The Princess with the Longest Hair

The Princess with the Longest Hair

Komilla Raote

illustrated by Vandana Bist 1998

 Somehow I found this book from Kahani Tree, a children's bookstore in Mumbai.  It's not another Rapunzel story, but rather a tale of the princess Parineeta who is not ready to be married or admired from the confines of the palace.  Instead she selflessly gives of her beautiful hair, to not only help others, but turn the bare mountainside near the palace into a lush country.

Leela and the Watermelon

Leela and the Watermelon

Marilyn Hirsh and Maya Narayan

pictures by Marilyn Hirsh 1971

    I'm like Leela and love watermelon!  This cute story takes place in India where one of the authors, Maya Narayan, said that it happened to her!  Leela loves watermelon and one day swallows a seed.  Her teasing brother tells her that now she will grow a watermelon inside her.  This makes Leela very worried.  So worried that she even stops eating watermelon and becomes concerned for the very pregnant woman she sees at the marketplace.  When she learns that the woman had a baby and wasn't round from swallowing a watermelon seed, Leela realizes her brother was teasing her.  Her grandmother treats her to the biggest watermelon.  We loved the pictures portraying life in India- the clothes, the cooking and the marketplace.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

Charlotte has been requesting this book a lot lately.  She really likes the story.  It's a classic Indian tale often found in collections with other stories.  This version has wonderful illustrations with a simple color palate.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

Lillian Quigley

illustrated by Janice Holland

Basically the story is that six blind men describe an elephant.  But since they are all feeling different parts of the elephant's body, they are all describing it as something different.

"How smooth!  An elephant is like a wall."

"How sharp!  An elephant is like a spear."

"How wide!  An elephant is like a fan."

After an argument, the men learn that they must put all the parts together.

"Each of us knows only a part.  To find out the whole truth

we must put all the parts together."