(like Tuntuni bird, Brer Rabbit, Baba Yaga and so on) sitting in her room when her mother narrated
these stories. The child is also very curious. She is not satisfied with any kind of storytelling—she
needs to know every single detail about the story. Even when she eats a part of the page, it is out
of curiousity about how the words would taste. She was a very determined little girl. She would
follow everybody around for a story. When people were not willing to read to her, she was upset.
But she learned how to read from her uncle at the age of four, which is very early. This shows us
that when she wanted something, she made sure she found a way to get it.

D. Suggested Answer: visual writing. walking down memory lane with her. funny. monster chasing adults for stories. tins contained biscuits. ants. emotional. The Girl Who Ate Books is a very good piece of writing. The speaker is recounting her memories of
how she began to read as a child. The writing makes us feel as though we are re-living the speaker’s
life along with her. When the speaker writes, ‘Red Riding Hood tiptoes down the corridor…hopped
out of the window’, we feel as if we are actually in the speaker’s bedroom, sitting with her and her
sister, listening to her mother tell wonderful stories. The writing is funny in many places. When we
read about the child as a ‘small and determined monster’ chasing people around for stories, it makes
us chuckle. Not only does the story make us laugh, it also makes us feel what the child is feeling. The
writer does this very creatively. When she compares words to ants, we understand how confused
the child would feel when she saw writing—words were like meaningless ants to her. So when the
child finally learns to read, we feel almost as happy as she does. The text contains some lovely lines
like ‘books contained stories the way tins contained biscuits.’ All in all, The Girl Who Ate Books is a very entertaining text to read.

Grammar
A. 2. The soldiers are admired by everyone.
3. The butter is kept in the fridge.
4. Vidya was asked to take vitamin pills by the doctor.
5. Tomato, onion and garlic were used to make the sauce.
6. The complicated machine was operated by the technician skillfully.

B. 2. They asked me to meet the principal.
3. Somebody stole my watch yesterday.
4. Lightning struck the school.
5. King Francis of France purchased the Mona Lisa after Leonardo da Vinci’s death.
6. The cyclone nearly destroyed the city.

Vocabulary
A. Apple: juicy, tart
house: massive, posh, elegant, shabby, gloomy, fascinating
book: engaging, informative, rare, inspiring, fascinating
tree: tropical, exotic, lush, evergreen

B.
2. Meena has a very elegant house.
3. The book I’m reading currently is fascinating!
4. The tree outside my house is lush and green.

Listening Text: Listen to an interview with the famous children’s writer, Ruskin Bond. Then, answer these questions in your book.

Interviewer: Our guest today loves children and there is no one who can write stories about
childhood adventures better than this kind, gentle, smiling man. Yes, we are talking today to India’s
favourite author, Ruskin Bond! When did you start writing for a living?

Ruskin Bond: I started writing for a living when I finished school. As soon as I was done, I started
bombarding magazines with stories and articles. For some reason, readers seemed to love Rusty,
Grandfather and my other characters.

Interviewer: Your characters are delightful to read about. How do you come up with them?

Ruskin Bond: A lot of my characters are based on real-life people or friends. The longer you live, the
more people you know and the more you have to write about. Because of this, I never run out of
material to write about.

Interviewer: What do you think of children’s writing in India today? Do you have any favourite
authors?

Ruskin Bond: There are many good writers for children today. Children’s books are finally being taken seriously by publishers. Ten years back, companies thought that children’s books would not sell. But nowadays parents and teachers want better books for their children. Paro Anand, Jerry Pinto and
Sudha Murthy are some children’s writers that I admire.

Interviewer: What did you read as a child?

Ruskin Bond: Lots and lots of comics. And my first book was Alice in Wonderland. I loved to read just
about anything.

Interviewer: Today, unfortunately, fewer and fewer children are reading books. So, my last question
today—what do you think about the future of our country?

Ruskin Bond: I think young people today have more confidence. They are ready to be adventurous,
do new things and take on the world. I think that’s a great sign for the future.

