May 2018 • Volume: 12 • No: 5

FROM THE HOUSE OF MAGIC POT, THE WEEK, MANORAMA YEARBOOK,

YANITHA & THE MALAYALA MANORAMA OAIIY

INTO THE WORLD OF FANTASY

S itting drowsily by a river ba n k, little Alice
once saw an oddly dressed White Rabbit run­
ning across the field, and go down a hole. Aston­
ished, Alice follows the Rabbit, and tumbles
down the deep hole. She falls down and down,
and lands i n a wonderland where everything is
• bizarre and mag ical!
The character Alice is immortalised i n the clas­
sic, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by L ew­
is Carroll. There are many such classic stories,
novels, and fai ry tales which are loved by chil­
dren across the g lobe. 'Snow White and the Sev-
en Dwarfs,' the 'Panchatantra Stories,' 'Aesop's
Fables' etc, are some among them. These books
let the child to fly on the wing s of fantasy and
imag i nation.
This issue of Tel l Me Why lists
some of the classic books for
children that one should
read. Happy reading!
Why are the stories from the
'Panchatantra' one of the
most popular collections
among children?
'
T he Panchatantra Stories'
a re the most popular children's
book i n India. These are the old­
est surviving fables from India,
which are popular abroad too.
Panchatantra is believed to
be written by Vishnu Sharma,
along with many other schol­
ars. It is basically a network of
interesting stories on human
behaviour, depicted throug h
animal characters that a re loved
by people of every age g roup.
The stories were probably
written orig i na l ly in Sanskrit,
I'm the
blue king f ro m
Panchatantra.
and later translated
i nto Eng lish, and many
other lang uages.
These stories a re the
best g u ide to teach
children moral val ues,
since each tale has a
moral lesson at its end.
Most of the stories are
written very creatively,
featuring plants and a n i­
mals that can speak and
converse with human
beings too.
Apart from a short i ntro­
duction, these tales consist
of five parts. Each part con­
tains a main story, called
the frame story, which i n
turn, contains several sub
stories.
The most popular Pancha­
tantra stories a re 'The Wedg e­
pulling Monkey,' 'The Blue
Jackal' etc.
Why is 'Aesop's Fables' con­
s idered as one of the m u st
read collection?
1A esop's Fables' is a collec­
tion of tales from the G reek sto­
ryteller, Aesop.
He was a slave who lived in
a ncient Greece, between 620
and 564 BC. He was a keen
observer of both animals and
people. Most of the characters
in his stories are animals, some
of which take on human char­
acteristics, and are person ified
in their ways of speech and
emotions. Each fable has a n
accompanying moral t o be
learned from the tale. The
fables, numbering 725 total­
ly, were all passed down
orally throug h generations.
Aesop loved to write sto­
ries which were mostly
fables. A fable is a very
short story with a moral, or
a lesson to teach. Three
centuries after Aesop's
death they were written
down, and their a uthor­
ship was attributed to
Aesop.
There are many famous
fables, including the
most famous ones l i ke
'The Goose that Laid the
Golden Egg s', 'The Town
Mouse and the Country
Mouse' etc.
 special?

I f you are looking for something exciting to read

during your holidays, try reading the 'Jataka Tales'.
They are story books that are enjoyable, as well as
filled with wisdom.
Orig inally written i n the Pali lang uag e, the 'Jataka
Tales' have been translated into different lang uag ­
es around the world. They contain stories of the
previous lives of Gautama Buddha. These include
Buddha i n both animal and human forms.
These stories are extremely popular and
are valued in all branches of Bud­
dhism.
'The Jataka Tales' are dated
Forbidden Wonder between 300 BC and AD 400. Many of
In 1 93 1 , the gover­ the tales are set in or near Benares,
nor of Hunan prov­ now called Varanasi, a city in North
ince in China India on the Ganges River.
banned 'Alice's Each tale begins by noting the occa-
Adventures in sion that prompted its tel l i ng, and
Wonderland' say­ ends with the Buddha identify i ng the
ing that 'animals lives of the people i n the introd uctory
should not use story with those of people from the
human lan- past. There is humour i n some of these
guage'. stories.
 ALICE'S ADVENTURES
I WONDERLAND

What makes
'Alice's Adventures i n
Wonderland' an iconic children's
book?

1A lice's Adventures in Wonderland,' the classic

child ren's book by Lewis Carroll, tells the story of
Al ice who falls d own a rabbit hole, and land s i nto a
fantasy world that is full of weird, wonderful peo­
ple and animals. Thoug h it is a child ren's book, it
is one of the popular ones among ad ults too.
Commonly shortened to 'Alice in Wond erland,'
the book was published in 1865. Unlike most of
the other child ren's books till then, 'Alice in Won­
d erland,' was an imag inative fantasy work, not
just bound to moral lessons.
The book portrays many i nteresting charac­
ters that Alice meets d u ri ng her ad venture.
Some of them are the Duchess, the March
Hare, Mad Hatter, a nd the Red Q ueen. The
book has inspired n u merous film and televi­
sion adaptations.

I'm looking
for a rabbit hole
to Wonderland.
 Why is 'Oliver Twist' considered as
a very popular book for child ren?

1O liver Twist' is a must read, classic

children's novel written by Charles
Dickens, published serially under the
pseudonym 'Boz'.
It is the story of a young orphan,
Oliver, and his attempts to stay g ood
in a society that refuses to help. Oli­
ver i s born in a workhouse, to a
mother not known to anyone in
the town. She dies rig ht after g iv­
i ng birth to him, and he is sent to
an orphanag e, where he and the
other orphans are treated terri-
bly, and fed very little.
After escaping from there, l ittle
Oliver travels to London, where he
meets the 'Artful Dodg er', a mem­
ber of a gang of j uvenile pickpock­
ets led by the elderly cri minal, Fagin.
I n the later part of the story, Oliver
meets a good man, who takes him
Latin Speaking in. But, the plot takes a turn when
Oliver is again trapped by Fag in's
Potter
men.
The first Harry Potter 'Oliver Twist' has been the sub­
book has been ject of numerous adaptations for
translated into Latin various media, including a h ig hly
under the title successful musica l play, 'Oliver!',
'Harrius Potter and the multiple Academy Award­
et Philosophi winning 1968 motion picture of
Lapis'. the same name.

T e l l M e Wfly
Why is 'Gulliver's Travels'
considered a great children's
book?
1G u l l iver's Travels' is a classic
children's book, written by Jon­
athan Swift. It was orig inally
publ ished in 1726.
'Gulliver's Travels', comprises
four books. It is an adventure
story i nvolving several voyag es
of the main character Lemuel
G u l liver, a ship's surgeon, who,
because of a series of mishaps,
ends up on unknown islands
living with people and animals
of unusual sizes. However, Gul­
l iver returns to his home in
Eng land, where he recovers
from these unusual experienc­
es and then sets out aga i n on a
new voyag e.
In this creatively written
work of fiction, many excit­
ing things are included, for
example- 'remote reg ions
of the world,' including Lil­
li put, where Gulliver finds
himself tied to the g round
by six-inch-hig h human
fig ures, where he meets a
man 'as tall as a n ordinary
spire steeple'.
The book became pop­
ular as soon as it was
published. John Gay
wrote in a 1726 letter to
Swift that 'It is u niversal­
ly read, from the cabi net
council to the n u rsery'.
9
What makes 'Moby-Dick' a
one of a kind book?

I f you are into sea adventure

books, you will thoroug hly
enjoy the famous story book
-'Moby-Dick,' written in 18 5 1
by Herman Melville. I t recounts
the adventures of the narrator white whale infamous
Ishmael, as he sails on the whal­ for his ability to destroy
i ng ship, Pequod, under the the whalers that seek
command of the monomania­ him.
cal Captain Ahab. The captain's wooden
'Moby-Dick', is a classic, not leg is the result of his first
only in children's l iterature but encounter with Moby­
also in world l iterature. It is a Dick. After the ship sails, it
novel first published i n London becomes clear that Cap­
as 'The Whale' and a month lat­ tain Ahab is bent on
er in the United States as reveng e and he i ntends to
'Moby-Dick or The Whale'. get Moby-Dick.
Ishmael is the narrator in the
story. Ishmael believes he has What makes 'Robinson
sig ned onto a norma l whaling Crusoe' a popular chil­
vessel, but he soon learns that dren's book?
Captai n Ahab is not guiding
the Pequod to h u nt any whale, 1R obinson Crusoe' is
but is seeking one specific another sea adventure chil­
whale, Moby-Dick, a g reat dren's book, written by Dan-

10 Tell Me Why
iel Defoe. The novel
'Robinson Crusoe' tells the
story of a young and impul­
sive Eng lishman who
defies his parents' wish­
es, and takes to the
seas seeking adven­
ture.
He was i nvolved i n
a series o f violent
storms at sea, and was island for 28 years.
warned by the capta i n This wonderfu lly written
that he should not b e a book is said to be based on the
seafaring man. The young true-life events of Alexander
Robinson Crusoe is ship­ Selkirk, a sailor who survived
wrecked and cast away four years on a Pacific island,
on a remote tropical after he encountered a terri­
ble ship mishap.
Despite its simple narrative
styl e, 'Robinson C rusoe' was
well received in the literary
world. Before the end of
17 19, the book had already
run throug h fou r editions,
and it has gone on to
become one of the most
widely published books in
history.

11
Why is 'Don Quixote' so
popular among children?

W ritten between 1605 and

1 6 1 5, 'Don Q uixote,' also
known as 'The I ngenious
Nobleman Sir Q uixote of La
Mancha,' is a children's novel
by Mig uel de Cervantes
Saavedra. It has been widely
read, and enjoyed by chil­
dren. Nonsense Poem
The novel, orig inally writ­
Sylvia Plath wrote a book
ten in Spanish, is about a
of 'nonsense poems', for
wannabe knig ht, Alonso
children, called 'The Bed
Q uixano, who drag s a farmer,
Book'. The work is about
Sancho Panza, along on a
different kinds
series of adventures. Don
of beds.
Q uixote, in the first part of the
book, does not see the world
for what it is and prefers to
imag i ne that he is living out a
knig htly story. The book was
i m mediately translated i nto
English, and it was a g reat
and continuing success.
'Don Q uixote' is considered
to be one of the most i mpor­
tant books of all time, and it is
often cited as the first mod­
ern children's novel.

12
 What
makes
'Kathasaritsa­
gara' a popu a
book amon g young
readers?
1K a t h a s a r i t s ag a r a, '
meaning Ocean of the
Streams of Stories, is an 1 1th
century collection of Indian
legends, fairy tales, and fol k
tales, retold i n Sanskrit by a
schola r named Somadeva.
Nothing is known about the
author other than that his
father's name was Ramadeva­
batta.
The work was compiled for
the entertainment of the
queen Suryamati, wife of
king Anantadeva of Kash­
mir.
Unlike most familiar
classics, this work con­
tains no hidden moral
lessons. Instead, it
is an easy cele­
bration of
earthly life. It consists of 1 8
books of 1 24 chapters, and has
more than 2 1 ,000 verses, in
addition to prose sections.
The book contains a major
tale, which is about the adven­
tures of Naravahanadatta, son
of the legendary king Udaya­
na.
Most of the other tales are
i nteresting ly connected to
this central story.
The work was translated
i nto Eng lish by Charles
Henry Tawney. The
translation was pub­
lished in two vol­
umes in 1 880
and 1 884 .
 RIP VAN
WINKLE

Why is 'Rip Van Win kle' one of the

must read books for children?

1 R ip Van Winkle' is a short story written by Wash­

ington Irvi ng, and it was published in 1 8 19. The book
is beautifully interwoven with fantasy and h istory.
The story is based on a German fol ktale.
It is the story of Ri p Van Winkle, who lives i n
a vil lage i n the Catskills, with h i s wife and
children. He is an easy-going man, with a
nagg i ng wife who consta ntly criti cizes
him.
One day, Rip goes hunting i n the
I am Hungry! mounta i n s, and meets the g host of
'The Very Hungry Henry Hudson, the famed explorer.
Caterpillar' is a Ri p eats and drinks with Hudson and
children's picture his crew, then falls asleep under a
story written and tree.
illustrated by Eric The story then moves twenty
Carle. It features years ahead, when Ri p wakes up to
a caterpillar that find that the world has chang ed. His
eats its way through wife has died. His children a re g rown.
a wide variety At fi rst, the only person in h i s village
of food, before who recog nizes him i s Peter Vander­
donk, the oldest man in the village.
 What makes 'The Happy
Prin ce' worth reading?

