Category Great Books for Children

            ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is a 1908 children’s book of twelve chapters by Kenneth Grahame. The book tells the adventures of the animal friends Mole, Rat, Mr. Badger and Mr. Toad. It has been read and re-read with pleasure by children and their parents through multiple generations.

            Mole is cleaning his home, but gets fed up with the work he is doing. He decides to leave his underground home, and take a walk in the fresh air. He eventually finds himself at the river, which he has never seen before, and meets the water rat Ratty, who takes him for a boat ride. Mole and Ratty quickly become friends. Ratty invites Mole to stay with him, and teaches him how to row a boat. In the summer, 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 interest in visiting another of Ratty’s friends, Badger, who lives in the Wild Wood. Ratty does not want to take him there, because he knows that Badger does not like visitors. Their story continues with more adventures than ever.

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            ‘The 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 mainly focuses on the intense bond between the tree and the boy. For example, even though the boy ages, and becomes an adult as the story progresses, the apple tree prefers to affectionately call him boy till the end.

            In an effort to make the boy happy at each of these stages, the tree gives him parts of herself, which he can transform into material items. The tree gives the boy her fruits for money, her branches for building him a house, and her trunk for building him a new boat. With every stage of giving, the tree seems happy. Their amazing relationship continues, even after the boy grows into a very old man.

            ‘The Giving Tree’ was written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein and was first published in 1964.

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            The story of Snow White, a princess who was the most beautiful woman in her kingdom, is one of the world’s best loved tales.

            Snow White’s stepmother, the Queen who is the second most beautiful woman in the kingdom, becomes extremely jealous of Snow White, and grows to despise her because of her superior beauty. The Queen orders a huntsman to murder Snow White. The huntsman takes pity on Snow White, and allows her to escape into the forest. She takes refuge 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 Queen finds out that Snow White is still alive.

            ‘Snow White’ is a well known and very widely read children’s book. It is a beautiful, creatively written German fairy tale. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ‘Grimms’ Fairy Tales’. The Grimms completed their final revision of the story in 1854.

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               ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ is a children’s fantasy book. The title character of the book is a living wooden puppet, carved by a toy maker named Geppetto who makes the puppet his adoptive son. Pinocchio is initially disobedient and mischievous. He abandons his father and goes off in search of adventure. The story takes a turn as Pinocchio is saved by a fairy. The fairy educates Pinocchio, and manages to get him to change his ways. As a reward Pinocchio gets the best gift in his life, which continues to make the plot of the book interesting.

               The book of thirty six chapters is written by Carlo Collodi. It has been translated into some 250 different languages. There have been various adaptations of ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’, the best known of which continues to be the 1940 animated film Pinocchio, from Walt Disney.

               The popular myth of somebody’s nose growing longer when he or she lies was introduced in ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’.

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               ‘The Tinder Box’ is a fantasy short story for children by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

                The main character in the story, a soldier, is sent by a witch to visit an underground treasure trove. The witch tells him that he can bring back as much money as he can carry, and keep it for himself, but he must 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 appeared in Andersen’s first collection of fairy tales was published in 1835 and was translated into English in 1846. The book was the subject of the first Danish animated film, released in 1946.

                There are also several similarities between ‘The Tinder Box’ and the stories ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’ from ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, a work with which Andersen had been familiar since childhood.

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            Who doesn’t like to read enchanting folk tales from the mysterious Arabian lands? ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ is a compilation 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. Some of the tales, including ‘Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp’, ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’, and ‘The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor’ were added by European translators.

            Despite the many differences between editions, one element they have in common is the frame story of King Shahryar and his wife, the storyteller Scheherazade. The stories themselves belong to a variety of different genres, including adventure, comedy, fantasy and tragedy.

            It is often regarded as a work that shows, man’s unending will to overcome defeat.

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