Monkey Trouble and other grandfather stories
by Ruskin Bond and illustrated by Priya Kuriyan
“Monkey Trouble and other grandfather stories” by Ruskin Bond and illustrated by Priya Kuriyan. Published by Red Turtle. A comic book version of three delightful stories from the master storyteller featuring feisty grandfathers.
The title story is about Ruskin’s own experiences in childhood of having a little monkey as his pet. His grandfather had a weakness for unusual pets which is told in quite a few of his stories. This time he bought a miserable looking monkey from a street entertainer. They named her Tutu and Ruskin’s grandmother thought that she would be less troublesome as she was a girl. But Tutu would prove her wrong completely. She was so mischievous that she kept the entire family on their toes! Specially Aunty Ruby and Uncle Benji :) Their adventures or rather misadventures are going to keep the reader chuckling or even guffawing at times.
The second story is “Eye of the Eagle” featuring little Jai and his grandfather. Jai takes their flock of sheep grazing up the hills and spots a Golden Eagle eyeing the lambs. He cannot afford to lower his guard after the eagle snatches a lamb. When his shepherd dog Motu is injured by the eagle and his grandfather is not well, Jai has to save his flock single handedly from the eagle. Can he live up to his grandfather’s advice and expectations?
The last story is “A Special Tree” and describes the bonding between Rakesh and his grandfather. They plant a cherry seed and watch as it grows along with Rakesh into a tree that refuses to die despite all the challenges it faces. This story is also published as “The Cherry Tree”.
I had gifted this book to my son on his seventh birthday last year. He enjoyed the book and had already read the last story before in its chapter book version. The first story was very hilarious and Tutu became an instant favourite. Why not! Given that we weren’t troubled by her and someone else was at the receiving end of her pranks :D The illustrations in the book are colourful and charming making it an enjoyable read. We were happy to see a comic version of the stories of one of our favourite writers.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for anyone aged 7/8 and above.
Reasons to Read
This is one of the very few or probably the only Ruskin Bond book(s) in comic/graphic format.
For that much needed laughter time and the joy that humour brings!
Where to buy from?
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.