“I very much enjoyed Sonam’s Surprise! It brought back so much memories of my days childhood in Nepal. I think it is very detailed and you have done a great job with explaining the culture, traditions and the rituals.
I am from Thame, further north from Khumjung. Thame is a small village but it’s where most of the world renowned mountaineers were born.”
The illustrations are exquisite and show accurate detail. Whoever owns the book will have a treasure. It is a blessing in disguise.
Sonam Sherpa is a winsome character living in exotic Nepal and Nikki Nichols has captured his accent well. I love the cadence of his speech and found this character charming. Also, his drive for living well is wonderful. The love of service, of art, of family, of civic duty, and of education all shine out in Sonam’s relationships and in his quest.
I was thoroughly engaged reading about Sonam’s adventures—his journey, challenges, interactions with diverse characters, and mystery to be solved. Middle-grade readers will relate and so will their parents.
SO fun reading!! Sonam is such a character—one minute so wise, the next a petulant tween. Middle grade readers will relate and so will their parents. I really liked the ending, how it circled back to the opening.
Nikki’s most powerful plots-subplots vividly represent past Khumbu and its people with fullest flairs of real-life roaring vast from peaks to the breathtaking gorges, villages to the city . . . through amazing fictitious character Sonam, she perfectly puts issues of critical pedagogies engrossed in remote Himalayan villages during 1970s on the floor of developed cities and rulers. Her complete arts to disclose such curious and energetic dreamer’s story ideally inspires all the children to be the perfect human being regardless of any place, ethnicities and resources.