Once Upon a Monsoon Time

by Ruskin Bond, Debashis Deb (Illustrator)

These supplementary readers introduce children to the enchanting world of reading. The value of reading for pleasure and enrichment has been widely recognized by language teachers and this series hopes to motivate children develop the reading habit.

Once Upon A Monsoon Time is Ruskin Bond's recollections of his childhood spent in India in which his father stands out as a central figure. Whether it is in the old palace by the Arabian Sea or in his grandmother's house in Dehra Dun, young Ruskin always has plenty to do and lots of friends to spend his time with,which include not only his father but also Dukhi, the palace gardener and Bansi, the tonga-driver. But his greatest friends are the trees...

111 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2006

About the author

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.

Reviews

[Bettina Lippenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meine Meinung:
Ruskin lebt in seiner Kindheit, in einem Palast. Sein Vater ist Lehrer. Kurz vor dem Krieg, pflanzen sein Vater und Ruskin, ein paar Bäume und Pflanzen auf einer kleinen Insel. Er muss, nachdem sein Vater in den Kriegswirren Dienst tut, nach Dehra zur Großmutter ziehen. Sein Vater lebt solange in Dehli. Leider stirbt sein Vater und Ruskin kehrt nach 20 Jahren von England in seine Heimat zurück.

Die Geschichten sind rührend, erzählen von den Kindertagen des Ruskin Bond. Sein Vater ist ein sehr kluger, aufgeschlossener und weiser Mensch. Keine Frage bleibt unbeantwortet, bis auf eine. Mir tut es leid das Ruskin ihn schon so früh verloren hat. Ich rieche die Mangos an den Bäumen, laufe durch die Straßen und erlebe seinen Tag. Klettere mit ihm in die Bäume und sehe wie sie sich bewegen.

Traurig für mich ist, das Ruskin den Tonga Fahrer Bansi, nicht wieder findet. Gerne wüsste ich, was mit der Rani und Dukhi passiert ist und ob die Dinge im Baum noch vorhanden sind.

Mein Fazit:
Erzählungen die einen zurückversetzen in das alte Hindustan.
Hoffnungsvoll, traurig und voller Erinnerung.