1T he Happy Prince' is a fantasy

short story for children by the Irish
author Oscar Wilde. It was first pub-
lished i n a collection called
'The Happy Prince and Other Tales' in 1 888. It con­
tains five stories: 'The Happy Prince,' 'The Nig htin­
gale and the Rose,' 'The Selfish Giant,' 'The
Devoted Friend,' and 'The Remarkable Rocket'.
The story's title character is a beautiful statue,
covered in gold leaf and decorated with jewels.
The statue represents a prince who,
d u ring his lifetime, was famous for
bei ng happy.
However, the truth is that the prince
appeared to be happy only because
he knew nothing of life outside of his
palace. Only after he d ied and became
a statue did the prince learn of the suf­
fering of the poor people in his city.
The happy prince befriends a swal­
low that spends time on the statue,
and asks it to offer some assistance to
the people who are living in poverty.

What makes •r e Adven u r s
of Tom Sawyer' a c assic c i ­
d ren's boo 1
A re you into stories about
mischievous and imag inative
children? Then you will surely
love the works of the g reat sto­
ryteller Mark Twain.
' The Adventures of Tom Saw­
yer,' written by Twai n, is a
child's adventure story. It is
also, however, the story of a
young boy's transition i nto a
young man. The book was pub­
lished i n 1 8 76. Mark Twai n
describes some autobiog raphi­
cal events in the book. The nov­
el is set around Twain's actual
boyhood home of Hanniba l,
near St. Louis, US, and many of
the places in it are real. As a
result, today, these places sup­
port a tourist industry.
16
' The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer' has
become a classic portrait
of a mischievous youth,
and the adventures of
adolescence. It is one of
the world's best-loved
tales ever.
This amazing book was
Twain's first attempt at
writing a real novel. The tit­
ular hero of the novel, Tom
Sawyer, is a young boy livi ng
on the ban ks of the Missis­
sippi River. He lives with his
Aunt Polly, half-brother Sid,
and his cousin Mary.
An apple
a day keeps the
fence painted ...
 Why is 'The Wizard of Oz' a
popular book among chi ldren?

I f you prefer a series of chil­

d ren's books, rather than just a
single storybook, you will find
'The Wizard of Oz' really fascinat­
ing . It is an amazing work for chil­
d ren written by American author
L. Frank Baum.
The first book i n the series, 'The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz', was
published in 1900. Baum wrote
thirteen sequels to the original
novel, and a total of forty books,
written by a variety of a uthors,
belong in the series' canon.
'The Wonderfu l Wizard of Oz'
tells the story of a n innocent lit­
tle farm g irl named Dorothy
Gale, who is being raised by her
Aunt Em and U ncle Henry when
a tornad o sweeps throug h their
When Lewis Carroll, home and airlifts it, with Doro­
author of 'Alice's thy and her d og Toto inside. The
Adventures in next day, when the house finally
Wonderland' was hits solid g round, Dorothy steps
fourteen he began to out the front door. She sees a
produce a series of h ug e crowd of strange people
family magazines, a nd, on sig ht, d ecides this unfa­
which amused miliar land isn't for her. But she's
his ten brothers in Oz now. The story continues
and sisters. a nd revolves around Dorothy's
life and adventures afterwards.
What makes 'Heidi' a m ust-read chil­
d ren's book?

D o you dream of playing on the g reen

and beautiful mountains sometimes? Then
you will j ust enjoy the cute story of Heidi,
the mountain g i rl from Switzerland.
'Heidi' is a two volume novel written by
Johanna Spyri. lt is by far the most popular
piece of Swiss literature ever written, and
has been translated from German into SO
lang uag es, been filmed more than a doz­
en times, and more than SO m i l l ion copies
of 'Heidi' books have been sold world­
wide.
This charming story is about an
orphaned g i rl named Heidi who is sent
away from her aunt to live with her g rand­
father in the Alps Mountains in Switzer­
land. Heidi's g randfather is a cold hearted
and mean man at the beg i nn i ng .
However, a s they g et t o know each oth­
er, the love between Heidi and her g randfa­
ther g rows so strong, that they cannot be
separated. L ife in the mountains is perfect,
and it all seems too g ood to be true, till Hei­
di is suddenly taken away from her beloved
g randfather and her favou rite mountains,
and sent to Frankfurt.
Heidi hates the hustle of city
life. She can't g et over her home­
sickness and long s for the moun­
tains where everything is g reen
and fresh.

t s how litt le ones w hat it
e l l, t he title c haracter of
t h1s enthral ling c hi ldren's book
doesn't even need an introduc­
tion, as he is one of t he most
popu lar cartoon c haracters 1n
he wor ld.
'Winnte-the-Poo h' is a clas­
sic 1926 c hi ldren's book by
Eng lis h author A lan A.
Milne, w hich te l ls t he sto-
ries of Winnie-the-Poo h, a
si lly bear living in t he
Hundred Acre Wood
with his friends Pig-
let, Rabbit,
Eeyore, Ow l
and
C hristo ­
p her Robin. It
was il lustrated by
Ernest H. S hepard.
T his story co llection is
a selection of 1 5 c harm­
tng stories, created to
means to be a true friend.
Come a long wit h Winnie-the
-Poo h and friends as t hey
learn about s haring and car­
ing, about working together,
and missing eac h ot her w hen
t hey're apart, about putting
friends first and bui lding
friends hips t hat last.
T he book consists of ten
loose ly-connected stories,
each to ld in one of its ten
c hapters . Later 'Winnie-t he­
Poo h' was adapted into
comic and animation for­
mat. In 2003, t he book
was listed at number
7 on t he BBC's sur­
vey T he Big
Read'.
Why is 'The J ungle Book' consid­
ered a n icon ic book?

Is there anyone who isn't familiar

with the famous character 'Mowg l i'?
Hopefu l ly none. The main character of
the everg reen The Jungle Book'
( 1 8 94), a collection of stories written
by Rudyard Kipling, is a huge part of
our child hood.
Mowg l i is a human child raised by
wolves in the jung le. In these tales, the
animals proved to be both Mowg li' s
allies and adversaries. Baloo the bear,
Bag heera the panther along with
many others, are Mowg li's friends. But
Shere Khan the tiger is his bigg est
enemy. The stories a re set in a forest in
India.
Kipling was born i n India and spent
the first five years of his childhood
there. After about ten years in Eng­
land, he went back to India, and
worked there for about six and half
years. The orig inal publications con­
tained illustrations, some by Rud­
yard's father, John L ockwood Kipling.
The Jung le Book' has remained popu­
lar, partly throug h its many adapta­
tions for film and other media.
 hy is it said that 'Wh ere the
Red Fern Grows' is loved by
children around the g l obe?

It you are a dog lover, and love

to read stories about them, you
should definitely read Where
the Red Fern Grows'. lt is a belov­
ed classic that captures the pow­
erful bond between man and
man's best friend.
It is a book about a boy
nam ed Billy Colman and the
adventures he has with his two
coonhound dogs named Old
Dan and Little Ann. Billy spends
two years earning enough
m oney i n order to buy the pup­
pies. After that, he trains them
to hunt raccoons, with Old Dan
displaying strength and Little
Ann d isplaying i ntelligence.
Over time they becom e
known as t h e best coon­
hounds in the area. The
story continues to narrate
the unexpected fate of
the boy and the dogs.
'Where the Red Fern
Grows', written by Wi l­
son Rawls, was pub­
lished in the year 1 96 1 .
The book was a success,
and attracted readers
of all ages.

The Latin translation of 'Winnie-the-Pooh,'

titled 'Winnie llle Pu,' is the only
Latin book to have made it to the New York
Times Bestseller List.
 0 E THOUS D
ND
IGHTS

What makes
'One Thousand and
One Nights' a fascinat­
ing book?

Who doesn't l i ke to read enchanting folk tales from

the mysterious Arabian lands? 'One Thousand and One
Nig hts' is a com pilation of Middle Eastern and South
Asian stories, written down in Arabic.
The standard Arabic text of 'One Thousand and One
Nights' today is the work of a series of anonymous
authors, writing over a period of more than a thousand
years. Its collection took place over many centuries and
countries. Som e of the tales, including 'Aladdi n and the
Wonderful Lam p,' 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,' and
'The Seven Voyages of Sin bad the Sailor' were added by
European translators.
Despite the many differences between editions, one
elem ent they have i n comm on is the fram e story of
King Shahryar and his wife, the storyteller Scheh-
�'--- erazade. The stories them selves
belong to a variety of d ifferent
genres, including adventure, com­
edy, fantasy and tragedy.
It is often regarded as a work
that shows, m an's unending will
to overcome defeat.
 Is 'The Tinder Box' a
fai ry tale?

11he Tinder Box' is a fantasy short story for children by the

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
The main character i n the story, a soldier, is sent by a
witch to visit an underg round treasure trove. The witch
tells him that he can bring back as m uch m oney as he can
carry, and keep it for h im self, but he m ust give her an old
tinder box which he will also find down
there. The story continues to narrate
the soldier's life ahead.
The story which a ppeared in
Andersen's first collection of fai ry
tales, was published i n 1835 and
was translated into English in
1 846. The book was the subject 'The Little Mermaid'
of the first Danish anim ated is a fairy tale written
film, released in 1 946. by the Danish author
There are also several sim i­ Hans Christian Andersen
larities between 'The Tinder about a young mermaid
Box' and the stories 'Aladdin' who is willing to give
and 'Ali Baba and the Forty up her life in the sea
Thi eves' from 'One Thousand and her identity
and One Nights,' a work with as a mermaid to
which Andersen had been fam il­
iar si nce childhood.

Why is 'The Adventures of
Pinocchio' one a mong the
most loved books?
1T he Adventures of Pinoc­
chio' is a children's fantasy
book. The title character of the
book is a living wooden pup­
pet, carved by a toy m a ker
nam ed Geppetto who m akes
the puppet his adoptive son.
Pi nocchio is initially disobedi­
ent and m ischievous. He aban­
dons his father and goes off in
search of adventure. The story
takes a turn as Pinocchio is
saved by a fairy. The fai ry edu­
cates Pinocchio, and m anages
to get him to change his ways.
As a reward Pinocchio gets the
best gift in his life, which con­
tinues to make the plot of the
book interesting.
THE
ADVENTURES
OF PINOCCHIO
The book of thirty
six chapters, is writ­
ten by Carlo Collodi. It
has been translated
into som e 250 differ­
ent languages. There
have been various
adaptations of 'The
Adventures of Pinoc­
chio,' the best known of
which continues to be
the 1 940 a n im ated film
Pinocchio, from Walt Dis­
ney.
The popular m yth of
som ebody's nose g row­
ing longer when he or she
lies, was i ntroduced i n 'The
Adventures of Pinocchio'.
What makes 'Snow W hite' one of
the most popular fairy tales?

T he story of Snow White, a prin­

cess who was the m ost beautiful
woman in her kingdom, is one of
the world's best loved tales.
Snow White's stepm other, the
Q ueen who is the second m ost
beautiful woman in the kingdom,
becom es extremely jealous of Snow
White, and g rows to despise her
because of her superior beauty. The
Q ueen orders a huntsman to m u rder
Snow White. The huntsman takes pity
on Snow White, and al lows her to
escape into the forest. She takes ref­
uge in a cottage that belongs to seven
dwarfs. The seven dwarfs allow Snow
White to stay as their housekeeper.
The story takes a sudden twist when
the Q ueen finds out that Snow White
is sti ll alive. P· n e
'Snow White,' is a well known and Carlo Collodi, the
very widely read children's book. It is author of 'The
a beautiful, creatively written Ger­ Adventures of Pinoc­
man fai ry tale. The Brothers Grimm chio' spent most of
p ublished it in 18 12 i n the first edi­ his childhood in the
tion of their collection 'Grimms' Fairy town of Collodi and
Tales'. The Grimm s com pleted their took the town's
final revision of the story in 18 54. name for his pen
name.
What makes 'The G iving Tree'
a popular picture story?

