Ruskin Bond has been writing for over sixty years, and now has over 120 titles in print—novels, collections of short stories, poetry, essays, anthologies and books for children. His first novel, The Room on the Roof, received the prestigious John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. He has also received the Padma Shri (1999), the Padma Bhushan (2014) and two awards from Sahitya Akademi—one for his short stories and another for his writings for children. In 2012, the Delhi government gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award. Born in 1934, Ruskin Bond grew up in Jamnagar, Shimla, New Delhi and Dehradun. Apart from three years in the UK, he has spent all his life in India, and now lives in Mussoorie with his adopted family.
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.4438665866851805;margin-top:39.4091796875pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Garamond,serif;color:#231f20;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">‘They pass me everyday, on their way to school—boys and girls from the surrounding villages and the outskirts of the hill station. For many of them, it’s a very long walk to school.’ </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.4438665866851805;margin-top:5.167999267578125pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Garamond,serif;color:#231f20;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Adventurous children, mischievous children, responsible children—there are children of every kind in this collection of stories about the children of India. Ruskin Bond, one of India’s favourite children’s writers, has created memorable child protagonists in his short stories, novellas and novels. From Bina and Rusty to the Four Feathers, these characters have delighted readers for years. </span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d2aeda01-7fff-d629-a133-04e92960af6e"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.4438665866851805;margin-top:5.167999267578125pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Garamond,serif;color:#231f20;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In this collection, Ruskin Bond brings together some of these unforgettable children and brings alive, once more, the happiness, wonder, heartache and freedom of childhood.</span></p>
