Book name- THE KIDNAPPING OF AMIR HAMZA

Authors- Mamta Dalal Mangaldas and Saker Mistri

Publishers- Mapin

Price- Rs 295

To read the tales of the Hamzanama is to get a glimpse of the enchanting world of the Mughal campfire — nocturnal gatherings of soldiers, sufis, musicians, traders and camp-followers that one sees illustrated over and over again in Mughal miniatures. In these oft-repeated images, a storyteller begins his tale in a clearing of a forest as the embers of the blaze glow red and eager, fire-lit faces crowd around him. Emperor Akbar especially loved hearing the tales of Hamza after an exhausting day’s hunt and, while he was still in his teens, commissioned a huge volume of illustrations to be used as a visual aid to the public recitation of the story. THE KIDNAPPING OF AMIR HAMZA (Mapin, Rs 295) retold by Mamta Dalal Mangaldas and Saker Mistri brings together these richly detailed illustrations and a retelling of the Islamic epic for children. Written in lyrical and lucid prose and interspersed with whimsical elements cut out from the bigger paintings to dot the text, this book would be the perfect way to (re)introduce children to epics from the world outside India.