1T he Giving Tree' is a paradise

of words for nature lovers. It is the
story about an apple tree and a little
boy. This beautiful book m a inly
focuses on the i ntense bond
between the tree and the boy. For
exam ple, even though the boy ages,
and becomes an adult as the story
Genius!
progresses, the apple tree prefers to 'The Golden Age'
affectionately call h im boy till the is a collection of
end. reminiscences of
In an effort to m ake the boy happy childhood, written
at each of these stages, the tree by Kenneth Gra­
g ives h im parts of herself, which he hame. The first
can transform into m aterial item s. editions were not
The tree gives the boy her fruits for illustrated.
m oney, her branches for building
him a house, and her trun k for build­
ing him a new boat. With every
stage of giving, the tree seem s hap­
py. Their amazing relationship con­
tinues, even after the boy g rows
i nto a very old man.
The Giving Tree' was written and
illustrated by Shel Silverstein and
was first published i n 1 964 .
 Why is
'The Wind in
the Willows' con­
sidered as a classic
children's book?
1T he Wind in the Willows'
is a 1908 children's book of
twelve chapters by Kenneth
Grahame. The book tells the
adventures of the a n im a l
friends Mole, Rat, Mr. Badger
and Mr. Toad. It has been read
and re-read with pleasu re by
children and their parents
through m u ltiple generations.
Mole is cleaning his hom e,
but gets fed up with the
work he is doing. He decides
to leave his underground
home, and take a wal k in
the fresh air. He even­
tually finds himself
at the river,
which he
G R EAT B OO KS F O R C H I LDREN
has never
seen before, and
m eets the water rat
Ratty, who takes him
for a boat ride. Mole and
Ratty q ui ckly becom e
friends. Ratty invites Mole
to stay with him, and teach­
es him how to row a boat. In
the summ er, Ratty takes Mole
to Toad Hall, the home of Mr.
Toad, a cheerful and friendly
character, who is also vain and
boastful.
Later, Mole shows i nterest in
visiting another of Ratty's
friends, Badger, who l ives in
the Wild Wood. Ratty does
not want to take h im there,
because he knows that
Badger does not l i ke vis­
itors. Their story con­
tinues with m ore
adventures than
ever.
27
What makes 'Where the Wild
Thing s Are' the best picture book
of all time?

This is how the story of 'Where the

Wild Things Are,' goes. Max, a young
boy, makes so m uch m ischief in his
wolf suit, that his m other sends him to
bed without his supper. In his room he
im agines him self in a forest and he jour­
neys to where the Wild Things l ive. They
a re fierce, but he conquers them by m eet­
ing their eyes. They m a ke h im their king.
But Max is hom esick, so he returns home
to discover his supper waiting in his room
for him.
The story consists of j ust 338 words as
it is basically a picture book. Written and
illustrated by Maurice Sendak, the book
is very popular am ong children. It was
published in 1963.
Since its publ ication, the book and
a uthor have been honoured with a num­
ber of awards. The story has been adapt­
ed as a test anim ation project by John
Lasseter, a 1983 opera by Ol iver Knus­
sen, and has been referenced in pop
culture num erous tim es. In October
2009, Warner Bros. Pictures released a
l ive-action theatrical film based on the
book.

Classic
'The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow' is a short story
collection by American
author Washington
Irving. The work is
considered as a
classic.
G R EAT B O O KS F O R C H I LD R E N
Why is 'Julie of the Wolves'
loved by children around the
g lobe?
This wonderfu l story book,
published by Harper in 1972,
with illustrations by John Schoe­
nherr is set on the Alaska North
Slope. It featu res J u l ie or Miyax.
She is a young Eskimo g i rl.
After Jul ie's mother's death,
she is raised by her father, Kapu­
gen. Later, Julie is sent to live
with Aunt Martha, a distant and
cold woman. She attempts to
escape from there, and ends up
getting lost on the Arctic tundra.
She runs into a pack of wolves,
and rather than devouring her,
she is adopted by them. The
book deals with her struggle to
learn how to communicate with
wolves, and her reasons for leav­
ing.
'Ju lie of the Wolves' was writ­
ten by Jean Craig head George i n
1972, a n d two sequels, 'Julie'
and 'Julie's Wolf Pack,' followed.
The novei 'Julie of the Wolves' is
undoubtedly one of the al l-time
favourite books of children.
29

What makes 'Goodnight
Moon' d ifferent from oth-
er picture books?
1G oodnight Moon' is an
American children's novel
written by Margaret Wise
Brown, and illustrated by
Clement Hurd. It is a classic
children's book in the form
of a simple picture book
which shows a small bun­
ny getting ready for bed.
It first lists the items in
the bunny's n u rsery,
and
then, he
says goodnig ht
to each i n turn. By
the end of the story,
the bunny is asleep in
the darkened nu rsery.
It was published on Sep­
tember 3, 1947, and is a
highly acclaimed bedtime
story. 'Goodnight Moon' has
sold more than 48 million cop­
ies since it was first published.
Many parents around the
world have read the book to
their sleepy children. This
book is the second in Brown
and Hurd's "classic series",
which also include 'The
Runaway Bun ny' and
'My World' .
 Why is 'James and the G i a nt Peach'
considered a classic?

R oald Dahl's 'Jam es and the Giant

Peach' tells the tale of a young boy
cal led James, who is packed off to live
with his two really horrible aunts after
his parents were killed by a rhi-
noceros that escaped from Lon­
don Z oo. The aunts Spiker and
Sponge, who treat him like a
slave, keep h im i n the attic, and
only feed him fish heads.
One afternoon, when he is crying
i n the woods, James stum bles
across a friendly wizard, who mys­
teriously understands his situation,
and gives him som e m agic crystals
that he prom ises will bring happi­
ness.
On the way back to the house, Jam es
spills the crystals onto a peach tree,
which g rows a peach of a giant size.
When entering i nto the peach James
has a wild and surreal cross-world
adventure with seven magically­
altered garden bugs he m eets. They
set off on a journey to escape from
James' two mean and cruel aunts.
The adventures of James thus
Roa ld Dahl, the famous
begi n.
writer, was named
The book 'James and the Giant
after the renowned
Peach' was a great success. It was
Norwegian explorer,
ada pted into a film of the same name
Roald Amundsen.
in 1996.
 What makes
'Harriet the Spy' one of
its kind?

1 H arriet the Spy' is a 1964

book by Louise Fitzhugh about a g i rl named Harriet
who likes to spy on people. The book is considered as
a classic.
The title character of the book is Harriet, a preco­
cious eleven-year-old who writes down everything
because she wants to be a writer when she grows
up. She keeps a com position book with her at all
tim es, writing down her observations, and general
thoughts that pop i nto her m i nd. After school, she
goes on her spy route. One thing about Harriet,
though: she's extremely secretive about the con-
I!!!!!"'.....__
I am
tents of her notebook. One day Harriet
searc h ing my loses her notebook. Her classm ates find it
noteboo k. and are appalled at her brutally honest
docum entation of her opinions of them.
They try to trouble Harriet. Thus the story
goes.
I n the US, this is ran ked num ber 12 as
the best children's book, and num ber 17
all time children's book on two lists gen­
erated in 20 12. Fitzhugh wrote two
sequels to the book- 'The Long Secret'
and 'Sport'.
 Why is
'Black Beauty' consid­
ered as one of the best-selling
books of all time?

D o you want to get lost in a time when

there were no cars to get you a round, and
real help came from m ajestic horses? Well,
'Black Beauty' will take you there.
'Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse' is
a popular children's novel by the British author
Anna Sewell. It was first publ ished in 1877, and
becam e an immediate success. T he novel has
been widely translated.
T he novel's title character is the horse
Black Beauty. The story is told from the
point of view of Black Beauty, who
lives in 191h century England. Over the
course of the book, Black Beauty has
a series of owners and caretakers, Anna Sewell, the author
som e good and some bad. Although of 'Black Beauty' had
he experiences many hardships, the writing skills in her
gentle and intelligent Black Beauty genes. Her mother was
remem bers his m other's wise also a successful author
advice, and always gives his best. named Mary Wright
The story was written before the Sewel l. She was a
invention of autom obiles when soci­ successful poet as
ety depended on horses for nearly well as author of
everyt hing. children's
Why is the book 'Otto of the Silver
Hand' one of a kind?

l ittle Otto's m other died during

childbirth, and his father, a warlord,
left h im in a m onastery for a proper
and safe upbringing. Otto's father
retu rns for him when he is an older
boy, at which time Otto discovers the
truth about his father's past, particu­
larly about his part in the m u rder of
Baron Frederick. As a result of a feud,
Otto was captured by his father's
enem ies and they cut off his right
hand. Later, Otto's father returns
and rescues h im with the help of a
few remaining loyal followers.
However, he dies d u ring the
fight. Otto flees to the m onas­
tery where he g rew up, and is
given refuge there. Later, he
becom es a statesm a n .
'Otto o f t h e Silver Hand' is a chil­
dren's thriller book written and
illustrated by Howard Pyle.

f. s i ld
It is thought that the first example of a
fantasy story for children was F. E.
Paget's 'The Hope of the Katzekopfs,'
published in 1868.

34 Tell M e Wh
What makes 'Twenty Thou­
sand Leagues Under the Sea'
a remarkable children's book?

The story in this book opens
in the year 1866. Everyone in
Europe and Am erica is tal king
about a mysterious creature
that has been sinking ships.
Finally, the governm ent
decides to intervene and com ­
m issions a s h i p nam ed The
Abraham Lincoln to capture
and identify the creature.
On board the ship are Pierre
Aronnax, a renowned scientist
along with his manservant,
Conseil, and Ned Land the king
of harpooners. The search ship
was attacked by the creature.
The three men find them selves
on top of the mysterious crea­
ture, which is actually a subma­
r ine vessel. They are taken on
board and placed in a cell. The
men m eet Captain Nem o, who
called The Nautilus and roam s
freely through the world's
oceans in it. The 'twenty thou­
sand leagues' in the title refers
to the distance travelled; six
tim es the diam eter of the Earth.
'Twenty Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea' is a science fic­
tion children's book written by
Jules Verne. It was first pub­
lished in 1870. The novel was
first published in English i n
1872, in an abbreviated transla­
tion by Lewis Page Mercier, a
British clergym a n.

:�
in order to escape repression i n . .
his homel and, built a submari n

G EAT B O O KS FO R C H I LD R E N y;> V
 makes 'Hatch t' a
book loved by children 7

B rian Robeson is a thirteen-year-old boy. As he trav­

els by a plane to visit his father in the oil fields, the
pilot suffers a m assive heart attack, and dies. Brian
tries to land the plane, but ends up crash- landing into
a lake in the forest. He m u st learn to survive on his
own, with nothing but his hatchet- a g ift his m other
gave h im shortly before his plane departed.
Throughout the summer, Brian learns how to sur­
vive in the vast wilderness with only his hatchet. He
discovers how to make fire with the hatchet, and
he eats whatever food he can find. He deals
with various threats of nature, including
wolves, m osquitoes, and even a tor­
nado. Over tim e, Brian develops his
survival skills and becom es a fine
woodsman.
Later, he finds a transm itter, but
Sp dy not knowing how to use it, he
Robert Louis Stevenson thinks it is dam aged and throws
was an astonishingly it aside. Finally however, he is
fast writer. lt is said rescued.
that he completed 'Hatchet' is a 1987 Newbery
1 5 chapters of his Honour-winning novel written by
book in a American author Gary Paulsen. It is
few days. the first novel of five in the Hatchet
series.
 What makes 'Treasure
Island' a n amazing read?
'
Treasure Island' is the story of
Jim Hawkins, a boy who finds a
m a p which leads to the buried
treasure of the notorious pirate
Captai n Flint. Jim takes the map to
two wealthy local m en, Dr. Livesey, and Squ i re Trelawney,
who buy a ship, hire a crew, and set sai l i n search of the
treasure. However, m ost of the crew turn out to be pirates
who once served u nder Captai n Flint, led by Long John Sil­
ver, a one-legged man who constantly keeps his pet parrot
on his shoulder. The pirates plan to m u rder those who
oppose them, and to keep the treasure for them selves.
Most of the book is narrated in the first person by Jim
Hawkins.
'Treasure Island' is a children's historical adventure
novel of thirty-six chapters by the Scottish author Robert
Louis Stevenson. It was originally serialized i n the m aga­
zi ne Young Folks between 188 1 and 1882, Stevenson
wrote it under the pseudonym Captai n George North.
The story was first published i n book form in 1883 .

37
What makes 'The Tale of
Peter Rabbit' an all time best
THE TALE OF
PETER RABBIT
M rs. Rabbit had told her off­
spring firm ly that Mr.
McGregor's garden was out of
bounds. She should know: her
husband had been baked into
a pie by Mrs. McGregor. But her
son, Peter, was not about to
heed his m other's warning. He
ventures i nto Mr. McGregor's
garden. The story of the book
continues like this, chronicling
the adventures of Peter.
'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' is a
children's picture book, writ­
ten and illustrated by Beatrix
Potter, and published in 1902.
It was Potter's first book, and
was initially privately printed.
Upon publication, however,
it was immediately success­
ful. It has si nce gone on to
become one of the m ost
Quentin Blake,
famous British books ever
well-known for his
written, and has sold 45 m il­
illustrations for Roald Dahl
lion copies. Peter Rabbit him­
and David Walliams, has
self has becom e a British
more than 300
illustrated books
to his name.

makes the
famous novel 'The Secret
Garden' so special?
A fter losing her fam ily to a
cholera epidem ic, young Mary
Lennox is sent to live with her
uncle Archibald Craven and his
son Colin.
After discovering a hidden
garden behind the mansion,
Mary sets out to discover
why it has remai ned closed
from human eyes for so
long. From the servant
there, she heard the sto­
ry of the garden that
was locked ten
years ago by her
uncle after his
w i fe ' s
death;
Mary deter­
mines to find
the key. ln the end,
Mary brings the gar­
den back to life.
'The Secret Garden' is a
children's novel by Franc­
es Hodgson Burnett first
published in 19 1 1, after it
was serialized in an Am erican
magazine in 19 10.
This magical story is an exal­
tation of the beauty of nature
and its beneficial effects on the
human spi rit. 'The Secret Gar­
den' attracts children around
the globe.
Got the
secret key!
Next, I must
f i nd the secret
door ...
39
 What makes 'The Diary of a
Youn g G i rl' such a remarkable
book?

O ne of t he most famous and

mem orable account s of World
War II and t he Holocaust, is t he
st ory of a Dut ch Jewish school girl,
Anne Fra n k, living i n Am sterdam.
'The Diary of a Young Girl,' also
known as 'The Diary of Anne
Fra n k,' is t he journal by Anne
Fra n k. I n 1942, Anne was given a
diary not ebook for her 131h birt h­
day, which is when t he diary
st arts. By t his t im e, Germany had
already i nvaded, and occupied
t he Net herlands for two years.
The book was first published in
1947, t wo years after Anne's
deat h in a concent rat ion cam p,
Tale of a Puppy and lat er became a classic. Anne
'The Poky Little called t he diary Kitty. It was her
Puppy' is a children's t rue friend. She addressed many
book written by of t he ent ries t o "Dear Kitty". The
Janette Sebring diary chronicles t he next two
Lowrey and illustrated years of Anne's life in t he cram ped
by Gustaf Tenggren. annexe, along wit h her seven co-
'The Poky Little Puppy' prisoners. Anne's last diary ent ry
is a story about was written on August 1 •t, 1944.
beagle pups. The The work was event ually t ranslat­
book outsold many ed int o m ore t ha n 60 languages,
great books once and it was lat er adapt ed for t he
it was stage and screen.
published.

40 Tell Me Why
 What makes 'Doctor Dolittl '
a book th t's much-lov d by
children?

H ugh Lofting's 'Doctor Dolit­

tle series' a re stories about Doc­
tor Dolittle.
The first book The Story of
Doctor Dolittle' narrates Dolit­
tle's love towards a n imals he
kept. Polynesia the parrot
taught h im to talk to the ani­
m als. His love of a n imals g rows
over the years, and his house­
hold eventually scares off his
human clients, leading to loss of
wealth. He was totally uncon­
I want cerned by how m uch m oney he
to hear your had, once going on a journey to
song dear ... Africa to escape the fact that he
had no m oney.
This m uch loved book was writ­
ten and illustrated by H ug h Loft­
ing. There a re 13 books about
Doctor Dolittle. Each book has
h im doing som ething different
with his wonderful collection of
animals. It was one of the books in
this series that was adapted into
the film Doctor Dolittle.
Why is 'Ramona the Pest' loved by chil­
dren around the globe?

There is a naughty g i rl called Ramona.

She is excited because she is starting kin­
dergarten. Although Ram ona does not
m ean to be a pest, she still manages to
create trouble without trying to. Ms. Bin­
ney is her teacher, and Ramona likes her
a lot, especially when she praises Ramo­
na's interesting drawing.
Ram ona tries to do her best in kinder­
garten but it isn't easy, especially dur­
ing seat work, when she has to sit
quietly and keep her eyes on her own
work. She's just too interested in see­
ing what everyone else is doing.
One day, Ramona decides to becom e The final book in
cross with h e r new enemy Susan and the Harry Potter
pulls her hair. Ms. Binney sends her series was the fast­
home until she can behave. Ram ona est-selling book of
decides that Ms. Binney doesn't like her all time, with fif­
any more, and she refuses to go back. teen million cop­
Finally she receives a letter from Ms. Bin­ ies sold on the
ney. first day alone!
This is how the story of 'Ram ona the The series as a
Pest' goes. It is written by Beverly Cleary. whole has sold
The book was first published in 1968 and an estimated 450
featured illustrations by Louis Darling. million copies
worldwide!

42
What makes 'A Ch ristmas
Carol' a popular book among
kids?

This book tells the story of a

hard hearted m iser named
Ebenezer Scrooge, whose only
interest is m a king m oney.
Scrooge cares nothing for any­
thing from which he cannot
make a profit. He hates Ch rist­
mas in particu lar, considering it
to be a con, or as he calls it, a
hum bug. He is unawa re of the
poverty i n which his em ployee
Bob Cratchit lives, and the dif­
ficulties he and his fam ily face.
Scrooge has a change of
heart after he is visited by four
spirits. On Christm as Eve, the
ghost of his late business part­
ner Jacob Marley warns him of
the terrible fate that awaits h im
if he does not change his ways.
Afterwards, Scrooge is i nter­
m ittently visited by the g hosts
of Christmas Past, Christmas
Present and Christmas Yet to
Come.
'A Christmas Carol' is an 1843
children's book by Charles
Dickens, loved equally by both
children and grownups. It is
d ivided i nto five chapters.

G R EAT B OOKS F O R C H I LD R E N 43
 What
makes 'The Ugly Duckling'
popular among children?

O nce t here was a sma l l duck­

ling. Due to his st range appear­
ance, he is not accepted by t h e
ot her ducks or by ot her animals on
t he farm where he lives. He suffers con-
st a nt verbal and physical abuse. The unhappy bird final­
ly leaves home. He fails to find happiness anywhere
else but briefly becom es excit ed when he sees som e
swans flying overhead, considering t hem t o be t h e
most beaut iful birds h e has ever seen. After suf­
fering a m iserable wint er, i n t he spring, t he
ugly duckling finds t hat he has g rown up
t o be a swan h im self.
'The Ugly Duckling' is a short st ory for
children by t he Danish aut hor Hans
Christ ia n Andersen. It was first pub­
lished in 1843 i n t he fou rt h vol um e of
The typical number Andersen's fai ry tales. Hans Christ ian
of pages in picture Andersen considered t he st ory t o be
books (illustrated a ut obiographical. As a child, he was
books, usually for m ocked for his big nose, and large feet.
younger children)
is just over
thirty.
 Why is
'Stuart Little'
considered a classic?

M any of you m ight be fam iliar

with the name Stuart Little because of the ani­
m ated m ovie Stuart Little. But, did you know that the char­
acter Stua rt Little first appeared i n a book of the same
name? It is a 1 94 5 children's book by E. B. White. The book
was his first book for children, and is widely recogn ized as
a classic in children's literature. 'Stuart Little' was i l l u strat­
ed by the subsequently award-winning a rtist Garth Wil­
liam s, also his first work for children.
'Stuart Little' begins with the protagonist's unusual
birth. His parents m u st adapt i n many ways at home to
accommodate a two-inch-tal l son who resem bles a
mouse. Stuart has a brother named George. Thei r fam ily
cat Snowbell, does not l i ke Stuart. When Margalo, a bird,
is adopted by the Littles, Stuart intervenes to keep her
safe from Snowbell . I n return for Stuart's protection,
Margalo saves Stuart when he gets stuck i n a trash can .
Som e o f Snowbell's friends want t o eat Margalo, a n d
when t h e bird finds out, she leaves t h e Little house­
hold. Stuart follows, hoping to find her. At the end of
'Stuart Little,' Stuart stil l hasn't found Margalo, but
he's not giving up. H e decides to continue his jour­
ney to seek her out.
Why is 'The Polar Express'
considered a beloved classic?
O ne Christmas Eve, a boy is
lying quietly i n his bed, listen-
ing for the ringing bells of San­
ta's sleigh, despite having been
told by a friend that Santa does
not exist.
He suddenly hears the sounds
of, not Santa's sleigh, but a train
stopping in front of his house. A
cond uctor steps outside and
looks at the boy's window,
prom pting the boy to put on
his bath robe and slippers and
go outside.
The conductor explains to
him that the tra i n, called the
Polar Express, is going to the
North Pole. The boy puts out
his hand, and he is pulled
aboard. The tra i n is filled with
children on their way to the
North Pole. The train takes the
children to Santa. The boy is
chosen to receive the first
Christm as gift by Santa. He asks
for a silver bell from Santa's
sleigh.
46
p••·��ii;i;t;
Santa immediately gave h im
one. The Boy slips it i nto his
pocket, but m uch to his disa p­
pointment, the bell j ust fel l
through a hole i n his pocket.
Heartbroken, he returns to his
hom e. In the m orning, his l it­
tle sister finds a sm all box
with the boy's nam e on it
am ong the presents. Inside is
the silver bell!
'The Polar Express' is the
classic work of Chris Van Ails­
burg in 1 985.
What makes 'The B FG' a
much loved book?
The story follows a young
orphaned g i rl named
Sophie, living in a girl's
orphanage. One night,
Sophie sees a cloaked
giant blowing something via a trum­
pet-like object into a bedroom win­
dow down the street. Subsequently,
the giant carries her to his homeland
of Giant Country. There, he identifies
himself as the Big Friendly Giant
(BFG), who blows bottled dreams
into the bedrooms of children every
night. He tells her about the other
type of giants that eat humans, most­
ly children. He also warns her not to
leave him as the other giants are dan­
gerous. But Sophie does escape from
there. Do you want to know how?
Then, read the book 'The BFG' writ­
ten by one of the most famous writers
for children-Roald Dahl. It was pub­
lished in the year 1 98 2. It is an expan­
sion of a short story from Dahl's 1 975
book 'Danny, the Champion of the
World'. Top-notch
The Children's Literature
Association named
'Island of the Blue
Dolphins,' as one of the
1 0 best American
children's books.

47
Why is the 'Island of the Blue Dol­
phins' a one of a kind book?
'
Island oft he B l ue Dolphi ns' is a 1960
American children's novel written by
Scott O'Dell. It is based on t he t rue
story of Juana Maria, left alone for 18
years on San N icolas Island i n t he 19th
cent ury.
This book narrates t he story of a
young g i rl st randed for years on a n
island, off t he California coast. Her
name is Karana, which is her secret
name. Wonapalei is her common
name (everyone i n t he village has a
secret name). One day, a ship of
Aleut s, led by a Russian named Cap- .,............._...J
tain Orlov, a rrives and persuades t he
natives i nt o lett ing t hem hunt sea
otters in ret u rn for ot her goods. How­
ever, t he Aleut s attem pt to swindle
t he islanders and leave wit hout pay­
ing. When t hey a re confronted by
Chief Chowig, Karana's fat her, a bat­
t le breaks out, and l ives a re lost on
bot h sides. Finally, t he Aleut s leave
t h e island, leaving l itt le payment for Theodor Geisel
t he ott ers t hey h u nt ed. Karana's was a famous
fat her, and m any ot her men in t he children's writer who
t ribe, die after t he batt le. often wrote under
This act io n- packed book chronicles the pen name
Karana's st ruggles t o survive as she Dr. Seuss. One of
com es face-t o-face wit h the island's his famous works
wild animals, violent Aleut ia n h u nt ­ was 'The Cat in
ers, a n d h e r o w n fea r and loneliness. the Hat'.

48
 makes the
book 'Hans
B ri nker, or The Sil- dream s. The troubles
ver Skates' popular they face, and how
among children? they overcom e them, i s
beautifully narrated i n the
H ans Bri n ker and hi s sis­ book 'Hans Bri n ker, or The
ter have m a ny troubles, Si lver Skates'.
bei ng poor and seemi ngly It was written by Mary
fatherless. They are sti l l hope­ Mapes Dodge and fi rst pub­
ful, however, and they try to lished i n 1 8 65. The novel takes
treat everyone with fai rness. place i n the Netherlands. The
Thei r father had an acci dent book's title refers to the beauti­
years ago when his daughter ful si lver skates to be awarded
was j ust a baby. Ever si nce, he to the wi nner of the i ce-skati n g
has been ill and mi ndless. race.
The si bli ngs prepare to enter
a skati ng com petition with
the other chi ld ren. They have
little chance of doi ng well
on thei r handmade wood­
en skates, but the pros­
pect of the race, and
the prize of the si lver
skates excite
them and fire
t h e i r
G R EAT B O O KS F O R C H I LDR E N
What makes 'The Velveteen
Rabbit' ever so popular
among kids?

1T he Velveteen Rabbit' tells boy, he is not necessarily

the story of a stuffed toy rabbit seen as such by anyone
made out of velveteen. For else. 'The Velveteen Rab­
some time, the velveteen rab­ bit' was written by Mar­
bit is com pletely ignored by his gery Wil l iam s. The book
owner, a young boy. was first published in 1922.
The rabbit spends m ost of his
time in the com pany of other
toys. The only friend that the
velveteen rabbit has is an old
toy horse. The toy horse tells
the rabbit that being real and
being clockwork a re not the
same thing. The horse goes on
to explain that toys becom e
real when children love them 'Tales of a Fourth Grade
very m uch. Nothing' is one among the
When the boy rediscovers bestselling children's
the velveteen rabbit, he quickly novels. It is written by
falls in love with h im . After American author Judy Blume
some time, the boy declares and publ ished in 1972.
that the rabbit is not a toy but The story focuses on a
real. Soon afterwards, however, nine-year-old boy
the velveteen rabbit finds out named Peter
that, although he is real to the
Why is 'A Princess of Mars'
considered a classic?
1A Princess of Mars' is the
first novel in Edgar Rice Bur­
roughs' Barsoom series, origi­
nally written and published
under the pseudonym Norman
Bean.
The story goes like this -John
Carter was once mysteriously
transported to Mars, cal led Bar­
scorn by its inhabitants. Carter
finds that he has g reat strength
and superhuman agility in this
new environment, as a result of
its lesser g ravity.
He soon falls in with a nomad­
ic tribe of Green Martians, or
Tharks, as the planet's warlike,
six-li mbed, g reen-skinned
inh abitants are known.
Thanks to his strength and
martial prowess, Carter rises to
a high position in the tribe, and
earn s the respect, and eventu­
ally the friendship of Tars Tar­
kas, one of the Thark chiefs. The
G R EAT B O O KS FO R C H I LD R E N
Tharks subsequently capture
Dejah Thoris, Princess of Heli­
um.
Later, the i n habitants of
Barsoom face a life threaten­
ing situatio n. To save life on
Barsoom, Carter uses a
secret telepathic code to
enter the factory, bringing
an engineer along with him
who can correct the situa­
tion there. Carter then suc­
cumbs to asphyxiation
(depriving oxygen), only to
awaken back on Eart h, left
to wonder what has
become of Barsoom and
the princess whom he fell
in love with.
51
 Why is
'The Witches'
loved by chil­
dren? i s a wonderful story­
teller. He loves all her
11 he Witches' is a chi l­ stories, but he is enthralled
dren's fantasy horror novel by the one about witches,
by the Briti sh writer Roald that she says, a re horrific
Dah l . It was published in 1 983 creatures who seek to kill
by Jonathan Cape in London, hum a n children.
with illustrations by Quentin The book was published i n
Blake. 1983. In 20 12 'The Witches' was
The story is set partly in Nor­ ranked num ber 8 1 among all­
way, and partly i n the U n ited time children's novels i n a sur­
Ki ngdom, and features the vey.
experiences of a seven- year­
old Bri ti s h boy who goes to
live with his Norw.egian
g randm other after his
parents are killed i n a
car crash.
The g ra nd­
m ot h e r

52
Why is 'The Railway C hil­
d ren' a great book for chil­
dren?
'
T he Railway Children' tells
the story of three young sib­
l ings, who live in a house near
a railway station with their
m other. Their father, a n ex­
government officer is i n jail.
Actually, he is a n innocent
m a n being falsely accused.
The children befriend a n old
gentleman who regu la rly
takes the 9:1 5 train near their
h om e, who eventually helps
the fam ily in proving their
father's innocence, and the
fam ily is reunited.
'The Railway Child ren' is a
children's book by Edith
Nesbit, originally serialized
in The London Magazine d u r­
ing 1 905 and first published 'Scuffy the Tugboat' is a
i n book form in 1 906. The children's book written
setting is thought to be by Gertrude Crampton
inspired by Edith's walk s to and illustrated by Tibor
Chelsfield railway station Gergely. It tells the story
close to where she lived, of Scuffy a toy tugboat
and her observing the con­ who wishes for 'bigger
struction of the railway cut­ things,' rather than
ting and tunnel. just sailing in the
bathtub.

53
 CHARLOnE'S
WEB
Why is
'Charlotte's Web' a
favou rite classic for both chil­
dren and adu lts?

This famous children's novel tells the story of a pig

nam ed Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider
named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being
slaughtered by the farm er, Charlotte writes m essages
praising Wilbur in her web in order to persuade the
farm er to let him live.
'Charlotte's Web' is a children's novel by American
a uthor E. B. White.
The book was first published in 1 952, with illustra­
tions by Garth Williams. 'Charlotte's Web' was adapt-
ed i nto an animated featu re by Hanna-Barbera
Produ ons and Sagittarius Productions in 1973.
'Charlotte's Web' is considered a classic
of children's literature, enjoyable to
adu lts as well as children. A live­
action film version of E. B. White's
�:::original
:;...=- story was released on
Decem ber 1 51h, 2006. A video
gam e based on this adaptation
was also released in 2006.

Welcome
-:-=----. to Charlotte's
web...

Tell M e Why
 What makes 'Char­
lie and the Chocolate Fac-
tory' u n ique?

The story revolves around a poor young boy named

Charlie Bucket, born to penniless, starving parents. He
resides with both his paternal and maternal g randpar­
ents, who are bed ridden.
Along with C harlie's mother and father, they dwell in
a dilapidated, tiny house. Charlie is fascinat-
ed by the universal ly-celebrated choco­
late factory located in his hometown,
owned by famous chocolatier Willy
Wonka.
One day, Charlie gets a ticket to
visit M r Wonka's factory, and he
visits it with his gra ndfather. Do
you know what happened next? Story of Mallards
Charlie Bucket became the suc­ 'Make Way for Ducklings'
cessor of Willy Won ka! is a children's picture
'Charlie and the Chocolate Fac­ book written and
tory' is a 1964 children's book by illustrated by Robert
British a uthor Roald Dahl. The McCloskey. First
story was originally inspired by published in 1941,
Roald Dahl's experience of choco­ the book tells the
late factories during his school- story of a pair of
days. mallards.

G R EAT B O O KS F O R C H I LD R EN
 GREEN EGGS
AND HAM

Why is 'Green Eggs a nd Ham' a

must read book for beginners?

G
· reen Eggs and Ham ' is a book by
Dr. S euss. It wa s fir st pub lished in
1960, and a s of 200 1 , was the fourth­
best-selling English lang uage c hi l­ pestering, and tries the
dren 's b ook of a l l time. green eggs and ham,
The plot c entres around Joey Joey i s so sur pri sed to
w ho r efuses to eat green eggs and find that he d oes like
ham . One sunny m orn ing, Mr. Sam them after a l l.
a sks Joey to eat his breakfa st­ 'Green Eggs and Ham '
green eggs and ham. is loved by c hi ldren
Joey tells him that he d oesn't around the globe.
like that food at a l l by saying, I "

d o n ot l ik e gr een eggs and ham ."

Sam c ontin ues to ask Joey if he
would eat that food in and on
eight different locations (house,
box, car, tree, train, dark, rain,
and boat) and w ith Sam 's three
d ifferent anima ls (mouse, fox
and goat), b ut Joey sti l l refuses
by sayin g, "I do n ot l ik e them
her e (this place) or ther e (the
other place). I do not like
them anyw her e".
Fina lly, he gives into Sam 's

56

makes 'The
Hobbit' a u n ique chil­
dre n's book?
H obb it s are a race of small
human l i ke creat ures. B i lbo
Bag gins, t he leader of t he race
is p ersuad ed t o join T horin and
his 12 dwarfs t o recover t heir
stolen t reasure, which is being
guard ed by t he d ragon S maug.
During t he exped it ion, B ilbo
f i nd s a magical ring t hat ren-
ders t he wearer i nvisib le. It
tells, how lat er B i lb o became
a st rong f i g ht er, for t he
great er good.
'T he H obb it' is a 1937
child ren's advent ure
f a nt a sy novel by J.
R. R. Tolkien. It
has had
G R EAT B O O KS FO R C H I LD R E N
many
ad apt a­
t ions, most sig­
n if icant ly t he t h ree
H obb it f i l m s by Pet er
Jackson.
T he novel i nt rod uced
T o l kien's richly imagined
world of M idd le Eart h . T he
novel is loved by child ren
around t he glob e.
'Jumanji' is a 1 981
fantasy children's
picture book, written
and illustrated by the
American author
Chris Van Allsburg.
The story is based
on a board game.
57
 makes the
'Harry Potter'
series the most
favourite children's
book of all time?
'
T
he Harry Potter/ books overcom ing dangerous
make up the popular series obstacles to defeat the Dark
written by J. K. Rowling. The Wizard Lord Voldem ort who
series spans seven books. The kil led his parents when Harry
books have been made into was 1 5 m onths old. The first
m ovies by Warner Bros. Mov­ book /Harry Potter and The
/
ies based on the last book- Phil osopher/s Stone/ was
were split into two films. published in 1 997 by
The books concerns a Bloomsbury in London.
wizard called Harry Potter The last book/ /Harry Pot­
/
and his journey through ter and the Deathly Hal­
the Hogwarts School lows/ sold m ore than
of Witchcraft and 1 2 m illion copies
Wizardry. The in the US.

58 Tell M e Why
What makes 'Harold and
the Purple Crayon' unique?

H arold is a curiou s f our­

year-old boy who, wit h his
pur ple crayon, has the power
t o creat e a wor ld of his own
sim ply by drawin g it . Harold
want s t o go f or a wa lk in t he
moon light, but t here is no
m oon, so he draws one. He ha s
n owher e t o wa lk, so he draws a
pat h. H e draws a forest wit h
on ly one tree, and a dragon
t hat guards t he a pples on t he
tree.
He creat es an ocean and a
sai lboat t o navi gate it, and land
t o land on . On t he land, he
draws a picnic wit h not hing but
pies, a hill wit h on ly one side, a
hot-air ba lloon t o save him from
a fa ll and a b i g city wit h lot s of
windows. But non e of t he win­
dows are his, and it's time to go
home. H e has many adventures
looking f or his room, and in t he The original seven
end, he draws his own hou se and books of Harry Potter
bed, and goes t o sleep. were adapted into an
'Harold and t he Pur ple Crayon ' eight-part film series.
is a 1 955 chi ldren's b ook by Crock­ Harry Potter is the
ett John son . This is Johnson's third highest-grossing
most popu lar book. It led to a film series of all
series of ot her books, and in spired time as of February
·

many ada ptat ions. 2018.

