Suman Bajpayi

This book is a collection of four award-winning articles on environment. ‘Tapti Dharti Ilaaj Mange’ and ‘Paryawaran Sanrakshran’ were awarded in a CBT competition in non-fiction category on environment. The other two are taken from an English language book SOS from Nature.


Reviewed by: Anju Virmani
Manish Chandi

This unique little book complements the title Walking is a Way of Knowing by the same authors and illustrator. This is a collection of unusual folklore from the world of the Kadars. It tells the story of how Kadavul the creator created the Kadars or hill people and blessed them with gifts of edible leaves, honey, tubers, herbs and incense, all hidden in the forest.


Reviewed by: Nita Berry
Madhuri Ramesh

Two books based on oral stories of the Kadars, a small adivasi tribe in South India, have been written by Madhuri Ramesh and Manish Chandi who spent much time with the Kadars in their forest. The Kadars no longer live in the dense jungle but they walk its uneven, muddy paths every day.


Reviewed by: Books For Beginners
Dhavat Singh Uikey

What an attractive and unusual cover…the ferocious tiger is behind bars! The hard cover of this book has effective cut-outs of bars and the snarling tiger is crouched behind them, on the first page. The Gond author/artist, Dhavat Singh Uikey tells us that the tiger is an important part of the Gond natural world.


Reviewed by: Anju Virmani
Subhash Vyam
WATER
2018

One of the largest tribal communities in the world, the Gonds are found mainly in the forests of central and southern India. They are known for their distinctive art forms with vibrant depictions of local flora, fauna and gods, using natural bright colours.


Reviewed by: Anju Virmani
Ruskin Bond

Stumbling through Life is a collection of twenty-five small essays through which Bond shares various aspects of his life and of human nature, in his unique style of writing, which leaves readers thinking about larger issues in the end. He calls it his mini-autobiography, but it’s encyclopedic.


Reviewed by: Esha Rudresh