Grandfather tells many stories about his native India in answer to Ravi and Anjali’s questions, such as the tale of a procession of elephants on the feast of Divaali when he was a boy. This story includes facts about life in India, a list of cooking spices, and descriptions of Indian animals.
Primary (ages 6-9)
Material appropriate for primary age groups
Tiger and Turtle
Tiger says he saw the flower first, but Turtle disagrees. Through pages of glorious color, Tiger and Turtle continue their argument. They’re worthy opponents as a tiger’s claws could not harm a turtle’s shell any more than a turtle’s feet could outrun a tiger’s.
Geeta’s Day
Geeta’s day begins as most children’s do, but when she sets off to school, passing the kamar at the forge, the bhandari shaving a customer, and the mali weaving garlands of flowers to offer to the temple gods, her world begins to beat to the distinctive rhythm of Indian village life. Geeta’s Day highlights the unique things that make her world special, but it also reveals that much is the same for children everywhere.
The Elephant’s Child
This energetic book takes young readers on a journey with a very curious baby elephant who has one question on his mind: What do crocodiles eat for dinner? But whenever he asks this question, he gets a spanking! Though he’s never seen a crocodile before, the baby elephant sets out to the banks of a river to find the answer to his question.
The Peacock’s Pride
A retelling of a traditional tale from northern India in which a conceited peacock learns that beauty has many forms.
Tiger, Tiger
A bored young boy uses a magic feather to form a tiger, and then must use the feather to save his village when the tiger gets hungry.
Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle
Nubs, an Iraqi dog of war, never had a home or a person of his own. He was the leader of a pack of wild dogs living off the land and barely surviving. But Nubs’s life changed when he met Marine Major Brian Dennis. The two formed a fast friendship, made stronger by Dennis’s willingness to share his meals, offer a warm place to sleep, and give Nubs the kind of care and attention he had never received before. Nubs became part of Dennis’s human “pack” until duty required the Marines to relocate a full 70 miles away–without him. Nubs had no way of knowing that Marines were not allowed to have pets.
The Hungry Coat
After being forced to change to a fancy new coat to attend a party, Nasrettin Hoca tries to feed his dinner to the coat, reasoning that it was the coat that was the invited guest.
The Legend of the Persian Carpet
This book tells how the first Persian carpet was created to replace King Balash’s lost treasure.
Passing By
Yael peeks out from her balcony and sees everything that’s happening in the street below, from the cat in the garden next door to a big red tractor chugging down the road; finally, she sees the best thing–her dad on his way home!