G R EAT B O O KS F O R C H I LD R E N 59
 THE
T UE 5 0
OF THE
3 LlnLE PIGS

What makes 'The True Story

of the 3 Little Pigs' entertain­
ing? and blows the fir st two
pigs' houses d own. Since
O n ce there lived three little they wer e a lready dead, he
p iglets. But on one ocassion, eats them . The third p ig's
they happ ened to jail a p oor hou se does not break. But
wolf! Do you know how this the third pi g provokes Mr .
happ en ed ? Wolf into a fit of sneezing,
The p opu lar book 'The True becau se of hi s insu lts to the
Story of the 3 Little Pigs' nar­ wolf's grandm other . When
r ates it from the p er sp ective of the police arrive and see Mr .
A lexander T. Wolf, a bi g bad Wolf yellin g, he is arrested.
wolf. The wolf has sp ent ten 'The Tru e Story of the 3 Lit­
year s in pig pr ison for the tle Pigs' is written by Jon Sci­
destruction of the three little eszka and Lane Smith.
pi gs, but he has a different sto­
ry to tel l .
At t h e beginning o f the book,
he i s baking a cake for his
grandmother's bi rthday, but
he has run out of sugar . H e
goes t o ask his n ei g h-
bours, the pigs, for
som e sug ar. They a l l
say n o to him . A s he has
a bad cold, he sneezes,

Why is the book 'Journey to
the Centre of the Earth' con­
sidered a classic?
1J our ney to the C entre of the
Earth' is a science fiction adven­
ture novel by the French author
Jules Verne. It was first p ub­
lished i n France i n 1864 . The
fi rst of its several English trans­
lations was p ub li shed i n 1 8 7 1 .
T he m ai n character s i n the
novel are A xel, a young Ger­
m a n, a nd his uncle P rofessor
Lidenbrock, a professor of geol­
ogy at Hamb urg U niversity
who also pri des him self on hi s
abi lity to sp eak, and read sev­
eral languages. T he two men
discover a piece of parchm ent
which car ries a coded m essage.
The message tells them that it
is p ossib le to descend to the
centre of the Earth, from one of
the three crater s on an Icelan­
dic volcano. Axel and the p ro­
fessor travel to Iceland. T hey
hire a local g uide, Hans Bjelke,
who leads them to the volca­
no and then accompa nies
them on their jour ney deep
undergr ou nd.
Inspiring
'Totto-chan, the
Little Girl at the Window'
is a children's book written
by Japanese UNICEF
Goodwill Ambassador
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.
It is Kuroyanagi's
chi ldhood
memoir.
 makes
'The Colour
Kittens' a popu­
lar book among
kids?
' ing the process, they
The Colour Kittens' is create a lot of colours,
a children's book by Mar­ but none of them is g reen.
garet Wise B rown, illustrat­ Their colour m ak ing is the
ed by Alice and Martin central theme of the
Provensen, and published fam ous children's classic
as part of the Little Golden 'The Colour Kittens.'
B ooks series in 1949. 'The Colour Kittens'
The story revolves around fam ous catch phrase is
two g reen eyed k ittens, "B lue is blue, and red is
"Hush" and "B rush," who red! They still need green!"
attem pt to create green
pai nt through m ixing
their other paints. Our-
 Why is the novel la 'The Little
Prince' loved by children?

1The Little P ri nce' is a classic

children's story written a nd
i l l ustrated by the French
author a nd aviator Antoi ne
de Saint-Exupery. It was
written during the Second
World War, when Saint-Exupery
was living in the U nited States,
and was fi rst publi shed i n 1943.
The book has been translated
i nto 250 d ifferent languages
a nd d ialects, a nd has sold more
than 8 0 million copies.
At first a pi lot meets a young
pri nce vi siting Earth from a tiny
asteroid. The prince speaks
about life on the asteroid. He
d escribes spend ing his earlier
d ays cleaning the volcanoes
Tale of a Cat
a nd weedi ng unwanted seed s
'Master Cat, or the that i nfest his planet's soil.
Booted Cat', In the end the pri nce is bit­
commonly known ten by a snake. The story ends
in English as 'Puss in with a d rawing of the land­
Boots,' is a European scape where the pri nce a nd
fairy tale about a the narrator met, and where
cat that uses the snake took the prince's
trickery and corporeal life.
deceit to gain
power, and
wealth.
 'The
G ruffalo' a much-
loved book?

T his story is about a little

m ouse that is wal ki ng through the dark forest, who
encounters a num ber of animals that want to eat
h im as a tasty m eal. The clever m ouse exp lains to
the a nimals that the m ouse is on its way to m eet
'The Gruffalo', and its favourite food is the anim al
that is trying to steal the m ouse for a meal. It is
not unti l towards the end of the story that the
m ouse realizes that this im agi nary creature is
actually true!
Thi s is the story of 'The Gruffalo' written by
Julia Donaldson, and i l lustrated by Axel Schef­
fler. The book has sold over 1 3 mi llion cop ies.
'The Gruffalo' was i nitially p ublished i n 1 999.
'The Gruffalo' is a great book to read to chil­
dren between the ages of 3-5, as Julia ena­
bles the children to create an image of thi s
mystical creature throughout the story. It is
a funny, bri g htly coloured and interactive
book.

64 Tell Me Why
 What m a kes
'Great Expectations'
an iconic book?

O n Christm as Eve, around 1 8 1 2, P i p, a n

or phan w h o i s about seven year s old, encounters a n
escaped convict i n the vi llage chur chyard, whi le visiting
the graves of his par ents and sibli ngs. Pi p now lives with
his abusive elder si ster, and her k ind husband Joe Gar­
gery, a black sm ith. The story narrates how P i p becom es
a successful m a n from his ear ly m iserable conditions. It
depi cts the personal growth and per sonal developm ent
of an or phan. In the end, Pi p realizes that the one who
helps him to achieve success i s none oth- �llilll..
er than the ex-convict whom he had
encountered duri ng his childhood.
Thi s novel i s set in Kent and Lon­
don.
'Great Expectati ons' is a nov­
el by Char les Dickens wr itten
and published between 1860
and 1 8 6 1 . 'Great Expecta­ Curious George is the
tions' is considered one of protagonist in a popular
the greatest and m ost sophis­ children's book series by
ticated novels by Dickens. the same name, written
The novel has had m or e than by H. A. Rey and Margret
250 adaptations on stage and Rey. The books feature
scr een. a brown monkey
named George.
Why is 'J ust So Stories' con­
sidered a classic?

1J ust So St ories for Litt le Chil­

dren' is a 1 902 collect ion of orig­
inal stori es by t he Br it ish aut hor
Rudyard Ki pling. It is a collect ion
of whi msical t ales accompanied
by t he a ut hor's excellent pen­
and-in k drawi ngs, and humor­
ous ver se. The stories are writt en
in t he first per son, and addressed
to "0 Best Beloved." Act ually, 't he
beloved' is Ki pli ng's eldest chi ld
Josephine, who died at t he age of
six i n 18 99. The narrat ive t one is
the int i mate voice of a dot ing
fat her t al king t o his chi ld.
The st ori es describe how one
animal or anot her acquir ed it s
most dist i n ctive feat ures, such as
how t he leopard got his spot s, how
t he elephant got his t runk, how t he
whale got his t hr oat et c.
Kipli ng i l l ust rat ed t he ori ginal
editions of t he 'Just So St ories'. Lat­
er i llust rat ions of t he book wer e
done by Joseph M . Gleeson.

66 T e l l M e Why
 Why is
'Little Wom­
en' a widely read
child ren's book?

st ory revolves
arou nd t he lives of fou r
sist ers g rowing u p du ri ng,
and aft er, t he American Civ­
il War. Wit h t heir fat her
away, fight i ng t he war, t he
gi rls face t he hardships of
poverty.
The challenges faced by
t hese you ng gi rls, from
t heir chi ldhood t o
adu lt hood, make u p
t he plot oft he clas­
sic 'Litt le Wom­
en'.
'Litt le Women' is t he
fi rst book i n Lou isa May
Alcott's Little Women seri es.
The book has been adapt ed
for ci nema twice.
Loved by generat ions of
women worldwide, 'Litt le
Women' is a t ru ly u niver­
sal comi ng of age st ory.
It s u niversal t heme has
gai ned t he novel
global accept -
a nce.

Just So
Rudyard Kipling began working on the
book 'Just So Stories' by telling the
first three chapters as bedtime stories
to his daughter Josephine.

G R EAT B O O KS FO R C H I LD R E N 67
 Why is it said that the book
'Bridge to Terabithia', is a
classic, inspired from a real­
l ife i ncident?

J ess, an eleven year old, son 's close friend was ki lled
befriends Leslie, the class by lightning.
outsider. The child ren create It has been adapted for
an imaginary world called the screen twice-as a 1 98 5
Terabithia, which is in habited P B S lV m ovie, and a 2007
by all m ann er of magical Disn ey/Walden Media fea­
creatures. Though difficu lties ture film.
fill thei r ordinary lives, Jess
and Lesli e rule as king and I can fly
queen in Terabithia. Leslie and do not need a
dies in an accident in Tera­ bridge to any­
where.
bithia.
Publi shed in 1 977, 'Bridge
to Terabithia' by Katherin e
Paterson, is a chi ld ren's book
about the friendship
between Jess Aaron s and
Leslie Burke.
Paterson was in spired to
write 'Bridge to Terabithia'
when her

68
 makes the 'The
Story of the Treasure Seek­
ers' a remarkable work?
'
T he Story of the Treasure
Seekers' is a story of six chil­
dren, who real ly admi re
Ki pling and Dickens, and go
through various adventures
to earn money. The reason
A Long Name!
The complete name of
the book 'The Story of the
Treasure Seekers' is
'The Story of the Treasure
Seekers: Being the
Adventures of
the Bastable Children
in Search of a
Fortune'.
behind their adventures is the
poor fi nancial conditi on of
thei r fami ly. Their mother died
and their father's busi ness i s
not doi ng very wel l, s o they
have stopped going to school,
though their father says he will
send them back as soon as he
can. The chi ldren come up with
various ideas to assi st thei r
father a n d resurrect the for­
tunes of their family.
The Story of the Treasure
Seekers' is a novel by E. Nesbit.
It was fi rst published in 18 99. It
was the first novel for children
by Nesbit. The story is told from
a chi ld's poi nt of view. The
book has been made into a TV
series three times. It was also
made i nto a television m ovie
known as The Treasure Seek­
ers i n 1 996.
69
 Why is
'The Lion, the
Witch and the Ward­
robe' considered a m u st-read book for children?
'
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' often
shortened to 'LWW,' was written by C. S. Lewis, and
published in 1 950.
It records the adventu re of four ordinary English
children - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Peven­
sie - who found their way into the magical land
of Narnia through a wardrobe that they stu m-
bled across in a n old house.
What happens next in the land of Narnia? To
find out, read the much loved book 'The Lion,
the Witch and the Ward­
robe'. It is the first book of
The Chronicles ofNarnia to be
written and published. It is
also the best known among
the seven - book series.

70
 What m a kes 'A Wrin-
kle in Time' a one of a kind
book?

1 A Wri nkle in Ti me' is a children's science fantasy

novel by Madelei ne L'Engle. It was fi rst published
i n 1 962. 'A Wri n kle i n Time' tells the tale of Meg
Murry, a hi gh-school girl who is transported on an
adventure through time and space with her
you nger brother Charles Wallace, and her friend
Calvin O'Keefe to rescue her father, a gifted sci­
entist, from the evil forces that hold hi m pri son­
er on a nother planet.
The novel won a Newbery Medal in 1 963. The
sequels to the novel are 'A Wi nd in the Door,' 'A
Swifty Ti lting Planet,' and 'Many Waters'. The
book spawned two fi lm adaptations, both by
Di sney.

'The Black Corsair' is an adventure

novel written by Emilio Salgari. The
novel narrates the exploits of Emilio
Roccanera, and his attempts to avenge his brothers'
death by the Duke Van Guld, now Governor of Maracaibo.

G R EAT B O O KS FO R C H I LD R E N 71
 her leav-
Why is ing her chi ld­
'Rebecca of Sun­ hood home to live
nybrook Farm' a with her two aunts
good read ? Miranda and Jane Saw-
yer. Despite her ear ly
1R ebecca of Sunnybr ook hardshi ps, Rebecca has a n
Far m' is a delightful chil­ i nfectious joy for life that
dren's novel by Kate Doug­ i nspi res her aunts, as she fac­
las Wiggin that tells the story es the tr ials and tribulations
of Rebecca Rowena Randal l of growi ng up.
and her two stern aunts i n The story was adapted for
the vi llage of River boro, the theatrical stage, and
Maine. was filmed three ti mes,
Rebecca's family has once with Shir ley Temple
fallen upon hard ti mes, i n the title role.
and the story opens

Tell M e
Why is the class ic book 'Pollyan­
na' cal l ed inspirational ?

