Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Forgotten Pages: India

Well, sort of.  I compiled a set of recommended books for a study of India a few years ago, but thought that it had disappeared from my MacBeth's Opinion when I decided to go back to the free (and ad-laden) basic website.  Instead, I discovered a browser issue:  The page just doesn't load for Chrome.  So, I am transferring this list of my favorite books on India and Indian culture to the blog, right here!  I hope it is useful to someone, and my apologies to the friend who was looking for books on India one day, and I dropped the ball.

My interest in India I get from my father, who studied eastern philosophy with Sahakian in college.  My father never traveled to India, but told me of a friend and classmate who did; the poor fellow got off the plane, looked around, and got right back on and returned to the US.  (I am not sure if this classmate changed his major, and the only other thing I remember about him is that he had a cat with horrid scars from going through the dryer accidentally.)

My first teacher was an Indian woman (a Buddhist married to a Brit) who ran an excellent pre-school in Boston.  I was but three years old, but remember the school vividly; it was wonderful.  Thank you, Mrs. Renfrew!

In addition to the books here, I recommend rounding out a study of India with a visit to an Indian restaurant or grocer.  We do, often...Remember this post about Paul's discovery of Sweet Paan?  That was a fun thing to try (once).

Picture books:

A Curly Tale

Magic Vessels

Hiss Don't Bite

Eyes on the Peacock's Tail

One Grain Of Rice

Folktales from India

The Ninth Jewel of the Mughal Crown ...

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Savitri

















Novels:




Siddhartha (high school)


Non-fiction:






Disclosure:  As usual, these books are available in most library systems.  The Amazon links are provided for convenience, and I do make an absurdly small profit from your purchase (which in turn is spent on books for my own homeschool...)




No comments: