Book: Saru and Sorry
Author: Vibha Batra
Illustrator: Charbak Dipta
Publisher: Scholastic India
Format: Paperback
Length: 84 pages
Reading level: Intermediate & fluent readers [7-10 years for independent readers]
Sarika aka Saru is probably one of the most interesting third graders you will meet in a book! She is feisty, fiercely independent, strongly opinionated and, most importantly, absolutely convinced that she is almost always right. 😄
So when the Paryushan festival is around the corner, Saru has three very serious problems.
One: Paryushan doesn’t come with a holiday.
Two: She can’t eat potatoes.
Three: As part of the festival, she is expected to apologise to people she may have hurt.
And Saru has a BIG problem with number three.
Why should she say sorry? She hasn’t done anything wrong! At least, that’s what Saru thinks.
Unfortunately for her, when she explains Paryushan to her class teacher, Rosella Ma’am, in what is clearly a not-so-subtle attempt to negotiate a holiday 😂, Ma’am gets an absolutely dreadful, unimaginably terrible idea.
A show-and-tell activity involving apology cards!
The children have to make an anonymous “sorry” note for someone they think they may have hurt or someone they want to apologise to.
Disaster.
Saru hates saying sorry. Now she has to actually make a decorative sorry card too! And to make matters worse, she can’t think of a single person she needs to apologise to.
Not one.
Zero.
Nada.
Meanwhile, something much more exciting is happening at school. There is a fair coming up and Saru has a very special entry that she is convinced is going to win the competition.
Except… things don’t exactly go according to plan.
Something goes seriously wrong.
And what follows is a hilarious yet surprisingly touching journey where Saru has to deal with the consequences, rethink some of her very firmly held opinions and, perhaps most importantly, discover what saying sorry really means.
Because sometimes a simple “I’m sorry” can do something much bigger than admitting that you were wrong. It can acknowledge someone’s hurt, mend a relationship and even begin to heal a heart.
A character children will instantly recognise!
Vibha Batra has done a wonderful job creating Saru’s character. She is strong-headed, independent and completely unapologetic about her opinions at the beginning of the story. And that is exactly what makes her transformation so satisfying.
What I particularly loved is that Saru doesn’t suddenly wake up one morning and become a perfectly behaved child who says sorry to everyone. Her understanding changes gradually, through situations and experiences.
The transition feels natural, convincing and wonderfully organic. We get to see the events through Saru’s eyes, understand why she thinks the way she does and then travel along with her as she begins to question some of those opinions.
And all of this happens without the story ever feeling like a lecture.
Serious message. Hilarious delivery.
Let’s be honest. Kids and the word “sorry” can have a complicated relationship. 😂
You can ask them to say sorry.
They can look at you.
They can look at the ceiling.
They can suddenly become extremely interested in something happening approximately a few meters away.
But saying the actual word? That’s a completely different negotiation!
What I loved about Saru and Sorry is that it tackles this very relatable childhood issue without becoming preachy or sounding like a moral science lesson.
The storyline deals with something quite meaningful, but Vibha Batra keeps the tone light, funny and entertaining throughout. There are plenty of moments that had my little third grader laughing, and I could see her recognising bits and pieces of children she knows from school in the characters.
More importantly, I could see her feeling what Saru was feeling.
And that is when a book really works.
A conversation starter disguised as a funny story
This was exactly the kind of book I had been looking for.
Children often don’t immediately understand why saying sorry matters. Sometimes advice from parents has a fascinating ability to enter through one ear and make a lightning-fast exit through the other! 😄
I had been wanting to have conversations with my daughter about apologising, acknowledging when someone is hurt and understanding that saying sorry doesn’t make you weak.
But books dealing with these themes are often picture books aimed at younger children. My third grader has pretty much outgrown those.
Saru and Sorry fills that gap beautifully.
It gives children age-appropriate situations that they can actually relate to, while allowing parents to use the story as a starting point for deeper conversations.
And because the message emerges naturally from Saru’s experiences, children don’t feel like they are being taught a lesson.
They are simply having fun reading a story and somewhere along the way, they might just discover that “sorry” is a much more powerful word than they thought.
And those illustrations!
The black-and-white illustrations by Charbak Dipta are a lovely companion to the story. They don’t merely decorate the pages; they travel along with Saru and the narrative.
The expressions and visual cues help children understand the mood and emotions of the characters, follow what is happening and connect more easily with Saru’s experiences.
They complement the humour and storytelling beautifully and make the book even more engaging for young readers.
Who is it for?
At 84 pages, this is a lovely, manageable read for intermediate and fluent readers who are ready for a chapter-book-style story with a little more emotional depth.
It is also a great read-aloud book. In fact, I would particularly recommend reading it together because there are so many opportunities for parents and children to pause, laugh, discuss Saru’s choices and talk about situations from their own lives.
And that, for me, is one of the biggest strengths of this book.
It entertains first and teaches almost secretly.
No preaching. No heavy moralising. Just a wonderfully spirited girl, a whole lot of resistance to saying sorry, plenty of laughs and a genuinely meaningful lesson about empathy, accountability and the healing power of an apology.
Saru may not want to say sorry. But you will definitely want to say YES to this book! ❤️
All other books by Vibha Batra can be found here on Amazon. You can find the reviews of all of them on this website. Pinkoo Shergill Pastry Chef and Gobi Goes Viral are super-duper hits with our kbc childoos!!
If you enjoyed this review and you have a NO-SORRY-SARU at home, you should order the book from Scholastic India (kbc affiliate link). Please type the name of the book in the search bar after clicking HERE.
Should you wish to order this book from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),
CLICK & ORDER NOW!Disclaimer: Sindhuja and her daughter are a part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received this book as a review copy from the publisher via kbc.
