World Book Day special: 10 timeless folktales

new delhi — Here’s a special gift for children on World Book Day today — India’s finest writers have come out with a riveting book about 10 timeless folktales.

The Puffin Book of Folktales is a motley treasure of heart-warming folktales by master storytellers such as Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, Devdutt Pattanaik, Kamala Das, Paro Anand and others, with each author adding an own special touch.

The book brings to life India’s glorious cultural heritage in all its richness, along with generous doses of fun. Puffin India has partnered with Flipkart and Unesco for the exclusive release of this edition on World Book Day on the online store.

According to Sohini Mitra, associate publisher of Puffin (Penguin Random House India), the vision is to nurture and spread the joy of reading, and make books and stories accessible to one and all.

“In keeping with the ethos of World Book Day which celebrates stories, books and the love for reading, we are delighted to bring to our readers an exquisite collection of folktales by India’s leading authors,” she says.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Unesco and Flipkart on this wonderful initiative! The Puffin Book of Folktales features delightful stories and is available in an affordable paperback edition,” she adds.

The other authors who have contributed to the book are Manjula Padmanabhan, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Shashi Deshpande, A K Ramanujan and Meera Uberoi.

Nishit Garg, senior director (general merchandise), who also heads books at Flipkart, says it is in fairytales that one begins to see and chase his or her first dreams. “On this World Book Day, we hope to bring every child closer to the world of dreams and possibilities by encouraging them to read,” he says.

Unesco’s sector head and programme specialist for culture Junhi Han feels a collection of folktales such as this entertains and fascinates, encourages reading and listening among children, and helps them discover and rediscover India’s rich oral heritage. — PTI