Ouchie Ouchie: a board book about small hurts
Ouchie Ouchie is a board book for ages 0 to 3 about Laali, a toddler who collects the small hurts of being small and busy: a bumped head, a scraped elbow, a burnt finger. Each time she names it, finds comfort and carries on. The Hindi edition is Ooi Ooi Ooi, from Big Beetle Books, an independent picture book imprint from Bengaluru.
Short book. Longer argument.
Why make a book about getting hurt?
Nobody tells you that a large part of life with a two-year-old is minor injuries.
Not the serious kind. The coffee-table kind, the doorframe kind, the walked-into-the-dog kind, roughly four of them before lunch.
The obvious thing to put in a book about falling over, then, is the comfort: the lap, the ice, the kiss on the elbow, the plaster applied with ceremony.
No. Watch a toddler in the half second after a bump and the comfort is not what she reaches for first.
She reaches for a noise. A sound to put on the outside of a feeling that is currently all on the inside, and if she has not got one yet, what comes out instead is a wail. That noise is the word for it: the sound a child can make on purpose about a thing that happened to her by accident.
The hurt is tiny. The feeling about it is not.
In this book the word is "Ouchie ouchie" in English and "Ooi Ooi Ooi" in Hindi. It arrives on every hurt, in the same place, which is why a child who has heard the book twice will say it with you, and a child who has heard it forty times will say it before you.
What happens in the book
Nothing dramatic, which is the point.
Laali bumps her head. She scrapes her elbow. She burns her finger. Each time there is the word, then comfort, then a bit of looking after herself, then back to whatever she was doing.
That ordinariness is deliberate. It means the book can be read on a calm Tuesday rather than only in the aftermath, which is the wrong moment to introduce anyone to anything.
How it reads aloud
The book is built on gentle repetition and sound words, illustrated by Charbak Dipta, on board pages thick enough to survive the reader.
- Around 0 to 2: sound and rhythm. The refrain, your voice, the turn of a heavy page.
- Around 2 to 3: naming. Head, elbow, finger. What Laali did and how she feels.
- Around 3 to 4: acting it out, with sound effects, and telling the whole thing back to you.
Is there a Hindi version?
Yes, and it is not a translation bolted on afterwards. Ooi Ooi Ooi is the same story with the same illustrations, written in Hindi, with a Hindi sound at the centre of it.
If your home switches languages between breakfast and bedtime, keep both and let the same story arrive in either. More titles for this age in Hindi board books for toddlers.
Where Laali goes next
Laali is the toddler at the centre of several Big Beetle Books titles. After this one, children find her hunting a clever mouse in Mr Peekaboo Rat, servicing the car in Gaadi Ki Ek Aur Savaari, and taking on an animal many times her size in Buffalo Baby.
Key facts
- Title: Ouchie Ouchie
- Language: English
- Format: Board book
- Ages: 0 to 3
- Writer: Nandita Rao
- Illustrator: Charbak Dipta
- Pair edition: Ooi Ooi Ooi (Hindi)
- Character: Laali
- Publisher: Big Beetle Books, Bengaluru
Frequently asked questions
What is Ouchie Ouchie about?
It is about Laali, a toddler who gets small everyday hurts, such as a bumped head, a scraped elbow and a burnt finger. Each time she names the hurt, finds comfort and carries on.
What age is Ouchie Ouchie for?
Ages 0 to 3. The youngest listeners enjoy the sound and the rhythm; older toddlers name the hurts and act the story out.
Is Ouchie Ouchie available in Hindi?
Yes. The Hindi edition is Ooi Ooi Ooi, the same story with the same illustrations, written in Hindi.
Is it a board book?
Yes. Both Ouchie Ouchie and Ooi Ooi Ooi are board books, for ages 0 to 3.
Who wrote and illustrated Ouchie Ouchie?
It is written by Nandita Rao and illustrated by Charbak Dipta, and published by Big Beetle Books in Bengaluru.
A word for the small ones, before the big ones turn up. See Ouchie Ouchie and Ooi Ooi Ooi.