Moin And The Monster
We have all heard about monsters. They are vicious, ferocious; and god forbid should you get in their way, you won’t last for a second! Thoughts of monsters under the bed could give you sleepless nights and nightmares (should you somehow manage to sleep). But is that all there is to know about them? Moin and the Monster fills the information gap.
Moin wakes up to strange sounds coming from under his bed. He flashes a light around the room, but sees nothing. He can only hear a voice without a body who introduces himself as a monster. What is he here for? Does he mean any harm? Anushka Ravishankar invites you on a ride with Moin and his monster on a journey that promises loads of adventure. There are rules,however, even for monsters. For instance – Monster Rule #42: When a monster is sent to the human world, it has to hide under the bed. If there is no bed, it can hide under a cupboard or any other suitable piece of furniture. If there is no suitable piece of furniture, it should look for a dark corner.
The Storyteller
A fresh take on the age–old story of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights , this book is filled with a snappy narrative with wry humour. It tells the tale of King Schariar, who makes rules for his kingdom on a whim. A bitter experience with his wife leads the King to believe that all women are rotten. He declares that the only way to ensure that a woman’s love lasts for life is to put her to death before her love dies. He proclaims that he will marry a woman every day and have her killed the next day. Scherazade, the Chief Minister’s clever daughter, who has devoured stories from books all her life, decides to spare the women of the kingdom from this gruesome fate. She takes a death–defying risk and agrees to marry the King. Only her younger sister, Dinarzade, knows that her sister— a master storyteller— has a plan up her sleeve.
The Rumour
Written by Anushka Ravishankar and illustrated by Kanyika Kini, The Rumour is a picture book best suited for a primary school audience. However, it is so well written that a graduate from primary school is sure to enjoy it too. This folk tale is set in a small town, where it is difficult to keep a secret. One day a gloomy fruit–seller coughs up a feather. He’s so surprised he tells his wife but asks her not to mention this to anyone. However, his wife can’t resist telling one person about this odd occurrence. That person tells the story to another, except in this version of the story the fruit-seller coughs up a bird. It is then retold several times. The story keeps changing until it is outrageously distorted. Do you know that fruit – seller? A few days back, he coughed and do you know what came out? An entire forest!
The FiveTongued FireFanged FolkaDotted Dragon Snake
Arun peers into the bushes when he spots something. “Aaaaargh! Snake! Snake!” he shouts. His friends ask him more about it. “It’s about 25 feet long, with red eyes and a face like a dragon, with five tongues,” Arun says. “It has fangs that breathe fire and is folkadotted. One folka dot is equal to four polka dots,” he clarifies. “It is a FiveTongued FireFanged FolkaDotted Dragon Snake. That’s what it is,” Arun declares. Or is it a FiveFooted FireDotted FolkaTongued FleetFanged Dragon Snake? On his way home, Arun feels like he is being watched. “FootstepFollowing FrogFrightening FunnyFeeling Dragon Snake,” he mutters to himself. He’s anxious to find out who’s following him. He reaches his stop,quickly gets off the bus and walks towards his house when he feels something tug at his shoelaces. What could it be?
Ghosts Don't Eat
Zain and Ana were best friends. Then, Nikhil’s family moved into the Mystery House nearby. Zain and Ana wanted to make a new friend and they visited Nikhil. At his house, Ana stated that video games were boring. Nikhil made some not–so–pleasant comments about girls that made her mad. And then Nikhil’s game–boy broke. Ana and Nikhil stopped talking to each other. Zain wanted to be Nikhil’s friend. So Ana didn’t want to talk to Zain.
But it was only temporary. Zain really wanted to ask Ana if ghosts could eat. Soon they were back on talking terms. They wondered about the strange noises in Nikhil’s house.
Was it a ghost? Together they soon unearthed several clues that confirmed their worst suspicions. It really could be a ghost and a mighty hungry one at that!
Ghosts Don’t Eat is the second book in the Zain and Ana series. The first is At Least a Fish and the third is Just Like a Bug .
