Jyotsna Atre is a wanderer at heart. She has sailed through sandstorms in Rajasthan, been chased by wild boars in Nagaland, nursed owls back to health, and lived in crumbling 18th-century cottages, where cobras and pythons visited her often. A chance encounter with a leopard cub, while following the forest trails of Ranikhet, a remote Himalayan hamlet, got her thinking about our lost connection with the wilderness. The result is this lively and lyrical oeuvre that introduces children to interesting and lesser-known facts about the wild.
Have you ever met a leopard And lived to tell the tale? Or been chased by a wild boar Up a steep forest trail? Has a python ever lived In the garden behind your home? Have you helped injured owls, Or saved a honeybees’ comb? ‘It is difficult not to love wilderness!’ Jyotsna laughs as she remembers the wild encounters in her many homes across India. With ‘The Jungle Book of Rhymes’ she introduces children to the wild in a fun, lyrical way.
