The Four Friends & The Musical Donkey

by Shobha Viswanath, Naseeruddin Shah, Jaffrey Saeed

These audio read-along books are based on the ancient South Asian Panchatantra and Jataka stories, precursor's to Aesop's fables. Narrated in English renowed South Asian actors, the books are illustrated with cuddly characters in vibrant colors. Children can sing along with the jungle music. Several song are presented in a world music format, concluding with a key take-home message. Each single and double kit includes song lyrics and a special learning insert.Though Hiran the deer, Kachu the tortoise, Eli the mole, and Megha the crow would normally not be together, circumstances make them fast friends who help one another in times of need. This double kit also contains the story of Dhondu, The Musical Donkey.

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Shobha Viswanath is the Co-founder and Publishing Director of Karadi Tales Company

She has been responsible for steering the direction of her company from brilliantly produced audio books for children to creating new imprints for her publishing house such as Dreaming Fingers, an imprint that produces illustrated books for the visually disabled; Charkha the imprint of inspiring biographies for young adults; and Chitra, a line of beautifully illustrated picture books for young children.

In her position as publishing director of Karadi Tales, she has commissioned several award-winning titles, liaised with authors and illustrator, represented the organisation in foreign rights sales and decided the company’s creative direction. Over the years, she has been an invited guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Beijing Book Fair, the Sharjah International Book Fair and as an author to the the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival. In 2017, she was awarded the Visiting Professionals Fellowship to Shanghai (SHVIP) and also to Barcelona as a part of the FLIC Festival Programme.

With a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Bombay and a second one in Special Education from Eastern Michigan University, Shobha also volunteers at a few schools in India to remain connected to the populations for whom she designs and publishes her books. She has authored several books for Karadi Tales, many of which have been translated into other foreign languages. She has also written for Scholastic India (The Insect Boy, The Proud Story) and for Puffin India (A Skyfull of Stories)

Shobha has always been clear that the books her company publishes must reflect diversity in children’s literature, through the art and stories and bring to children the best in this.