Family Book Review: Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship

What makes Chitra Soundar’s retelling of Indian folk tales frustrating for some adults and older kids —-reviews ask for background information on the stories or historical and cultural context—is not as likely to bother younger kids. Every story is new or newish anyway, and they are often more willing to process without context. Older readers can of course do this too. It’s a different kind of reading for challenge for people who want to know things to just read the stories.

The storytelling in Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship is enjoyable and the pacing comfortable. The drive for justice is child-friendly, and the cultural context lightly handled. When books get heavily fact people context -based, I sometimes am reminded that I promised “a story” not “news.”

That didn’t happen once with this book.