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A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue
A story about four friends, a city in need of help, a bunch of clueless groan-ups and a very angry, very brown and very dangerous cloud.
Amni wakes up one morning to find the sky taken over by a huge brown cloud. Where did this cloud appear from suddenly? Even as she and her friends Mithil, Tammy and Andrew start finding out more, their city of Mumbai starts reeling from the changes the cloud brings to the weather. Bhura Cloudus, as the media calls it, contains noxious gases, causes scalding rain to fall, makes birds flee the city, and suffocates every living thing.
What will Mota Bhai, the powerful politician, do now? Can Vidisha and Bidisha, the scientist twins, find a solution? And what about superstar Pavan Kumar and the amazing cloud-sucking machine? Can Bhura ever be driven away, or is it already too late?
Thought-provoking, funny and inspiring, A Cloud Called Bhura is about the changing global climate and the havoc it can cause, as well as the forces of friendship, trust and community that give hope and will help counter this deadly threat to humanity.
Amni wakes up one morning to find the sky taken over by a huge brown cloud. Where did this cloud appear from suddenly? Even as she and her friends Mithil, Tammy and Andrew start finding out more, their city of Mumbai starts reeling from the changes the cloud brings to the weather. Bhura Cloudus, as the media calls it, contains noxious gases, causes scalding rain to fall, makes birds flee the city, and suffocates every living thing.
What will Mota Bhai, the powerful politician, do now? Can Vidisha and Bidisha, the scientist twins, find a solution? And what about superstar Pavan Kumar and the amazing cloud-sucking machine? Can Bhura ever be driven away, or is it already too late?
Thought-provoking, funny and inspiring, A Cloud Called Bhura is about the changing global climate and the havoc it can cause, as well as the forces of friendship, trust and community that give hope and will help counter this deadly threat to humanity.
- GenresMiddle Grade
248 pages, Paperback
Published August 15, 2019
6 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Bijal Vachharajani
22 books73 followersWhen Bijal Vachharajani is not reading a children’s book, she is writing or editing one.
She has written A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue, which won the Auther Children’s Book Award 2020, and So You Want to Know About the Environment, and has co-authored 10 Indian Champions Who Are Fighting to Save the Planet and The Great Indian Nature Trail with Uncle Bikky.
Her picture books include PS What’s up with the climate?, What’s Neema Eating Today? and The Seed Savers.
The former editor of Time Out Bengaluru, Bijal has worked with 350.org, Fairtrade and Sanctuary Asia. Senior Editor at Pratham Books, Bijal has a Masters in Environment Security and Peace, with a specialisation in climate change from the University for Peace. She's now a certified climate worrier.
She has written A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue, which won the Auther Children’s Book Award 2020, and So You Want to Know About the Environment, and has co-authored 10 Indian Champions Who Are Fighting to Save the Planet and The Great Indian Nature Trail with Uncle Bikky.
Her picture books include PS What’s up with the climate?, What’s Neema Eating Today? and The Seed Savers.
The former editor of Time Out Bengaluru, Bijal has worked with 350.org, Fairtrade and Sanctuary Asia. Senior Editor at Pratham Books, Bijal has a Masters in Environment Security and Peace, with a specialisation in climate change from the University for Peace. She's now a certified climate worrier.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 24, 2022
I started reading and I thought I wouldn't stop laughing because Bijal Vachharajani has the most wonderful sense of humour. I finished the book crying. The impassioned plea for fight for climate justice is powerfully and evocatively made and it unflinchingly takes on the political and media systems which would profit rather than serve. This book should be prescribed, mandatory reading - in schools, colleges, everywhere.
May 15, 2024
“I didn’t say, ‘I want this and I want that.’
It’s on your greed, that I grew fat.”
One morning, a colossal brown cloud of pollution appears above Mumbai. It engulfs the sky, triggering a media frenzy. Alongside the reporters, climatologists Vidisha and Bidisha Mehta investigate while the government plans a hairbrained stunt involving a Bollywood star and a giant vacuum. Amid rising temperatures and frustrated by adult incaction, 13-year-old friends Amni, Tammy, Mithil, and Andrew launch a campaign to save their city, and in the process, discover the power of small actions.
