Jump to content

Menu

Ancient Indian Literature


Recommended Posts

I have a 12 year old 6th grader who wants to/has to read literature from India from B.C.E. Although I generally know the stories from the Ramayana, this is not a deep spot in my education to put it mildly, and I'm trying to plan this from out of town. So I'm hoping someone can help. I've seen Kate in Arabia's posts about the Ramayana version by Sanjay Patel and I'm thinking of getting it since it looks wonderful online. Dumb question -- what other works should he read? Are there good translations? He'd love also to read some kids' versions or other adaptations at the same time if there's something a little lighter to go along with it.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You would want the Jataka Tales or Oxford's Tales From India which are retold by J.E.B. Gray and include a portion of the Ramayana. In a different vein, Swimmer Dude really enjoyed The Homeless Bird even though the main character is a girl. Have fun!

 

There are some sets in the Baldwin Project that might fit the bill.

 

Indian Folk and Fairy Tales

 

Indian Fables

 

Jataka Tales

 

More Jataka Tales

 

Tales of the Punjab

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went hunting up and down for good versions of the Ramayana and Mahabarata for logic-stage kids. Something between 10,000 pages of dense prose and a 32-page picture book. :tongue_smilie:

 

This is what I came up with...

 

The Ramayana (for children) by Bulbul Sharma (135 pp, not illustrated)

The Mahabarata: The Epic for Children by Kumar Shastri (238 pp, illustrated)

 

My library didn't have them (even interlibrary), but I was able to get them used fairly inexpensively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...