Ganesha's Sweet Tooth - Hardcover

Haynes, Emily; Patel, Sanjay

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1452103623 ISBN 13: 9781452103624

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2012

Synopsis

The bold, bright colors of India leap right off the page in this fresh and funny picture book retelling (with a twist) of how Ganesha came to help write the epic poem of Hindu literature, the Mahabharata. Ganesha is just like any other kid, except that he has the head of an elephant and rides around on a magical mouse. And he loves sweets, especially the traditional dessert laddoo. But when Ganesha insists on biting into a super jumbo jawbreaker laddoo, his tusk breaks off! Ganesha is terribly upset, but with the help of the wise poet Vyasa, and his friend Mr. Mouse, he learns that what seems broken can actually be quite useful after all. With vibrant, graphic illustrations, expressive characters, and offbeat humor, this is a wonderfully inventive rendition of a classic tale.

About this title

About the Author

Emily Haynes is an editor by day, specializing in entertainment and humor titles, and a children's writer by night. In her spare time she can often be found up to her elbows in clay, making functional ceramics. This is her first children's book. She lives in Oakland, California.

Sanjay Patel is an animator and storyboard artist for Pixar Animation Studios, where he has worked on many features including A Bug's Life, Ratatouille, and the Cars series. Sanjay is also the creator of Ramayana: Divine Loophole, The Big Poster Book of Hindu Deities, and The Little Book of Hindu Deities. His modern interpretations of Hindu epics have been exhibited at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. He lives in Oakland, California.

Reviews

With bright, elaborately detailed illustrations, this picture book tells a fictionalized story based on the legend of how the Hindu god Ganesha transcribed the epic poem Mahabharata. Here Ganesha is “just like any other kid” except that he has an elephant’s head, and vividly colored pictures show him cruising around on a magical mouse. He loves sweets (he is a bit “chubby”), but when he bites down on “the super jumbo jawbreaker laddoo,” his tusk breaks off. He is furious and bitterly ashamed until he meets Vyasa the poet, who needs the tusk to write his poem, which is so long that “all the pens in the world would break before it is done.” So Ganesha helps the poet and uses his tusk to write the 100,000 verses of a story, which turns out to be so beautiful he even forgets about sweets. Blending computer graphics with traditional images, the intricate, stylized illustrations may be best suited for grade-schoolers, who will enjoy the story’s turnarounds and focus on luscious sweets, and many will be ready for the classic Hindu myth. Grades 1-3. --Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1452103623
• ISBN 13: 9781452103624
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40