Children are always restless and ready to go out and play, be it day or night. Tariq also wants to go out and play at night but does not have permission to do so. Then he comes up with a plan! But his plan creates a problem for the old, wise Owl.
Kannada has seen a long tradition of writing for children starting with the 1845 publication of a translation of Aesop’s Fables followed by the first book for children written originally in Kannada, a book of moral stories by MS Puttanna, the Nitichintamani that was published in 1884.
While Nandita’s short stories have been published in collections like Talking Cub’s Dance, Nani, Dance, this is a first book which is entirely a collection of her short stories.
These words from the book offer a beautiful summary of the story that is Afo and I. At its heart is Vinoka and Afo’s sibling relationship. Jimo superimposes Vinoka’s feelings about his sister Afo moving away with changes happening in their landscape.
It is indeed a special feature of stories that they travel, continuously; passed on from one generation to the next. With time and with the tellers, each story gets a new addition to it, appearing more and more relatable to the listeners.
13 Kahaniyan is an enriching compilation of 13 stories in Hindi, each carrying valuable lessons, meticulously curated and edited by Kusumlata Singh and published by the Children’s Book Trust. Within this literary treasure-trove, the stories paint a vivid picture of diverse societal issues and human experiences.