" ​A collection of fascinating folk tales from India. These tales are an integral part of the country’s culture, having evolved over long centuries, perpetuated through the oral tradition of story-telling. They contain the practical wisdom of the simple village rustic as well as universal values handed down by thinkers and sages in ancient India. Retold several times over, they reflect the lives and philosophies of the different regions of a culturally rich and diverse land. Meet a faithless prince with ‘pins and needles’, a shepherd boy who plays magical melodies but is devoured by a wolf, a lovely forest nymph who languishes in a castle, a sly jackal who is outwitted by a bird, a prince who marries a donkey and yet manages to live happily thereafter . . . Each tale in this collection is a sparkling gem, specially handpicked for today’s reader from the exotic treasure chest of Indian folk tales. The Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC), in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), presents to readers a uniquely colourful collage of stories from all corners of India, retold by popular authors and illustrated by well-known illustrators.​"