This excellent little volume passes the biggest test of a great children's book, namely, it also holds the interest of the adult reader. This is because these are the timeless, classic myths and folk tales of India. In fact, if you wanted to start to understand Indian culture, you could do far worse than to start with this book. Here you will finally understand why Ganesh has the head of an elephant. You will learn just who Rama and Krishna are, and how they relate to Vishnu. For that matter you will understand the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The heroic monkey king, Hanuman is also introduced and explained. If you would like to go on to understanding and appreciating the Mahabharata, then this is also an excellent starting point, for the Pandava princes are introduced.
The first story in this collection is "The Monkey Bridge to Lanka." I am still suprised at the power and wisdom contained in this brief tale. That is the wonderful thing about all these stories- you can interpret them at many different levels of meaning.
I have truly come to love this little gem of a book.