The re-release of 2019’s A Cloud Called Bhura is a great chance for readers to revisit or discover (like me!) Bijal Vachharajani’s incredibly important, masterfully written cautionary tale. Vachharajani’s skill lies in her adeptness at inhabiting the various characters of the story. Her simple objective descriptions and moments of interiority offer a look into each character’s unique worldview. Their differing perspectives show the disproportionate effects of catastrophe and underscores the immediacy of the threat of climate change. However, Vachharajani’s unique sense of humor and propellent narrative energy are at the heart of what makes A Cloud Called Bhura important. Amni’s story shows how quickly pollution can destroy lives but also how quickly young people can enact change together. I’m glad that we’ll be seeing this one back on shelves soon.
A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue releases from Blackstone Publishing on May 14th, 2024.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for sending a copy in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes may be subject to change before final publication.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook @pinereadsreview, and check out our website at www.pinereadsreview.com for reviews, author interviews, blogs, podcast episodes, and more!
It’s on your greed, that I grew fat.”
One morning, a colossal brown cloud of pollution appears above Mumbai. It engulfs the sky, triggering a media frenzy. Alongside the reporters, climatologists Vidisha and Bidisha Mehta investigate while the government plans a hairbrained stunt involving a Bollywood star and a giant vacuum. Amid rising temperatures and frustrated by adult incaction, 13-year-old friends Amni, Tammy, Mithil, and Andrew launch a campaign to save their city, and in the process, discover the power of small actions.
The re-release of 2019’s A Cloud Called Bhura is a great chance for readers to revisit or discover (like me!) Bijal Vachharajani’s incredibly important, masterfully written cautionary tale. Vachharajani’s skill lies in her adeptness at inhabiting the various characters of the story. Her simple objective descriptions and moments of interiority offer a look into each character’s unique worldview. Their differing perspectives show the disproportionate effects of catastrophe and underscores the immediacy of the threat of climate change. However, Vachharajani’s unique sense of humor and propellent narrative energy are at the heart of what makes A Cloud Called Bhura important. Amni’s story shows how quickly pollution can destroy lives but also how quickly young people can enact change together. I’m glad that we’ll be seeing this one back on shelves soon.
A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue releases from Blackstone Publishing on May 14th, 2024.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for sending a copy in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes may be subject to change before final publication.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook @pinereadsreview, and check out our website at www.pinereadsreview.com for reviews, author interviews, blogs, podcast episodes, and more!
July 15, 2024
The intention and messaging here about climate change is a good thing, the execution of the storytelling, however, wasn’t my favorite.
This felt kind of all over the place as far as point of view, whenever it was with a group of kids I could see how this was classified as middle-grade, but some segments of the story are spent with adult characters without the kids, enough of them that I began to wonder whether readers in the actual 9-12 age group would find those stretches engaging enough. This book is also marketed as humorous, and while there is a bit of humor, again, I wondered if some of it was really the sort that would hit with the supposed 9-12 year old target audience.
There were moments (with an aging relative, a kid is hit with the health consequences of going outside, the urgency of flooded streets) where you see the personal affect the story’s climate crisis has on these kids, but I didn’t feel like there were enough of those moments where I felt like I was really going through something with these characters, experiencing their emotion, and just in general to me, there didn’t like there were enough scenes showing rather than telling.
The way these kids rally together and don’t just passively wait for the adults to do something is an aspect I do think could very much appeal to the intended young readers, especially if they’re interested in activism and being a part of positive change.
This felt kind of all over the place as far as point of view, whenever it was with a group of kids I could see how this was classified as middle-grade, but some segments of the story are spent with adult characters without the kids, enough of them that I began to wonder whether readers in the actual 9-12 age group would find those stretches engaging enough. This book is also marketed as humorous, and while there is a bit of humor, again, I wondered if some of it was really the sort that would hit with the supposed 9-12 year old target audience.
There were moments (with an aging relative, a kid is hit with the health consequences of going outside, the urgency of flooded streets) where you see the personal affect the story’s climate crisis has on these kids, but I didn’t feel like there were enough of those moments where I felt like I was really going through something with these characters, experiencing their emotion, and just in general to me, there didn’t like there were enough scenes showing rather than telling.
The way these kids rally together and don’t just passively wait for the adults to do something is an aspect I do think could very much appeal to the intended young readers, especially if they’re interested in activism and being a part of positive change.
January 13, 2022
I liked the message conveyed through this book.
It's high time we correct our steps and build a sustainable lifestyle. Environment conservation is an important topic, not to be neglected or just wait for Bhura to hover over us in a few years.
Although the story felt dragged at a few places. I felt it could be done without the Vidisha-Bidisha rivalry in the plot. Also, the conversations sometimes were stretched and felt disengaging.
Overall, I loved the book, especially the ending. It reminded me of Greta Thunberg.
For more such reviews visit - https://penitratherkeyit.com/category...
It's high time we correct our steps and build a sustainable lifestyle. Environment conservation is an important topic, not to be neglected or just wait for Bhura to hover over us in a few years.
Although the story felt dragged at a few places. I felt it could be done without the Vidisha-Bidisha rivalry in the plot. Also, the conversations sometimes were stretched and felt disengaging.
Overall, I loved the book, especially the ending. It reminded me of Greta Thunberg.
For more such reviews visit - https://penitratherkeyit.com/category...
December 9, 2020
What a book! Describes our worst nightmare, and our greatest hope. Rooted in reality, and yet a future we hope will somehow be averted. Characters with different motives, certainly not unidimensional. And a wry sense of humour. Loved the book.
January 27, 2024
A lovely book, reminded me of my own childhood when I used to make paper bags from old newspapers and give it to the local shops to use instead of plastic bags.
A must read for children and adults!
A must read for children and adults!
September 23, 2021
Great!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2021
The problem with reading the same kind of books your kids want to read is that dibs are called on who reads what first, and thanks to slow mental reflexes thanks to age, you find yourself at the end of the reading queue.
A Cloud Called Bhura by Bijal Vachharajani is a book about climate change and friendship. A giant, brown noxious cloud descends over Bombay affecting the lives of humans, birds and animals. But instead of moaning and cribbing like the groan ups, four teenagers - Amni, Mithil, Tammy and Andrew - get together to find out more about Cloudus Bhura and what they can do about it, since the adults aren't doing much at all.
Bhura is very much on the cards for all of us in the near future. As a card carrying 'groan up' I felt deeply ashamed of what my generation has done to the planet, or stood silently by and watched others do to it. I loved the ending:. Hopeful without sugar coating reality. And I loved the children's anger, an anger we must stoke in all of our children. An anger that we as adults don't seem to have.
Bhura is a tightly written book that has good dollops of humour and satire.
Please buy this book for your kids, nieces, nephews, strangers and school library. Gift it to other groan ups too!
A Cloud Called Bhura by Bijal Vachharajani is a book about climate change and friendship. A giant, brown noxious cloud descends over Bombay affecting the lives of humans, birds and animals. But instead of moaning and cribbing like the groan ups, four teenagers - Amni, Mithil, Tammy and Andrew - get together to find out more about Cloudus Bhura and what they can do about it, since the adults aren't doing much at all.
Bhura is very much on the cards for all of us in the near future. As a card carrying 'groan up' I felt deeply ashamed of what my generation has done to the planet, or stood silently by and watched others do to it. I loved the ending:. Hopeful without sugar coating reality. And I loved the children's anger, an anger we must stoke in all of our children. An anger that we as adults don't seem to have.
Bhura is a tightly written book that has good dollops of humour and satire.
Please buy this book for your kids, nieces, nephews, strangers and school library. Gift it to other groan ups too!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews