12 books to tell ‘Krishna’ tales to your kids this Janmashtami

12 books to tell ‘Krishna’ tales to your kids this Janmashtami

22 Aug 2016 | 5 min Read

Shantana Dutta

Author | 12 Articles

As a country we surely know how to enjoy ourselves. Our festivals have lots of colour and art in them in the form of rangolis and kolums; flavours in terms of the number of different things we make for each festival along with dance, songs and innumerable rituals. While we celebrate no holds-barred all the year round,  August or the month of Shravan (according to the Hindu calendar) has the largest number of festivals. It includes festivals like Teej, Nag Panchami, Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami /Gokulashtami/Krishna Janam.

One of my favorite books that we love to go through for each of the festivals is: 

Festivals of India – By Om Kidz.

The Book covers 25 Indian festivals with about 2-3 pages per festival each having about 2 to 3 large half page sized pictures. We have been using this book since Vansh was around two and a half years old. Initially, it was just looking at pictures and broadly talking about the festival but now we have graduated to me reading out significant portions of the book and filling him in with details of the festival.

 

Janmashtami, especially, is celebrated with great enthusiasm and vigor across the country. It is believed that Maha Vishnu incarnated as Lord Krishna and was born at midnight on the 8th day of the dark half of the month of ‘Bhadrapada’ (August-September). 

Our top reads on Lord Krishna include:

Board book Krishna by Om Kidz  (MRP – Rs 99)

This board book is perfect for the little ones to browse through with a small line on each page to read aloud. A good read at around 1+.

 

                                                    

Paperback Krishna by Om Kidz (MRP – Rs 99)

The book has a small storyline on Krishna’s childhood as the Makhan Chor. A very endearing read at around 2 years and well enjoyed by kids upto around 3.5 years.

 

                                                       

Amma tell me Series – Krishna Trilogy  MRP – Rs 350 each. Suitable for 3 to 3.5 +

There are 10 books in this series which talks about Indian Festivals and deities.There are 3 books in the series about Krishna. The highlight of this series are their striking eye-catching  illustrations.

Amma tell me about Krishna!

The first book in the series is the story of Janmashtami, about BalKrishna’s escape from evil Kansa’s prison across the river Yamuna.

 

image source: bhaktimathur.com

 

Amma tell me how Krishna fought the demons!

The second book in the Krishna trilogy talks about how Kansa sends his demons to find Bal Krishna and how Krishna fights them off in style.

 

image source: bhaktimathur.com

 

Amma tell me how Krishna defeated Kansa!

The third book in the Krishna Trilogy takes us through tales of Bal Krishna’s epic battles against various forms of oppression and evil; like vanquishing Kaliya -a demon in snake form, lifting the Govardhan mountain on his last finger and protecting his village from Indra’s wrath to finally, the story of how evil Kansa was defeated.

 

image source: bhaktimathur.com

 

Krishna Loves you – Rs 350 – Chinmaya Mission

This hardcover, is a perfect read for 1.5 year olds and above. The book is in the form of a rhyme with beautiful illustrations in soft pastel shades thus, making it a gentle read, ideal for bedtime. There are around 4 lines per page and a picture corresponding to the rhyming lines. 

 

Image source: chinmayamission.com

 

Krishna’s Butter Bash – Rs 150 – Chinmaya Mission

This book tells us a story about Bal Krishna’s love for butter and how he and his friends form human pyramids (the famous Dahi Handi Ritual)  to get butter from the Gopis. This book is printed on thick glossy paper with text on one side and large images on the other. 

 

Image source: chinmayamission.com

 

Krishna Rocks – Rs 150

This  book tells us the popular story of how Krishna lifts the Govardhan Parvat on his last finger and saves his village. The book emphasises respect for all forms of nature.

 

 

Krishna Photocopies himself – Rs 150

In this book, Krishna takes on Brahma who plays a trick on him. The book is a gentle way of showing us not to be too full of ourselves. The message in each of these books is presented playfully making it suitable for storytelling to 2.5 – 3 year olds.

 

 

Krishna – An invisible Friend – Rs 180

The book is a wonderful read for kids aged 7 years and above. The book is again in the same format as the ones above but tells a more sensitive story about a little boy who is scared to bits, as he has to go through the jungle to reach school. The book is about faith and reassures us, that whenever we need something, Krishna is there to help.

 

 

 

Birth of Krishna and Krishna’s conquests- By Karadi tales

This series includes 2 paperbacks – Birth of Krishna and Krishna’s conquests,and a CD. Birth of Krishna tells the story of the divine prophecy regarding Kansa’s death by Devaki’s eighth son and the birth of Krishna, and Krishna’s conquest  talks about Krishna’s encounters with various demons and how he finally defeats Kansa. The CD is in the voice of Girish Karnad as the Karadi bear who narrates the stories.

 

 

Happy Janmashtami! Happy Reading through all seasons and festivals!

 

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