The Glass Tree
by M Mukundan and illustrated by Poonam Athalye
“The Glass Tree” by M Mukundan and illustrated by Poonam Athalye. Published by Katha. Translated from the Malayalam original prize winning story by K M Sherrif and Neerada Suresh. A delightful story of little Unni and his Mutthashi (grandmother) who share a common love for stories.
Well, the typical roles are reversed here! Unni, the grandson, loves to tell stories and has lots of them at his helm. And Mutthashi, the grandmother, cannot go to sleep without listening to one of his colourful tales. Not usual isn’t it 😀 A bedtime ritual of an Unnikatha for Mutthashi as she calls it!
On one such occasion, Unni comes up with a lovely story of the glass tree. As he narrates the story, he can visualise the pictures in it appearing on a bare wall in front of him. The story of a chief whose name is Kuruman Panikkan. When Kuruman goes to pray to an old stone idol under a huge champaka tree, he meets a stranger called Melkorran who tells him that the tree is dying. He offers to make a beautiful glass tree for Kuruman which will never grow old or shed its leaves.
Quite an intriguing and irresistible offer. Will the chief accept it? Which tree could it be? Is a glass tree better than the Champaka tree? What happened after that? Did Mutthashi like this story? Well the mystery can’t be let out.
An engaging and thought provoking story apt for 5+ year olds. The book has been chosen by Robinage as best reads on environment. Loved the beautiful illustrations particularly the cover pic where the look of contentment in both Unni and Mutthashi’s faces as they get transported to the story sitting on a Champaka tree accompanied by a cat and some birds has come out so well. Discovered this gem of a book in the translation buzzaar of funky rainbow. Brought back memories of me and my paternal grandma. She used to read a bedtime story for me every night when I was 5-6 years old.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Katha here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.