Three books for children

It is customary these days to compare any new publication for children 8212; whether it be fictional forays by celebrity writers like Madonna or simply a republication of old myths 8212; with J.K. Rowling8217;s Harry Potter series. It8217;s unfair, perhaps, but Lion Boy passes the test. Incidentally, not only is this volume festooned with original illustrations, it has its own musical score. Robert Lockhart8217;s compositions are printed here, for kids to play them at leisure.

First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood
By Thrity Umrigar
HarperCollins India
Price: Rs 295

This is less a book for children, more a nostalgic glance back to a Parsi childhood in Bombay. Thrity Umrigar, Ohio-based author of the novel Bombay Time, writes of her pampered childhood in a city of extremes, of her adventures in a Catholic school, of devoted reading of the youth magazine J.S. to follow the lives of overseas pop stars like the Osmonds and Peter Frampton, of a young girl8217;s attempts to follow the country8217;s political developments as Indira Gandhi ends her experiment with Emergency and announces general elections in 1977. And, finally, of her goodbyes to the city and its people and her departure for America.

A Killer in Kailash
By Satyajit Ray
Translated by Gopa Majumdar
Puffin, Price: Rs 99

Puffin is publishing each of Ray8217;s immensely popular Feluda adventures as slim, stand-alone volumes. As Feluda continues with his scattered reading 8212; his philosophy being that you never know when you may need to summon some obscure fact, so it8217;s better to be prepared for any eventuality 8212; Topshe and Jatayu join him in a dash to Ellora to try to prevent the smuggling of rare sculptures. In other books just out, they strike adventure in places as farflung as Gangtok and Bombay.