Multicultural children’s literature from across the world – stories, poems, folktales and books in English for kids, and stories in Hindi and poems in Hindi too. Original literature in English for kids from around the globe and book reviews and recommended reading lists for children.
432 items in this section. Displaying page 32 of 44
The Lily Pool
The Lily Pool [] We have a little lily pool With lilies pink and white And though they look so fresh by day They mostly bloom at night The leaves are round and dusky green With an edge that often curls And when there’s water on the leaves They look like drops of pearls Come and see our lily pool And sit there – like I do See the lilies blooming bright...
Kallu Raven's Breakfast Treat
This happened years and years ago in a bright and busy forest.Two trees, the Neem and the Peepal, faced each other. A big, black raven called Kallu had his nest on the Peepal tree, while the Neem tree was the home of Nanni sparrow. Kallu was a wily bird and he felt no fondness for Nanni sparrow. After some weeks, Nanni laid three tiny, beautiful eggs. Soon they hatched. Her nest came alive with the sweet twitter of the baby sparrows....
In, Pin, Tin
Three little mice Named In, Pin, Tin One fat, one short The other one thin. In, Pin, Tin [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik] They woke up one night As lazy as ever The moon was already up And they began to shiver. They brushed their teeth And said, ‘lets eat’ There’s milk on the shelf Eggs, cheese and meat! But what do we wear? We have no sweater! So quickly they went...
The Sweet-Mad Hero
A North Indian folktale retold Shyam was a worried man. He had to go to Rampur on work. It happened to be his in-laws village. Shyam intended to stay with them. But being newly married he hardly knew his in-laws. His wife, too, was not accompanying him. Shy Shyam was really worried! He thought hard for a while. Then he smiled. He would force his friend, Karan, to accompany him! “Of course I’ll come with you!...
The Travellers
In a temple city in south India, lived a group of young merchants who wanted to become rich. They had often heard about traders who had amassed a great deal of wealth in the course of their travels across the world. So, one fine day, the merchants set out on a long journey in quest of riches and engaged in trade. Unfortunately though, they did not become as rich as they had thought they would. Worse, they had spent more money on their travels than they had earned in the course of their trade – and that was galling....
The Troublesome Slippers
Abukashan was a wealthy merchant, notorious for his stingy nature. He had a pair of slippers that were famous in town because they were completely worn out. The slippers had outlived their lives but Abukashan simply refused to buy a new pair. One day he went to a public bath, visited by all the rich and famous people. He left his slippers outside and went into the shower. A few minutes later a judge entered the bath leaving his new and shining slippers outside....
The Ridge Forest
A long time ago, when it was all right for men to hunt animals, there was a man who was known to be a perfect shot. He would always kill a wild animal in one shot. He never missed and he never shot an animal except when he was hungry. One morning, he took his gun and headed off to the jungle to hunt. He walked for many a mile before he sat down to rest....
A Royal Diet of Mangoes
A Royal Diet of Mangoes [] Jungle and Backyard Written by M. Krishnan Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi A thirsty, sweaty summer is here. You can see dogs with their tongues hanging out in the heat. Some of us would have done the same, but our tongues are busy tasting the king of all fruits – the mango. In fact, what makes summer bearable, is the mango. No one has said it better than wildlife expert M Krishnan....
Messy Kappu
Kappu maharaj sat on the bed Clothes soiled in yellow mess Playing with a plastic ball He wasn’t bothered about it all. Mamma took him in her arms Felt his bottoms with her palm “Kappuji, what did you do? Let’s quickly get you a panty new.” Messy Kappu [Illustration by Shinod AP]
Joking with the Goddess
Gopal was in great pain. A big battle seemed to be raging in his stomach. Of course, there was nothing unusual about this. With his weakness for good food — sweets in particular — he often did overeat and this was the inevitable result. As long as the pain lasted, Gopal was full of remorse, and made wild promises to eat moderately, but all were forgotten the moment he was well. This time the pain was worse than anything he had ever experienced before....