Childrens Book Hathi Chitis Tales of India by Reshma Sapre Review

Reading is a big part of our day, we spend several hours a day reading and looking at books in our house.  I believe that its so important to expose my children to a variety of books.  I have recently been given a wonderful opportunity to review two books from Hathi Chiti Books for Kids, In the Indian Night Sky and The Traveller The Tiger and The Very Clever Jackal by Reshma Sapre. The Hathi Chiti brand has been endorsed by Sesame Street creator Christopher Cerf so having a chance to review them was a great honor.  I was instantly drawn to these books and couldn’t wait for them to arrive, I thought they would be a great addition to our growing diverse library.  Hathi is the Indian word for Elephant and Chiti is the Indian word for Ant and in Indian folklore they are “best buds”, this new brand was developed for ages 3 and up with an eastern base to help expose and educate about all of the many cultures throughout the world.  The cool thing about these books is that they are available in pairs and can come with matching T-Shirts!

The first book was In The Indian Night Sky and this is a charming story about the Sun, Moon and Wind all children of the Star of the North Sky who set out to meet up with their cousins for a great feast.   The Star of the North Sky stays behind to watch over her children and guide them back with her bright light, all that she asks of them is to bring her back something from the feast.  As they ventured to and from the feast they had such a wonderful time that all but one of them forgot to bring back something for their mother.  The Moon was rewarded for thinking of his mother but they all got to reap the benefits of Moon’s reward.  This story was very captivating for my children and they especially liked the black as night pages.  The colors popped with the turn of each page, it was a nice change from the norm we are used to white based pages.

The second book was The Traveller The Tiger and The Very Clever Jackal and this is an Indian folk tale that tells a story of an old man who ventures off into the jungle in search of a great adventure.  He happened upon a tiger in a cage and the tiger pleaded with the old man to set him free.  He promised not to eat him and the old man released him but the old man made a mistake because the tiger was hungry.  The tiger and the old man made a deal that would eventually save the old man’s life when he found a friend in an unlikely but very clever jackal.  The old man learned a great lesson that day and happily went home to his normal everyday life.  This story kept us on the edge of our seats, my daughter was scared for the old man but really enjoyed how it ended up!

Two more titles were recently released in Novemeber 2011, Patnaxi’s Crezy Long Journey Home and The Unfortunte Tale of Kachuva the Tortoise and two more are scheduled for release in 2012, I can’t wait to see the new adventures Hathi Chiti will take us on next.  You can purchase each book for $16.95.  Check them on on Facebook to find out more information on their latest releases!