Author: Various
Publisher: Wisdom Tree
Ages: 8+
When you want the kids to learn about morals and good values, there is no other thing better than our Mythology stories. Their profound, yet simple and easy to understand values are a very strong foundation for any child to develop on. I consider them a must-know for my children. And I have found that no matter how much children love other authors of the world and their work of fiction, they are deeply touched by our mythology and it gets them thinking really intensely.
For Tales of bravery, wisdom, wit and tales of Gods and Goddesses and famous lives, I generally look no further than Amar Chitra Katha. No Indian household should be devoid of one. I remember the days when we had subscriptions running for Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha when we were kids, and how me and my sister always tried to beat each other to snatch the copy from the postman! Our Dad would then get the copies bound into volumes, and many of our evening snacks were eaten over these bound volumes. Sadly though, these were also the books that people borrowed and never gave back and to this date, the loss has been totally inconsolable! These books reminded me of my collection very much!
Little Monk's tales are a collection of books of beautiful titles - Hanuman, Buddha, Krishna, Lakshmi, Saraswati and many more. They have been very neatly written by famous Indian authors and tell the stories in a short and sweet yet complete way. The real nice thing about these books is the very clever camouflage of some good vocabulary into the story. These words are cleverly highlighted, and there is a glossary with all these tough words and their meanings, so it is a wonderful way of expanding the childrens' vocabulary in their formative years when they are able to absorb them easily. More so as it is associated with a nice story that they are bound to remember.
I got introduced to these books when my sweet sister ( I really have LOADS of them, all too sweet to be called cousins!) gifted "Little Monk's Hanuman" to my elder son. He instantly took to it and has been reading and re-reading it many times. So when he saw "Little Monk's Buddha" in the shop, he recognized the publication and the book made its way home!
The illustrations are bold and beautifully Indian and very nostalgic. These books are certainly worth a purchase and even if they are a bit tougher for the younger children to read by themselves, I would recommend mums to read them first and recite to the kids. You would surely have all their attention!
Little Monk's tales of wisdom. Definitely a wise buy.
Publisher: Wisdom Tree
Ages: 8+
When you want the kids to learn about morals and good values, there is no other thing better than our Mythology stories. Their profound, yet simple and easy to understand values are a very strong foundation for any child to develop on. I consider them a must-know for my children. And I have found that no matter how much children love other authors of the world and their work of fiction, they are deeply touched by our mythology and it gets them thinking really intensely.
For Tales of bravery, wisdom, wit and tales of Gods and Goddesses and famous lives, I generally look no further than Amar Chitra Katha. No Indian household should be devoid of one. I remember the days when we had subscriptions running for Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha when we were kids, and how me and my sister always tried to beat each other to snatch the copy from the postman! Our Dad would then get the copies bound into volumes, and many of our evening snacks were eaten over these bound volumes. Sadly though, these were also the books that people borrowed and never gave back and to this date, the loss has been totally inconsolable! These books reminded me of my collection very much!
Little Monk's tales are a collection of books of beautiful titles - Hanuman, Buddha, Krishna, Lakshmi, Saraswati and many more. They have been very neatly written by famous Indian authors and tell the stories in a short and sweet yet complete way. The real nice thing about these books is the very clever camouflage of some good vocabulary into the story. These words are cleverly highlighted, and there is a glossary with all these tough words and their meanings, so it is a wonderful way of expanding the childrens' vocabulary in their formative years when they are able to absorb them easily. More so as it is associated with a nice story that they are bound to remember.
I got introduced to these books when my sweet sister ( I really have LOADS of them, all too sweet to be called cousins!) gifted "Little Monk's Hanuman" to my elder son. He instantly took to it and has been reading and re-reading it many times. So when he saw "Little Monk's Buddha" in the shop, he recognized the publication and the book made its way home!
The illustrations are bold and beautifully Indian and very nostalgic. These books are certainly worth a purchase and even if they are a bit tougher for the younger children to read by themselves, I would recommend mums to read them first and recite to the kids. You would surely have all their attention!
Little Monk's tales of wisdom. Definitely a wise buy.
Gomathy, Every time you talk about the books lost, I feel sad cause I remember mine.. :-( Anyways, not sure if you know.. Amar chitra katha full collection is available.. see here http://www.ackmediadirect.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=20&product_id=274.. cheaper in India than international orders. and i just saw that it is on sale. I intend to buy this set for N when he is a little older. Am sure dad and mum will enjoy it as well. I can't wait to get my hands on them :-)
ReplyDeleteYes Rosh, I buy ACK or Tinkle only in India, I nag my parents to get them as gifts instead of dresses. MY boys HAVE to read them every single day. Even when they are getting late for school, they have to squeeze in a last minute Suppandi tale ignoring my screams!
