It’s late in the evening; the house has fallen silent, the lights are dimmed. The children gather around Grandma, clamouring for a story. What will it be tonight, a fairy tale of sleeping princesses and flying horses, a funny yarn about a wily animal and an unsuspecting human, or a chilling account of a bloodthirsty demoness that will drive sleep from the children’s eyes? This book contains ten thrilling, imaginative and amusing grandmother’s tales that have been all-time favourites with children. Here is the story of the prince who finds a beautiful princess in a sky-piercing tower, spellbound in sleep, with a golden stick at her head and a silver stick at her feet. Then there is Hiraman, the magic singing bird, who saves a good king from his scheming rakshashi queen. On the lighter side, there is the story of the barber who is confronted with a terrifying Mamdo Demon, but undaunted, proceeds to trick the spectre into submission; while a Brahma Demon finds the afterlife a little too complicated for his comfort when his wives from previous lifetimes turn up to seek his company. For all those who love speaking animals, there’s the tale of the otters Hondu and Bhondu, who, unable to divide a fish between them satisfactorily, end up losing it to a cunning jackal; and of Phos-phos, the snake who tries to be non-violent but finds the going difficult since people won’t take him seriously as a snake unless he raises his hood. Retold with extraordinary flair and ingenuity that bring these age-old stories to life for a new generation of readers, and accompanied by superb illustrations that add a whole new dimension to the imaginary landscapes, Grandmother’s Tales is a book all children will want to lay their hands on.
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