The Great Race

What happens when Kanchil the deer challenges the animals of the jungle for a race?

Well, the only animal who agrees to accdept is Pelan, the snail.

How do you think Pelan plans to race Kanchil who is so very fast? When all theanimals of the jungle refused to accept the challenged, obviously there is a plan if Pelan is the only animal who agrees to race.

The Great Race is an exciting retelling of an Indonesian folktale featuring the popular trickster Kanchil. Illustrated in the exquisite mata ni Pachedi style of ritual textile painting from Gujarat, this is the very first time that this rare form of traditional art has been used to tell a story.

I simply loved the artistic illustrations, a departure from the usual Indian illustrations.

There is of course a lesson out here for children- a lesson in not being arrogant, but that's just one part of it. The rest is all fun.

A tidbit from the book-

Jagdish Chitara, the artist who painted the illustrations for this book, belongs to a traditional group of artisans known as Waghari. The Waghari people are a particularly poor and marginalised community. Originally nomads, they would roam around the banks of the Sabarmati river in Gujarat, creating a special ritual cloth for the Mother Goddess the Cloth of the Mother – this fabric was washed in the river waters, block printed and painted, then painstakingly dyed with natural pigments. The beautiful swathes of cloth were used not only as offerings, but also draped to form a temporary shrine for the Goddess

Title- The Great Race

Author- Nathan Kumar Scott, Jagadish Chitara

Price - Rs 375

Publisher- Tara Books