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Tales from India
Discover a world of classic tales from India.
Come on a journey with renowned storyteller Jamila Gavin as she writes of great floods, legendary romances, and epic battles between good and evil. This collection of Hindu tales, including the birth of the gods, tales of creation, and the arrival of humans, is illuminated by Amanda Hall's exquisite artwork, which reflects the influence of both classical and contemporary Indian art.
Come on a journey with renowned storyteller Jamila Gavin as she writes of great floods, legendary romances, and epic battles between good and evil. This collection of Hindu tales, including the birth of the gods, tales of creation, and the arrival of humans, is illuminated by Amanda Hall's exquisite artwork, which reflects the influence of both classical and contemporary Indian art.
88 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2011
About the author
Jamila Gavin
89 books69 followersJamila Gavin was born in Mussoorie, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas, to an Indian father and an English mother. Jamila has written many books with multicultural themes for children and young adults. She won the Whitbread Children’s Book Award in 2000 and was runner-up for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Her work has been adapted for stage and television. Jamila Gavin lives in England.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 21, 2012
This is a beautiful book, a standard by which any book on creation and cosmological myths should be founded. The stories are simple and straightforward, easy to understand but complex enough to make sense and to provide interest to read further. Gavin has chosen the tales well and the book is filled with light and dark, anger and happiness, fear and harmony, joy and sorrow. The stories are a good glimpse at the rich mythos and pantheon that make up Hinduism. I found myself appreciating the beauty of some aspects of the faith in a way I hadn't before. Doing that to someone with a graduate degree in religion who is reading a book aimed at intermediate readers is impressive. (Or maybe I'm just easily wowed.)
Even better, though were the illustrations. Amanda Hall's artwork looks like it was done by someone who has trained for years in the traditional Hindu methods. While these look simple and two dimensional, they are actually quite complex in structure as consistency of form, shape, color, contrast, and use of space all follow specific rules. To make beautiful art that fits those rules is a talent and Hall has it. This artwork could easily hang side by side with the paintings I purchased in Rajastan. (Yes I paid several times what I could have because I have sucker written on my forehead and I can't haggle to save my life but this stuff is so beautiful the artists deserve every penny. I like pretend the money actually went to the artists, too.)
So if you have any interest in Hindu myth or culture, or pretty pictures, check out this book. Highly recommended.
Even better, though were the illustrations. Amanda Hall's artwork looks like it was done by someone who has trained for years in the traditional Hindu methods. While these look simple and two dimensional, they are actually quite complex in structure as consistency of form, shape, color, contrast, and use of space all follow specific rules. To make beautiful art that fits those rules is a talent and Hall has it. This artwork could easily hang side by side with the paintings I purchased in Rajastan. (Yes I paid several times what I could have because I have sucker written on my forehead and I can't haggle to save my life but this stuff is so beautiful the artists deserve every penny. I like pretend the money actually went to the artists, too.)
So if you have any interest in Hindu myth or culture, or pretty pictures, check out this book. Highly recommended.
June 23, 2012
Really gorgeous art and production values. I'm not sure what to think of the adaptations, though. I mean, they're well done, and the language is simple enough for children. (Not very young ones, but maybe 7-10 and up? I don't have a good sense of these things, and the book provides no guidelines.) But like most myths, they are sometimes violent and weird.
I think that the main issue with this is that its window of usefulness is a little narrow. A bit violent for very young children, and a bit juvenile for teenagers. But feel free to tell me I'm wrong. :)
I think that the main issue with this is that its window of usefulness is a little narrow. A bit violent for very young children, and a bit juvenile for teenagers. But feel free to tell me I'm wrong. :)
March 8, 2024
This is another of the Templar classics this time as the title says on the tales from India. Now as the introduction says alot of these tales are so old that they either pre-date written word or there are so many interpretations that there is no one "original story".
As a result you have here several stylised stories which I have to say are both entertaining and creative. That coupled with art commissioned to accompany them you have a colourful fun book telling several of the more famous stories.
As a side note one of the things I love about this series is that under the dust jacket there is a beautiful wrap around artwork which almost make me want to lose the jacket and go with the wrap around. I think India art is some of the most colourful historic art I have seen (and I will say I have not seen much so do not take my work for it).
As a result you have here several stylised stories which I have to say are both entertaining and creative. That coupled with art commissioned to accompany them you have a colourful fun book telling several of the more famous stories.
As a side note one of the things I love about this series is that under the dust jacket there is a beautiful wrap around artwork which almost make me want to lose the jacket and go with the wrap around. I think India art is some of the most colourful historic art I have seen (and I will say I have not seen much so do not take my work for it).
xx-dnf-skim-reference
October 6, 2022Part of the reason I'm not finishing this is because I was looking for something different; I'm not so into creation myths but do like folktales, trickster tales, fables of wisdom.
More significantly, it bothered me very much that the best and most beautiful people were the most fair, and the evil one were, literally, very dark. Just, please, no.
October 2022
More significantly, it bothered me very much that the best and most beautiful people were the most fair, and the evil one were, literally, very dark. Just, please, no.
October 2022
April 23, 2020
I read this out loud to the children for their literature. I found this really interesting. These are obviously very well known tales from India, and yet they were all so new and unknown to me. I am grateful for the chance to learn more about another culture. It made me think.
