Dipavali Sen

Ribhu’s Adventure on Earth is a fun story where a fun-loving air-spirit Ribhu, a child of the Gandharvas of Indian mythology and student of Gandharva Vasusen gets cursed by sage Durvasa for disturbing his meditation. With his dholak as the only companion he is cursed to go down to the earth as a demon rakshasa in Dandaka.The story revolves around Ribhu’s adventures in his new life with his dholak as a friendly reminder of the past, where he meets demons like Tadaka rakshasi, Mareecha (Tadaka’s son) and observes how Rama frees them from their curses. Ribhu then moves away to Mithila where he meets Ahalya (the wife of Rishi Gautama) turned into a rock and waiting for the young Prince Rama to come there and touch her with his foot to free her from the curse…


Reviewed by: Anupriya Pillai
Dipavali Sen. Illustrated by Neeta Gangopadhyay

The book is mainly based on the story of Ramayana. But it differs from most of the books narrating the story of Ramayana in the sense that other books have Rama, Lakshmana and others as the main characters, but this book gives you a new perspective on the journey of Rama. It depicts the contribution of the monkeys in Rama’s Ayana i.e., Rama’s journey. Whether it was the search for Sita or the construction of a bridge over the sea to reach Lanka, or defeating the greats of Ravana’s army, or bringing the Sanjeevani herb to save Lakshmana, all this would not have been possible without the cooperation of the monkeys…


Reviewed by: Kavita Tiwari
Anupam Arunachalam

The enchantment of the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, is soul stirring and timeless, capable of reviving the thrill of the tale with every fresh presentation of the drama down to the current times and newer audiences. So many creative attempts have been made, using a variety of formats, styles and texts to analyse the story and the characters through the years in novel interpretations but the main source still remains a fountain of joy for authors to re-create the original tale. Salutations to Vyasa for painting such a rich canvas of the Mahabharata from where writers can never tire of highlighting every single square inch of the grand picture, time and again…


Reviewed by: Ira Saxena
Anu Kumar. Illustrated by Maya Magical Studios and Pen2Print Media Solutions

Hindu Mythology is often seen as a complicated, contradictory and inaccessible compendium of stories that we all have heard bits and pieces of, but never really knew sequentially or entirely. Despite the unique stories and characters involved in Hinduism, the fact that there are multiple sources and versions of the same myth makes it difficult to involve children in learning these extraordinary tales. Mythquest Omnibus is a beautiful series of four books, which resolves this dilemma in a simple way…


Reviewed by: Ilika Trivedi
Indira Ananthakrishnan. Illustrated by Sahitya Rani

In The Phoenix in the Sky: Tales of Wonder and Wisdom from World Religions, the author Indira Ananthakrishnan tells stories of wandering monks, wise kings, foolish gods, ordinary people with extraordinary deeds, heart-warming miracles, and daring escapes. You get to read the story of Raikv, a mystical cart driver. It is from the Chandogya Upanishad. You will get to know the three questions Prophet Mohammed asked his disciples. Most of his older disciples did not know the answers but a young boy gave all the right answers!…


Reviewed by: Andal Jagannathan
Shefali Jha and Rekharaj. Illustrations by Chinan and K.P. Rezi. Translated from the original English into Hindi by Swayam Prakash

Both the stories in this volume have been translated from the Malayalam, and bring alive people from the past.The first story, ‘Badshah, Mera Dost’ written by Shefali Jha is an innocent tale narrated by an eleven year old boy. The young protagonist Adil’s hatred for history turns into love in a fascinating turn of events. Adil, a bright child who loves sketching is very attached to his father. Despite having a great history teacher, he finds no interest in the subject and gets demotivated easily.


Reviewed by: Shefali Jha and Rekharaj. Illustrations by Chinan and K.P. Rezi. Translated from the original English into Hindi by Swayam Prakash