The t it le character of t he book

'Pollyan na,' is Pollyanna Whitt ier, a
young orphan who goes t o live
wit h her Aunt Polly. Aunt Polly is
not fond of children. She does not
want t o t a ke Pollyanna in, but feels
it is her dut y t o her late sist er. Send­
ing t he servant, Nancy, t o fet ch
Pol lyan na from t he st at ion, and
t hen banishing her t o t he hot
att ic room, Aunt Polly is a lways
negative to Pollyanna. But
good-heart ed Nancy readies t he
room for Pol lyanna and loves her.
However, Pollyanna always finds
a way t o be posit ive and finds a
way t o be glad about her sit uat ion.
Pollyanna's cheerful ways beg i n t o
w i n over t he neigh borhood. Pol ly­
anna's philosophy of life centres
on what she calls 't he glad game,'
t he game i nvolved always finding 'Moonfleet' is a tale
somet hing t o be g lad about . of smuggling, royal
'Pollyanna' i s a 1 9 1 3 novel by treasure and shipwreck
Eleanor H. Port er. The t it le charac­ by the English novelist
t er's name became a popular t erm J. Meade Falkner,
for someone wit h t he same very first published in 1 898.
opt i mist ic out look. The book was The book was
such a success, t hat Porter soon extremely popular
produced a sequel, 'Pollya n na among children
Grows U p' ( 1 9 1 5). worldwide.
Ryan Thomas

73
 AMELIA
BEDELIA
What makes 'Amelia Bedelia'
one of a kind?
.
'Am elia Bedeli a,' is the fi rst
book i n the Amelia Bedelia
chi ldren's picture book series
about a housekeeper who
takes owner's instructions lit­
erally. It was written by P eg­
gy Pari sh and was published
in 1 963.
Am elia Bedelia is hi red as a
m aid for the wealthy Rogers
family. Despite meaning
well, Am elia cannot seem
to do a nything right,
because she does not
understand the vernacular
used by her em ployers.
Mrs. Rogers once gives her a
list of chores to com plete, whi le
the fam ily goes out. After
choosing to m ake a pie to be
nice, Amelia proceeds to take
all the chores literally: she
'dresses the chicken' in clothes,
'drawing the drapes' on a pi ece
of notebook paper, and 'puts
out the lights' by hangi ng them
on the clothesli ne.
When the Rogers return
hom e, Mrs. Rogers is bewil­
dered that none of the chores
are done. On the verge of firi ng
Amelia, she has a bite of Ame­
lia's pie, and fi nds it so deli­
cious. Mrs. Rogers forgives
Amelia and vows to write down
i nstructions explicitly in the
future.
 What makes 'Anne of
G reen Gables' a unique
novel ?
A nne Shirley is an orphan
who dream s of being part
of a family. She has m any
d reams that have helped
her cope with a harsh life.
She is part of a programm e
to place older orphans with
fami li es that can use a
young person's assistan ce.
Anne is placed at Green
Gables, a farm on P rince
Edward Island, Canada. Mat-
There is a statue of
Amelia Bedelia Rogers
in Manning, South
Carolina (hometown
.......... of Peggy Parish).
thew and Marilla C uthbert,
the brother and si ster, who
run the farm where Anne is
placed, are getting older,
and thought a young orphan
boy could be helpful.
In stead, they get Anne.
Matthew is alarmed i n itially
at finding Anne instead of
the desired boy to help out
as a farm hand. Mari l la has
run the household on her
own for years. Anne's day­
dreamin g ways bum p i nto
Mari l la's practical habits, to
the benefit of both.
'Anne of Green Gables' is a
chi l dren's n ovel by the C ana­
di an author Lucy Maud
Montgom ery. It was fi rst pub­
lished in 1908. It is the first of
ei ght books about An ne
Shirley, her chi l dren, and the
m any people whose lives she
changes.
 Th rough
hard work
Why is 'Th
she becomes a
H i story of Little
s c h oo l m i stress
Goody Two-Shoes
before making a g ;od
considered a unique
impression on the local
book?
landowner and marrying
'
The H istory of Little
him. This prosperity serves
as proof that her virtuous­
Goody Two-Shoes' tells the
ness has been rewarded.
story of two orphans, Mar­
'The H istory of Little Goody
gery Meanwell and her broth­
Two-Shoes' is a chi l d ren's
er Tommy, and their escape
story published in 1 765. The
from the poverty into which
story was later attri buted to
the death of thei r parents
the Irish author Oliver
has cast them.
Goldsm ith, though this is
Dressed in rags and
d isputed.
having only one shoe,
Margery is g iven two
shoes by a chari­
table gentle-
 What
made 'The
Adventures of
H uckleberry F i n n'
m uch loved among Huckleberry Finn' is a
kids? novel by Mark Twain,
first publi shed i n England
A fter having found gold i n December 1884, and in
with his friend Tom Sawyer, the United States in Febru­
H uckleberry Finn goes to ary 1 885.
live at the home of the wi d­ It i s told i n the first person
ow Douglas. by Huckleberry Finn, a friend
Her sister, Miss Watson, of Tom Sawyer and narrator
and the widow's slave, Ji m, of two other Twai n novels
also live there. Huck and ('Tom Sawyer Abroad'
Ji m run away together, and 'Tom Sawyer, Detec­
travelling on the Mis­ tive'). It is a sequel to
sissippi . 'The Adventures
'The Adven­ of Tom Saw­
tures of yer'.

'The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes'

is credited with popularizing the term
'goody two-shoes,' which is often used
to describe an excessively good person.
What m a kes 'The Phantom
Tollbooth' a m ust-read
book?
' a i r.
The P hantom Tollbooth' is 'The P hantom Tollbooth' is
a children's adventure novel, undoubtedly one m uch­
and m odern fai ry tale by Nor­ loved book. It is translated
ton J uster. It was published i n i nto many languages.
1 96 1, with illustrations by Jule Why is 'Bambi: A Life in
Feiffer. the Woods' considered a
It tells the story of a boy classic?
nam ed Milo who unexpect­
edly receives a magic toll­ T his book is the story
booth one afternoon. He about a deer named Bam­
decides to drive through it i n bi, and tells the story of his
h i s toy car.
The tol l booth transports
him to a land called the King­
dom of Wisdom. There, he
acqu i res two faithful com­
pan ions, has many adven­
tures, and goes on a q uest to
rescue the two princesses of
the kingdom (Rhyme and
Reason) from the castle of
 entire life. Bam bi is a roe
deer fawn born in a thicket.
From the beginning, the sto­
ry follows the fawn, through
his childish playfu l ness, acter Bam bi i s better
youth, tem ptation, love, and known as the cartoon hero
fear a l l the way until his of Walt Disney's full-length
adu lthood. It also narrates anim ated film Bambi.
how he struggles to survive
against h is chief enem y,
Man, the hu nter.
It was published in 1 923,
and was written by Felix
Salten. 'Bam bi' is a beautiful
story that is engaging both
to children and to adults.
Author Felix Salten rea l ly Architect!
loved nature and animals, Although 'The
and because of that, this sto­ Phantom Tollbooth'
ry is really m ag ical. The char- became a classic,
Juster wrote only a
few more books.
Instead, he spent
most of his working
life as an
architect.

G R EAT B O O KS F O R C H I LD R E N 79
 and an enemy i n the form of Mr. Cur­
ry. Paddi ngt on is very friendly,
When did the classic 'A ext remely pol it e and has a st rong
Bear Called Padding­ sense of rig ht and wrong.
ton' first a ppear? However, he a lso has a child-li ke
curiosit y, and is rat her naive. Life
I t is t he st ory about how among h u mans i n England is new
Paddi ngton Bear from and fasci nati ng to him, and he has
Peru comes to live wit h some difficulty adjusti ng. As a small
t he B rown family of bear, he also has some physical dif­
Number 32, Wi ndsor ficult y coping i n a world which i s
Gardens, London, and not desi gned for him, which makes
how he makes a friend in h i m appear somewhat clumsy. As
t he form of Mr. Gruber, a resu lt, Paddingt on often fi nds
h i mself in t rouble of some ki nd.
Hel l o ... Nevert heless, t hi ngs always seem
I'm here... to work out well for Paddi ngt on
in t he end.
'A Bear Cal led Paddington' fi rst
appeared i n 1 958. From t hen on
t he character Paddi ngt on has
been feat ured in more t han
twent y books writt en by B riti sh
aut hor Michael Bond and i llus­
t rat ed by Peggy Fort num and
ot her art i st s.
 What makes 'David Copper­
field' a m uch-loved book?

1D avid Copperfield' a novel

written by Charles Dickens, was
first published in 1 8 50. Consid­
ered the most autobiog raphical
of Dickens' novels, it follows the
life story of a man named David
Copperfield, who has to fend for
h imself at an early age, following
the death of his mother. This was
Dickens' favourite among his
own novels.
The lead character, David Cop­
perfield, spends his early years in
relative happiness with his loving
widowed mother. Soon after her
angaroo
marriage to another man nothing
The only novel remains the same. After g iving
by Charles Dickens birth to a baby boy, she and the
that includes the child die. David Copperfield
word 'kangaroo' struggles hard, and later, became
is 'David a proctor. How David ultimately
Copperfield'. fi nds fame and fortune as an
author is the plot of the classic
novel.

G R EAT B O O KS FOR C H I LD R E N 81
 IF YOU
GIVE A OUSE
A COOKIE

What makes 'If You

Give a Mouse a Cookie'
a great work for chil-
d ren?
wants to take a nap, since he
' It You Give a Mouse a work ed so hard. So the boy has
Cook ie,' starts with a boy to look for a small blanket, p il­
offering a cookie to a low, and box so that the m ouse
m ouse. When the mouse can take a nap.
receives the cook ie, he asks The mouse then asks for the
for a glass of m ilk. To drink boy to read him a book, and
the m i lk, he asks for a straw. when he saw the p ictures he
Once he is done eating he got excited and asked if he
asks to look in the m i rror to could m ake h is own d rawing.
m ake sure he doesn't have a So, he draws a p icture of his
m i lk m oustache. When he fam ily, and even signs it with a
looks in the m i rror he realizes pen.
he needs a trim, so he asks for
scissors.
After cutting his hair, he
sees that he has made a m ess,
and asks for a broom .
Once he starts cleaning h e
gets carried away, a n d starts
clean i n g the entire house.
After he's done cleaning, he

82
 Then he wants t o hang it up
on t he r efrigerat or h im self.
Once t he drawing is hangi ng
on t he fridge, he r ealizes t hat
he's t hirsty. So t hen he asks for
a g lass of mi lk, and when he
get s t he m i lk he t hen want s a
cookie t o go along wit h it .
'If You G ive a Mouse a Cook ie'
is a book writt en by Lau ra
N um eroff. It was i llustrat ed by
Felicia Bond, who also illustrat­
ed t he ot her books in t he seri es.
What makes 'The Magic Pud­
ding' a g reat work?
1T he Magic P udding' is t he
story of B u nyip B luegum t he
koala, who is pushed out of
hom e by t he size of his
u ncle's whiskers. Forced to
eat his m eals out side, he
d ecides t o go and see t he
world inst ead.
When he get s hung ry, he
m eet s two friends, Bi ll Bar­
nacle t he sailor and Sam
Sawnoff t he pengui n, who
own Albert, t he m agic
puddi ng. Albert can talk,
change flavour on request
a nd also has stick-like legs.
However m uch you at e,
Albert never d imi nished. His
only pleasure i s being eat en
and on his i nsistence, Bi ll
a nd Sam i nvite B u nyip t o
j o i n t hem for lunch.
Ther e are people out t o
steal magic puddi ng. P ud­
di ng-t hieves l ik e possum
a nd wom bat are after t he
m agic puddi ng. Even t he
power s-t hat-be, t he J udge,
t he Usher, t he Mayor and
t he Constable, seem part of
a grand plan t o wrangle t he
pudd ing out of t he hands
of it s rightfu l owners.
'The Magic P uddi ng' is
writt en by Norman Li ndsay
a nd was fi rst published i n
1918.
 Why is 'The Call
of the Wild' one of its
kind?

