Puffin Classics: Listen, O King!: Five

There are no biographical details available for Śivadāsa, the author of the Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie. From a careful reading of the text, however, we can glean the following facts: Śivadāsa was a man of great learning, even erudition, he wrote primarily for a certain type of reader—the gallants,well-educated, cultivated men-about-town with a keen interest in the fine arts and beautiful women, Śivadāsa’s text is often humorous; he is gently critical and takes a shot at pomposity, pretentiousness and sanctimonious hypocrisy. He poses problems that tease the reader into thought, making his work more than just a retelling of an ancient body of tales. Author, poet and translator, Deepa Agarwal writes for both children and adults and has over fifty books published. A frequent contributor to magazines and journals in India and abroad, she has edited and compiled several anthologies. She has won many prestigious awards, including the NCERT National Award for Children’s Literature in 1993. Her book Caravan to Tibet was on the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List 2008. Her work has been translated into several Indian and foreign languages, and five of her books have been included in the White Raven catalogue of the International Youth Library, Munich. As a resource person for Scholastic India and National Book Trust India, among other organizations, she conducts creative-writing workshops and storytelling sessions in schools.