Answers
1. right 2. right 3. wrong 4. right 5. right 6. wrong 7. wrong 8. right

Dictionary Work
1. enjoyment 2. preventable 3. mockery 4. inspire 5. acceptable

THE GIRL WHO ATE BOOKS

A. Answer in brief.

1. How did the child develop interest in stories at the age of three?

 Ans: At the age of three bedtime stories were important for the child. But the best stories were

woven by her mother from any picture that was in the bedroom. This triggered the interest of the

child to listen to more and more interesting stories.

2. Why was the child never satisfied with the stories told to her? What do you understand about the

child from this?

 Ans: The mother had ignited such an interest in the child that relatives of the child had a tough

time telling convincing stories to satisfy her inquisitive and imaginative mind. She would go all

out to please her relatives to get the right details of especially old stories.

B. Answer in detail.

1. How did the connection the child made between the stories and the biscuits influence her?

 Ans: Children are usually attracted to colourful tins with biscuits. The child in the text associated

the books with the tins of biscuits. The moment she made that connection, it was difficult for her

to keep herself away from books. She compared the stories in the books to biscuits in the tins and

naturally the rows of leather bound or cloth bound books became irresistible for her. The three

year old thought that the books had all interesting stories and the more she looked at them, the

more she became desperate to open them and see inside. That could also have been the reason

for her urge to eat the page of the book.

2. What lines did the child repeat over and over again? Why? What effect did the ability to read have

on the child?

 Ans: The moment the child learnt to read words, she was ecstatic. The words that looked like ants

faded away and she could focus the words and read them slowly.

 Slowly, silently, now the moon

 Walks the night in her tender shoon

 The child kept repeating these words over and over again feeling extremely proud that she could

do so. The pride was not so much because of her ability to read but more because of the sense of

power she acquired by owning the words without the support of anyone. She would not leave the

book down until she read at least a few sentences from it. For her, it was a dream come true and

was like magic, to be in the house filled with books of all kinds.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. This was mostly my mother’s fault. (The Girl who ate Books)

 a. What was the mother’s fault?

 b. Why does the child say so?

 c. How old was the child?

 Ans: a. The mother had made it a habit to tell bedtime stories, without which the child would

not go to sleep.

 b. The child got so habituated to listening to stories that she would pester everyone to tell

stories to her.

 c. The child was around three years old then.

2. With trembling hands, I did what I had to. (The Girl who ate Books)

 a. What did the child do?

 b. Why were her hands trembling?

 c. Would the child be punished for what she did?

 Ans: a. She ripped the page of the book piece by piece and ate the entire page.

 b. Her hands were trembling because she was doing that secretly and she was afraid she

would be punished for that.

 c. She was a small child. Others may not even suspect her. No one would expect anyone to

eat a page of a book. Nobody would punish her.

D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)

1. Why did black ants crawl across the page? Where did the ants come from?

 Ans: The child did not know how to read. But she was greatly attracted to the bound books. She

would open the books and try to read but the black printed letters would look like ants to her that

crawled across the page silently. There actually were no ants. It was purely the child’s imagination.

2. What does the narrator compare the memory of her first words to? Why?

 Ans: One of the uncles of the narrator, taking pity on her, taught her to read. She still remembered

the first words she read. The narrator compares remembering this to remembering her almost

drowning episode in Goa. This was because both the events had left an indelible mark in her

memory and each was a learning experience.

E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)

 The smell of new paper or a book sometimes tempts children to taste it. What is your experience? Do

you think the child was tempted like that? Give reasons.

 Free response Suggested Ans: It was a magical experience for the child when she learnt to read. She

was proud to have got the power to own words, in particular. Because of this power she wanted to

explore more from the row of books that were stacked on the shelf. The power of owning the words

impacted her so much that she not only wanted to own them, she also wanted to taste them. She

thought if the words sounded so good, it would also taste good. That was her childish belief. She was

not tempted to eat the page because of the smell of the page. It was sheer curiosity that made her

taste just one corner of the page.