Shriprasad (1932-2012), one of the founders of children’s literature in Hindi, is known for writing the most musical and rhythmic poetry for children; his entire oeuvre being a veritable feast of sounds to be enjoyed by children and adults alike. In many of his poems, there’s also an element of ‘nonsense’ which in fact, at times, has layers of meaning and borders on the fantastic. One of his best known poems about the elephant giving a joyride to twenty children has been turned into this delightful little book with two lines of the poem occupying two pages along with Proiti Roy’s black and white drawings that can be seen on both facing pages.
November 2022, volume 46, No 11