DeleteSale deal is wonderful info, thanks Rosh. Looking at the price though, I feel even more morose thinking of my bygone collection!!:o(
Sorry that Caps on MY was a typo :o)
DeleteGoms and Rosh - you can also buy them at flipkart.com if you are in India. Rosh - For N , you can look for ACK - Junior. Very nicely illustrated and good language. One of my concerns buying mythological books published in India is the convoluted language, explicit expression of violence etc. I mean you cannot have Krishna stories without fights and 'k***" but the way the book portrays them through the language is different in each publication. I'll check out tfe Little Monk ones Goms. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI am reading Ramayana book ( one I bought from the Vivekananda Mission at Kanyakumari ) - one of the nicely illustrated and well- written ones - simple yet capturing many of the major events.
hmm.. agree dhan.. we bought some books for neel this time from India. Some are good. One Krishna series has all stories about Krishna killing demons and gory images of dead demons. I had to hide those books from him... we have to be extra careful... they need to enjoy it, but obviously it is our job to find the right ones. and i guess that is where this blog is going to help me :-)
DeleteAnd couldn't agree with you more on eating those snacks over bound volumes. So much that the individual books come off the main bind ( hanging on with a few threads) - should've bound them in smaller chunks than as one big edition. It is good that these are available in neat collections these days and we have the ability to buy for our children. Tinkle and ACK used to be expensive by the standards of those days.
ReplyDeleteOur mythological stories are so rich that they take you away to the world of fantasy, yet they slowly impart values and morals! ACKs are my favourite too! I had so many of them as a kid, God only know where all of them absconded!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dhanya, the other day I was looking for some Hindu mythological books for my nephews in Chennai. It is sad that many books were way too scary (pictures) for very young readers and some books were way too explicit (language) for young readers. I have read few books of Chinmaya mission. They are very good!
ReplyDeleteVery true, Lakshmi and Dhanya. Discretion always needed. Chinmaya mission, maybe I'd borrow from you when I come ;o). Yes, I do go to Ramakrishna mutt and get books every time ( mostly for me and DH, but I get kids stories as well) and they are mild.
ReplyDeleteGai, you can have them! ;o)
ReplyDeleteAnd you know who introduced me to Chinmaya mission books??? My DH and our dear little cousin Smruthi!
Really! Good girl. And guess who gave M1 the Little Monk book :o)
Delete:-) Guess I know now!!
DeleteNice - Gaya. I, myself feel enticed to get one of Little Monk !! Still remember that, for my little one's 1st birthday (he is now 12), we had called almost everyone we know. I decided to get about 50 different ACKs to give out to the kids. After the party and games, there was a scramble to get the goodie bags and it was funny to see each one sitting quietly, a ACK in hand, winding down, while we adults, were clearing and packing! Indebted forever to Mr Pai !! That sets me thinking, where is my collection ??!!
ReplyDeleteACK has kindled every one's memories :o) Really indebted to Mr Pai. Nice party bag gift idea there!
DeleteGomathy, couple of things. sent your blog to some friends. they were asking if you could add the google connect to the page (the one that shows as followers). Also, Can you please consider creating a FB page? it will be super easy for ppl who want to follow to get feeds in their FB. That way ppl who are not your friends can also get FB feed.
ReplyDeleteYes guruji. Will look into all of them. I did try making a page, gave it up mid-way because I had trouble naming it, I guess ( something like special characters, middle name confusion or some other thing... Will look into it all...
DeletePlaced an order for a bunch of Little Monk's at Flipkart. P is a good reader.. Going to India in a week, ordered today so that the books will be waiting when we get there! Thanks, Goms
ReplyDeleteDhan, :o) you will like them. But P is not 8 yet! You might want to hold on to them for a bit. They are nice stories, no doubt, but as you said there are a very few words that you might not want P to relate to just yet?! - like references to illness and cremation in Buddha's story and reference to killing in Hanuman's story. The graphics are very neat and do not suggest anything gory at all, and the story itself is very nicely written. Perhaps you should read them all first and tell the stories to the kids in your own words for now! My big boy never found anything jarring, but then he is 8+...
DeleteACK is and was every Desi kid's fav book I would suppose :)
ReplyDeleteNeed to look into Little Monk series. Sounds interesting.
Agree with the points made above that some of the Desi kids' books can be a bit too graphic.
ACK is and was every Desi kids' fav book I would think :)
ReplyDeleteNeed to check out Little Monk. Never heard of it before.
And agree with the commenters above about books being a bit a graphic. Need to check it out first before giving it to kids to read.
ACK striking a chord again. That is so nice to hear!
Delete