September 12, 2018
Lovely illustrations, nice simplified narrative of basic Hindu myths.
December 14, 2019
loved the tales
February 25, 2020
Wonderful! I love learning about Hindu mythology. Also, the artwork in this book is amazing!
November 27, 2020
Beautiful illustrations! Approachable retellings of Hindu creation stories and origin stories of Hindu Gods.
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November 26, 2021Inaccuracy overload.
May 7, 2023
Beautiful!
December 2, 2011
Reason for Reading: I enjoy reading mythology. Hindu mythology is relatively new to me and I have been reading it a bit this year.
This is a beautiful large illustrated children's book that can be read by anyone interested in the stories of Hindu mythology. The book starts with the tales of creation, the creation of the gods, creation of man and finally various adventures of the gods and half-gods. I find the stories to be much more fantastical than other mythology but they hold strong to the same themes of good vs. evil, gods vs. man, and stories of how things came to be. I also find the Hindi tales to be much more romantic than others as well. There are many stories of love along with warriors and battles. Many of the Hindu gods are introduced here and this is an excellent book for an introduction to Hindu mythology.
The illustrations are beautiful and the author has used authentic Indian art styles from the past and present, especially using miniature painting for the fine details of her paintings. The gods are fantastic creatures with many arms, parts human/parts animal, or simply wondrous creatures and they come to their full splendour under Hall's brush. A beautiful book to add to any mythology collection and perfect as a primer on basic Hindu myths.
This is a beautiful large illustrated children's book that can be read by anyone interested in the stories of Hindu mythology. The book starts with the tales of creation, the creation of the gods, creation of man and finally various adventures of the gods and half-gods. I find the stories to be much more fantastical than other mythology but they hold strong to the same themes of good vs. evil, gods vs. man, and stories of how things came to be. I also find the Hindi tales to be much more romantic than others as well. There are many stories of love along with warriors and battles. Many of the Hindu gods are introduced here and this is an excellent book for an introduction to Hindu mythology.
The illustrations are beautiful and the author has used authentic Indian art styles from the past and present, especially using miniature painting for the fine details of her paintings. The gods are fantastic creatures with many arms, parts human/parts animal, or simply wondrous creatures and they come to their full splendour under Hall's brush. A beautiful book to add to any mythology collection and perfect as a primer on basic Hindu myths.
May 10, 2015
Tales from India; Stories of Creation and the Cosmos, by Jamila Gavin, is a stunning work of art, as well as a fantastic compiled retelling of Indian tales - it is in the Folklore genre. The first story begins a theme for the book of stories rich in Hindu tradition, with a beautiful story about the creation of the world; beginning with a "white sea of milk". The story goes on to tell of the battle between good and evil, and continues on to demons, the sun and the moon, and more. Each story in the book is a part of the Hindu religion, a walk through time. I rated this book 5 stars because I thought that the illustrations (by Amanda Hall) accomplished as vivid of a story telling as the actual words did, and when the words are coupled with the stunning images, 5 stars is actually not enough. I know next to nothing about the Hindu religion, yet I feel that I have learned quite a bit from reading this book. As a teacher of young children, I would bring this book into my classroom to launch a discussion on world creation stories (in a school where this is allowed).
November 13, 2011
The exotic land of India has fascinated people around the world for generations upon generations. That could be in part from the classic tales stemming from the region. Here, young readers are exposed to Hindu stories of creation and the cosmos, including the birth of the gods, tales of creation and the arrival of humans. Large chunks of text accompanied by less-frequent illustrations make this a good choice for children making the transition to middle reader. The sophistication of the writing and tales also plays into its appropriateness for older children. Though this is not a typical picture book, there is still plenty of art to enjoy. The illustrations here are exquisite, capturing the feel of each tale in both full spreads and small depictions. From beginning to end, this compilation will captivate its readers.
August 21, 2015
A nice introduction to tales I've never before read and rarely been exposed to. I found it a good, concise collection of some of India's creation tales. It was nice to see that the illustrator put in a real effort to hearken back to traditional Indian art, though I'm still a bit baffled why an Indian artist wasn't chosen as the illustrator in the first place. It's probably not one I'll re-read, but it was good enough to get me interested in reading more Indian tales.
January 18, 2014
Beautiful art.
I really liked
How the World Began about a big milky sea of origin
Manu, the Fish and the Flood another creation story involving a flood and an arc
How the River Ganga Came to Earth
Hanuman the Greatest who rescues Sita
The Choosing about the beautiful Damayanti
and
Three Steps to Save the Universe
I really liked
How the World Began about a big milky sea of origin
Manu, the Fish and the Flood another creation story involving a flood and an arc
How the River Ganga Came to Earth
Hanuman the Greatest who rescues Sita
The Choosing about the beautiful Damayanti
and
Three Steps to Save the Universe
September 21, 2012
I dawdled over this book, but it's because it's so captivating to look at. Each time I read one of the tales, I would spend so much time examining the beautiful artwork. The cadence of the stories is also lovely, which made it a great overall package.
March 12, 2013
Beautiful illustrations and wonderful stories.
October 6, 2013
This is a really beautiful picture book. The illustrations are enchanting.
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June 9, 2015Recommended for young child of 4 years age.
March 27, 2018
I love this children's book that explains different tales from India.
May 4, 2018
Read aloud with the kids. Great overview of the most famous Hindu tales.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews