“The message that one should read to find treasure in Manjiri Prabhu’s story is likely to resonate with many parents who wonder why their children do not read.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
This is the second in the series of an anthology with a gimmick that children will love. One side has scary ghost stories, the other, when you turn it topsy turvy, adventures. The illustrations are designed to catch the eye and the type is big and the layout easy. Where the ghost stories are concerned perhaps they lack a little of that Ruskin Bond creepiness, barring one or two, a toddler with a missing shoe, a rather entertaining Portuguese pirate who haunts in rhyme and The Ghosts of Tikki Haveli which sets up a story that is very different.
The adventure stories span runaway elephants and Doberman like teachers, not to mention treasure hunts, following the tried and tested Enid Blyton format which has proved most popular with Indian children and their parents. The message that one should read to find treasure in Manjiri Prabhu’s story is likely to resonate with many parents who wonder why their children do not read.
All in all children will have fun turning to the different sides with their different covers just for the fun of it and exchanging notes on their favourite stories.
Reviewed by:
Anjana Basu
Added 2nd March 2019
