STOPPING BY THE WOODS : BY VIJAY KUMAR (HARDCOVER)

The stories in the volume are reminiscent of Aesop’s fables – a hare pays with her life for being honest, an early bird itself becomes the prey, street dogs get empowered, modern technology plays havoc with avian life, a king crow outwits a greedy farmer, the pelican sisters’ dreams are shattered, a farmer plays a trick to get rid of the rats, a zebra abandons her new-born baby, an intellectually-challenged son becomes the leader following the dynastic line of succession, a fox-as-doctor fleeces his patients, the poor animals suffer humiliation and ill-treatment, a young rat bells the cat, a fox becomes the king but meets with a cruel fate, a moorhen is tricked into a love trap by a drake, the ants teach the elephant a lesson, the weaver birds vie with each other in beautifying their nests, the wasps realize the power of their sting…

While children might read them as animal fables, the adult reader may find in some of them a meaning beyond the written word – a reflection of the social and political climate of our times.