This book tells the story of a St. B er nard-Scotch

shepherd breed dog named B uck who is taken from
a life of comfort and thrown i nto the wilds of Alaska
and norther n Canada. Since the novel deals with
B uck as thoug h he were a person with thoughts
and em otions, it is known for its inter esti ng
plot.
What happens next in the life
of B uck? To know m ore about
thi s, read the m uch loved book
'The Call of the Wild'. lt was a nov­
el by Jack London published i n
Clifford the 1 903. The story was seriali sed in
the Saturday Evening Post i n the
Big Red Dog
summ er of 1 903, and was pub-
The titular character
of 'Clifford the Big
Red Dog' series was
almost named Tiny.
Author Norman
Bridwell changed
the name after his
wife suggested
the name Clifford.

84
 li shed a
m ont h later i n book
form . It was lat er ada pt ed t o
m ovies.
'The Call of the Wi ld' focuses m ai nly on the idea
of primitive life, t he tim e before cell phones, cars,
and houses.

Why is 'The Chi ldren of Green Knowe' a remark­

able work?

T oseland, who prefers to go by Tolly

t ha n any ot her nickname, com es t o
live wit h his great grandm ot her i n
t hei r ancient fami ly home o n e rai ny
day. Tolly has a great imagi nation t o
occupy hi s time, and soon, he looks
for ghost s from t he past . All t he
whi le, he list ens t o stories of t he
'Mary Poppins' is a
t hr ee g hosts: Toby, Alexander, a nd
series of eight
Li nnet, and even fi nds som e of t hei r
children's books
belongi ngs and makes friends wit h
written by P. L.
t hem.
Travers and
'The Chi ldren of Green Knowe' i s
published over the
t he fi rst i n a seri es of si x chi ldren's
period from 1 934 to
novels written by Lucy M. B ost on.
1 988. The books cen-
It was published in 1954.
tre on the magical
nanny Mary Poppins.
What
makes 'What Katy
Did' a remarkable story?

K aty is a g irl on the cusp of

adolescence. She has all k inds 'What Katy Did' is an 18 72
of plans for what she wants to children's book written by
do when she grows up. She Sarah Woolsey under her pen­
thinks of ways i n which she can name Susan Coolidge.
be a good person, and a credit
to her fam ily, but when it comes Why is it said that 'Little
to i mplementing them in her House in the Big Woods' has
day-to-day life, she genera l ly captivated generations of
just gets into trouble. readers?
After an accident leaves her '
bed-ridden, Katy is forced to little House in the Big
rethink her ambitions and her Woods' is the first book i n the
relationship with her fam ily. Little House book series by Lau­
Katy finds the courage to ra Ingalls Wilder. It was pub­
remember her daydreams and lished in 1932 and
the delightful plans she once
schemed. How she achieves
this is the plot of the much­
loved book, 'What Katy Did'.
At the end of the book she
becomes the heart of the
home, beloved by her fam i ly
for her unfailing k indness and
good cheer.
illustrated by Helen Sewell.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's story
begins i n 18 7 1 as a fou r-year
old g i rl living with her m other,
father, older sister Mary, and
baby sister Carrie.
In the course of this story,
she celebrates Christmas with
her fam i ly, Aunt Eliza, U ncle
Peter, and three cousi ns Alice,
Peter, and Ella.
She and her fam ily go to vist
her g randparents' house after
they harvest maple sap. Her Naming Nancy
parents even take her and her The famous girl­
siblings on a trip to the town detedive Nancy Drew
of Pepin, a few kilom etres might have been known
away from their house. by a different name.
At night, her father plays the In the early stages of the
fiddle for Laura's younger sib­ series, the publisher
l i ngs to send them off to sleep. considered naming her
He also tells them stories. Stella Strong, Nan
'Little House in the B i g Nelson or Diana
Woods' has captivated gener­ Dare, says
ations of readers. January internet
magazine.
Sneha Rao

G R EAT B O O KS FO R C H I LD R E N
Why is 'At the Back of the North
Wind' considered a classic?

T he book tells the story of a young

boy named Diamond. He is a very
sweet little boy who makes joy eve­
rywhere he goes. H is family is very
poor, and he sleeps over the stab les
where the horses are kept.
One n ig ht, he is visited by North
Wind, who is a beautiful woman, a
breeze, or a storm, as she chooses.
Diamond befr iends the North
Wind She lets him fly with her, tak­
ing h i m on several adventures.
Though the North Wind does
good deeds and helps people, she
also does seemingly ter rib le
thi ngs. On one of her assign­
ments, she must sink a ship. Yet
everything she does that seems
bad, finally leads to something
good.
'At the Back of the North Wind'
is a children's book written by
George MacDonald. There is
also a 'story within a story' i n this
book, which is worth reading on
its own. It was ser ialized in the
children's magazine Good
Words for the Young beginning
in 1 8 68 and was pub l ished i n
book form in 1 8 7 1 .

88
 Why is the 'The Tru m peter
of Krakow,' a one of its kind
book?

1T he Tr um pet er of Krakow'
is t he st ory of a young boy's
admi rat ion for t he bravery of a
long-dead yout h, a nd of how
t his encourages him to remai n
loyal t o hi s count ry, in t he face
of great danger.
Forced t o aba ndon t heir
farm t o t he invadi ng Tart ars,
Joseph Charnet ski a nd his par­
ent s flee t o Krakow wit h t he
only t hing t hat t h ey m anaged
t o salvage, a pr iceless fami ly
heir loom called t he Great Tar­
nov Crystal.
Tarnov Cryst a l is reput ed t o
have magical power s and wi ll
guarant ee vict ory t o anyone
who possesses it. So, t he Crys­
tal should be d elivered t o t he
A Curious Escape king only, before it falls i nt o t he
The authors of 'Curious wrong hands. Dest ined t o fulfi l l
George,' H. A. Rey and t he t ask, Joseph w a s i nspir ed
Margret Rey were forced by t he young t rum pet er of Kra­
to flee Paris during kow, who m et h is d eat h when
World War ll's German he alert ed t he cit y to an i nva­
occupation, according sion by t he Tart ars.
to the New York 'The Tr um pet er of Krakow'
Times. was writt en by Eric P. Kel ly.

m a kes 'The Little White
Horse' a masterpiece?
'
The Litt le Whit e Horse' nar­
rat es t he st ory of Maria Merry­
weat her.
The event s oft he novel begin
in 1 842. After her fat her dies in
debt, Maria Merryweat her
Anna Sewell's novel
'Black Beauty' is described
on its title page as
'translated from the
equine'.
her gov-
erness Mi ss
Heliot rope go t o
live at Moonacre Man-
or wit h Maria's uncle
Benjami n. Maria soon finds
t hat the cast le is m ore like
hom e t han anywhere else
she has lived.
While t here, Maria learns all
about her fam ily's hist ory. She
uncovers t he identity of t he
dog Wrolf, a nd t he beautiful
a pparition of t he Litt le Whit e
Horse, first seen on h e r way
to t he cast le.
'The Litt le Whit e Horse' is
a classic book writt en by
Elizabet h Goudge. It
was fi rst published
i n t he year 1946.
 RAGGEDY
ANN

i nt r o d u ce d
to the public i n
the 19 18 book 'The
Why is 'Raggedy Ann' a Raggedy Ann Stories'.
m uch-loved book? When a doll was marketed
with the book, the concept
R aggedy Ann is a rag doll had great success. A sequel,
with red hair and has an 'Raggedy Andy Stories'
i nteresting triangle-shaped ( 1920), introduced the char­
nose. She is a character cre­ acter of her brother, Rag­
ated by American writer gedy Andy.
Johnny Gruelle that
a ppeared in a series of
books he wrote and illus­
trated for young chil­
dren.
The character
was created in
19 1 5 as a
What makes 'My Father's
Dragon' a one of a kind book?
E lmer Elevator meets an old
alley cat one night. Elmer takes
the cat home. Though his
mother makes him get rid of it,
the cat is touched enough by
his deed to return the favou r.
The cat narrates Elmer about
her last travel to a strange
place, known as Wild Island.
The island is populated by vari-
C. S. Lewis destroyed the
first version of 'The Lion,
the Witch and the
Wardrobe' when his
friends criticised it;
he rewrote it
from scratch.
92
ous beasts. No man dares
to go to it for fea r of what
horrors may be in store.
There the cat meets the
most fascinating, and sad­
dest inhabitant of the place
- a baby dragon!
The baby dragon, once
hurt his wing, and fell out of
the sky. Thus he happened to
land on the island.
Once the animals fou nd
him, instead of aiding the
dragon, they decided to hold
him prisoner. Shocked by this,
Elmer decides to go and rescue
the dragon.
My Father's Dragon series is a
trilogy. The first book, 'My
Father's Dragon,' was written by
Ruth Stiles Gannett.
What m akes the book 'Swal­
lows and Amazons' unique?
1S wallows and Amazons,' is
the first book in the Swallows
and Amazons series by Arthur
Ransome. It was published i n
1 930 and the story is set i n the
Lake District in August 1 929,
d u ring the last fortnight of the
summer holidays.
The Walker children (John,
Susan, Titty and Roger) sai l a
borrowed dinghy named Swal­
low, and the Blackett children
(Nancy and Peggy), sail a d i n­
ghy named Amazon.
The Wal kers a re stayi ng at
Holly Howe (a farm near the
lake) during the school holi­
days, and want to cam p on a n
island i n t h e lake; t h e Blacketts
l ive in a house (Beckfoot)
nearby. When the chil­
dren meet, they agree to
join forces against a com­
mon enemy - the Black­
etts' uncle J i m Turner.
The children meet on
the island which they
call Wild Cat Island, and
have a series of adven­
tures i nvolving sai l i ng,
camping, and exploring
the island. The story
includes a good deal of
everyday Lake District
life of the farmers and
the charcoal burners
working i n the woods.
93
 Here's a contest for our readers.
Identify the AUTHORS, of the
classics given here,
All you need to do is to send us an e-mail,
naming the author of each book with the
proper n umber.
(PLEASE GIVE YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS AND
PHONE NUMBER ALSO IN THE E-MAIL)
You are also welcome to send
your answers by post.

Ten win ners wi l l be awarded prizes.

In case there are more than

ten correct entries, the winners
will be chosen by lot.

SCIENCE SET 2 i n 1
u@�GJ@ �
�UCKY WI NN ERS ��@�[j)@
 WUTH ERING C R I M E AND
H EIGHTS T H E WASTE LAND P U N I S H M ENT

PARADISE LOST ONE H U N D R E D YEARS

THE OLD MAN O F SOLITUDE
AND THE SEA

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 1. Shona Pandey 6. Vikas Saigal
Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Haryana .
2. Shivam Gupta 7. Saurabh Pathak
Uttarakhand. Uttar Pradesh.
3. Nidhi Ann Kattathara 8. Shreya Sudarshan
Kerala. Bengaluru.
4. Sambit Ranjan Satapathy 9. K. Padmashree
Odisha. Chennai.
5. Roshan Poojary 1 0. Athmaja prem
Mumbai. Kerala.

Umang Dev Sharma, New some information to the

Delhi, points out a correc­
tion to the Tel l Me Why
issue on Tourist Spots in
India (March).
He refers to the mention
on Page 83, where it is
wrongly mentioned that
the the river Teesta flows
through Sandakphu. Actu­
a lly, it does not.
Tanay Sheth has added
issue on Smallest Countries
of the World (February). He
says that apart from being
one among the smallest
countries, Jordan is home
to world's most exciting
demolition Derby.
Thank you readers for your
valuable feedback.
- Editor

Question sent by:
Smita Sudarshan on e-mail
Send us your questions
E mail: tellmewhy@mmp.in
G R EAT B O O KS FOR C H I LD R E N
Question of the Month
Why is Antarctica a continent while
the Arctic is not?
The two polar regions are often con­
fused because of having similar names.
But there are a lot of d ifferences
between the Arctic and Antarctica. The
most important difference is that Ant­
a rctica is a continent while the Arctic is
a floating ice cap.
A continent is a very large mass of
land ideally separated by water. Ant­
arctica, with a landmass of around
1 4,000,000 sq km i n area, is therefore a
continent. In Antarctica the ice in some
places are severa l kilometres thick. Still
if we try to remove the ice cover of Ant­
a rctica we can find landmass under it.
The Arctic, on the other hand, is a sheet
of ice that floats in the Arctic Ocean.
There is no land underneath it. So the
Arctic is not a continent.
97
98 T e l l M e Why
wherever
you go l