Harry Potter Series Written by J.K. Rowling Published by Scholastic Books (US) and Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Two weeks ago, we had carried a book review by 11-year-old Sujit Thomas on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. In his view, the Harry Potter series is far superior to Enid Blyton, or even Roald Dahl. But there are… [ Continue Reading ]
Books for Parents »
Not all books we review are about parenting, some are aimed at parents to read to kids, some are for kids, and some we just like. Reading advice for parents.
AHA! Books
An individual booklist is found to reflect the compiler’s own interests and biases. To that extent this booklist does not lay claim to any objectivity. It contains some extremely fine books on education, popular science, maths and children’s stories. Over the years, I have been actively involved in translating and popularising many of these books…. [ Continue Reading ]
A Royal Diet of Mangoes
Jungle and Backyard Written by M. Krishnan Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi A thirsty, sweaty summer is here. You can see dogs with their tongues hanging out in the heat. Some of us would have done the same, but our tongues are busy tasting the king of all fruits – the mango. In… [ Continue Reading ]
Gems of Indian Literature
Books Forever Written by Manoj Das Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi India’s literary past is indeed great. It’s a known fact that many of the parables of the Bible, the fables of Aesop of Greece, the folktales collected by the Grimm brothers of Germany and the tales retold by Hans Andersen of Denmark… [ Continue Reading ]
Snake People
The Snakes Around Us Written by Zai and Rom Whitaker Illustrations by Shekar Dattatri Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi This fascinating book gives us glimpses of the lives of the Irula tribals of Tamil Nadu, who are great snake catchers. The authors, who run a snake park in south India, have worked with… [ Continue Reading ]
The Tale of a Circus Bear
Bholu and Golu Written by Pankaj Bisht Illustrations by Tapas Guha Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi This is the story of a small circus bear called Bholu. Golu, the mahout’s son, becomes his friend and resolves to free him from the cruel life of a performing animal. With Bholu’s help he helps the… [ Continue Reading ]
The Nest
Common Birds Written by Salim Ali and Laeeq Futehally Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi Think of birds and you think of Dr. Salim Ali, India’s most famous ornithologist. He is the scientist who succeeded in communicating his passion for studying bird life in India to the ordinary Indian. Generations of Indians have grown… [ Continue Reading ]
Harry Potter Series: Uniquely Real
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Written by J.K. Rowling Published by Scholastic Books (US) and Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Eleven-year-old Sujit Thomas, a Sixth Standard student at New Delhi’s Don Bosco School, is a… [ Continue Reading ]
Hamid Buys an Eid Present
Festival of Eid English translation of ‘Eidgah'(Hindi) Written by Munshi Premchand Translated by Khushwant Singh Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi Translated by the veteran columnist and writer, Khushwant Singh, Festival of Eid retains the compelling essence of the original work. This well illustrated book tells the story of Eid, as it is celebrated… [ Continue Reading ]
Of Rat Snakes and Boys who are Different
Kali and the Rat Snake Written by Zai Whitaker Illustrations by Srividya Natarajan Published by Tulika, Chennai An excerpt from the book: Kali’s father was one of the most famous snake-catchers among the Irula tribe. He had caught over a hundred cobras just this monsoon and bought many good things for the family. The snake… [ Continue Reading ]
