All the elements which make the story are described in the beginning lines - the sun, the rice, the stick and the stone used for grinding, the grandmother and the clouds. It is only after these images have been imprinted on the child's mind that further movement takes place, ensuring an extent of clarity. The poem, after completion, reads only 18 lines, but each ensuing line has a new detail to add, a new something to see, along with a colourful illustration on the opposite page.

These pages are enlivened by Harriet Mayo's sketches for the story - bright, bold and cheerful. She captures with clean lines and basic colours all the details that a child would need. Dark stubborn clouds, white-haired, sari clad, brown skinned grandmother, traditional Indian hut with its household implements - all so easily visualised with simple strokes. The text is of a large and bold type, easy for beginners to follow and read.

The language too lends visual quality to events. Sentences are short and crisp yet descriptive and ideal to read aloud like :'thud! thud! thud! so firm and loud' as the grandmother punches the clouds with her stick. Children love to be able to 'see' words and the book is just as entertaining to see as to read. Despite being expensive for a book of 20 pages, "The Sun All Golden and Round" glows as quality reading for young children.

The Sun All Golden and Round, Jane Sahi, Orient Longman Limited, 2001, Rs. 130.