The Room of Many Colours: A Treasury of Stories for Children

by Ruskin Bond

For over five decades, Ruskin ond has written charming tales that have mesmerized readers of all ages. This collection brings together his finest stories for children in one volume. Published previously as A Treasury of Stories for Children, this attractive rejacketed edition includes two new stories, 'The Big Race' and 'Remember This Day'.

Filled with a rich cast of characters and superb illustrations, The Room of Many Colours: A Treasury of Stories for Children is the defnitive book for all Ruskin Bond fans and truly a collector's Item.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

385 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.

Reviews

[Neha Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruskin Bond.. I have read many books of his lately and they just warm my heart.. Its like I get transported to the hills of Utranchal and am walking those green pastures & meadows and steep valleys to see his characters and stories unfold... My faviorite story was ‘Chachi’s funeral’ – how a kid gets angry when his chachi (paternal aunt) scolds him and in his own childish manner he tries to imitate her death and funeral rites by drawing and burning the paper. Later he regrets it and goes to hug her and chachi feels the boy is not so bad after all. ‘The fight’ is about two boys fighting over the ownership of a pond, of course its childish but its hilarious to the core. ‘The big race’ is about the excitement when kids make their pet insects race in a competition. I also liked ‘The Haunted bicycle’, ‘The boy who broke the bank’, ‘A crow for all seasons’ and the list goes on..

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and no words can explain it better than quoting a collection of Ruskin’s own.

Quotes
There is a skill in all things, even in making porridge
Dry bread at home is better than curried prawns abroad
Eating & drinking should not keep men from thinking
Better a small fish than an empty dish
Let not your tongue cut your throat
----
Trivet – short sayings
Hitch your wagon to a star!
In a market place there is money to be made, but under the cherry tree there is rest
The world is only the size of each man’s head
----
Songs/ Poems
Solomon Grundy
Born on a Monday
Christened on a Tuesday
Married on Wednesday
Took ill on Thursday
Worse on Friday
Died on Saturday
Buried on Sunday
This the end of Solomon Grundy.
----
Hark, hark,
The dogs do bark,
The beggars are coming to town;
Some in rags, some in bags,
And some in velvet gowns.
----
We three,
We’re not a crowd;
We’re not even company –
My echo,
My shadow,
And me….

[Mukesh Salvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started Ruskin bond which I bought for my son..after first pages, got hooked with it.
पुस्तक वाचताना तुम्ही त्या काळा त जातात. काही गोष्टी तुमच्या मनात घर करून राहतात . लेखकाचे त्याच्या वडिलांशी असलेले नात्यांचे वर्णन हदय स्पर्शी आहे.

[Shubham Roy Choudhury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure nostalgia ! I got this book when I was 10 years old. Re-reading it, invoked a lot of buried emotions and childhood memories. Thank you Mr Bond for your magical stories.

[Vaibhav · Rating 4 out of 5]

We three,
We’re not a crowd;
We’re not even company—
My echo,
My shadow,
And me . . .

The room of many colors is a treasury of stories for children, 39 stories to be exact for lifting up your mood in this lockdown.
We all have heard of his Grandfathers zoo in many stories and how his ancestral house with filled with animals such as python, Toto – the Monkey, Mongrels, squirrels and Popeye – the parrot and much more. Another addition to this list is the Tiger Cub, Timothy who meets an unexpected end. The book has many stories describing all the adventures of Bond with the animals and how they all created ruckus for his grandmother.

Dreams are made, sometimes fulfilled, sometimes not in his stories. A boy dreaming to visit faraway places through sea and experience distant land and the enormity of the world, sometimes to take a dip in the cold water of the rivers he crosses the whole mountains, these tales would surely make you live longer than you are used to.

Emotions of all kind are served to us on the platter, forming new friendships in the fight, stories of grit and bravery in Romi and the wildfire, and how feelings of hatred transform into love for Sunil for his Chachi when he performs an imaginary funeral for her. Saddened feelings of his separation from Dehra and from his grandfather’s house in his last Tonga ride by Bansi are also reflected in one of his story.

Whether it’s the orchard of Miss Mackenzie or the dark tunnel shrieked by sound of train engine, as the stories unfolds, we are in awe of Bonds love and description for country life.

Some famous last lines are also included in the book, some of which, my favorites, I have mentioned below -
‘’Are there tunnels in the sky?’’- imagined Bond so that his friend Omar, lost during partition, could have been saved by hiding in the floating tunnels in the air space when bombs were being bombarded on him.

‘’There was room in the world for a mountain lion and me’’ – after feeling the strong feline odour of the beautiful sinewy leopard around him.

‘’Thank him for the beautiful rose’’ – A maharani enclosed behind the walls of a palace thrilled by beauty of the flower

Bond through these stories have always taught us to enjoy and seek pleasure in the small moments of our life

[Richa Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has collective stories for children. Every story was good to read. I really enjoyed it. It always give pleasure to read Ruskin Bond.

[Ayati Choudhary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Room of Many Colours is a collection of 39 short-stories. A few stories are as short as 3-4 pages while most of them are quite long. The stories are not alike, they are all really different from each other. Some stories are about Ruskin Bond himself, during his childhood and school days, during his old-age days and his youth days. Some are about fictional characters which he created. All the stories are set in India with Indian and Anglo-Indian people as the characters.

The writing style was beautiful and witty. The characters were all loving and likeable. I really liked the character of Dukhi, Mani's Granny, Kamla, Miss Mackenzie and the Queen.

The title story, The Room of Many Colours is a beautifully innocent short-story. It is about Ruskin Bond's childhood days in Jamnagar. The beginning itself was so beautiful. I don't know why but I felt somewhat nostalgic while reading it, as if I've already read this before, at some other place. Riding Through the Flames was another of Ruskin Bond's simple yet profound stories which I liked. It describes a young boy, Romi's escapade from a forest fire. Remember This Day was a lovely poignant story in which Ruskin Bond describes the bond he shared with his father. The Prospect of Flowers was a beautiful story about the bond shared between an old Anglo-Indian lady and a young Indian school-going boy, because of their mutual love for flowers. It was the ending which made this story memorable to me. The Flute Player was the most beautiful story, I loved it! It was about Kamla, an Indian girl growing up in England, who comes to live with her grandmother on the outskirts of Jaipur during her summer vacation.

The Cherry Tree, Animals on the Track, A Tiger in the House, The Night the Roof Blew Off, Picnic at Fox-Burn, The Leopard, Chachi's Funeral, What's Your Dream?, A Crow For All Seasons, Upon An Old Wall Dreaming, The Playing Fields of Simla were some other stories which I liked.

Recommended to Ruskin Bond fans and those looking for a sumptuous collection of short-stories!

#qotd - what do you like more, novels or short-stories?

[Nuvneet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. The stories made me long for the mountains, long walks through the pine and deodar trees, sitting on a rock sipping hot and sweet tea and getting lost in my dreams. This books makes me want to read more Ruskin Bond books. The simplicity of the language, heartfelt and touching incidents leave a mark in one’s heart.

[Suchintan Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the best of Bond. A real room of treasure.

[Zainub · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories, some of them based on incidents from Bond’s own life.
Written in very simple prose these stories are endearing tales of the adventures of youth.
The writing is very nuanced and oh-so-simple yet quite capable of evoking strong emotions from the readers.
There were times I actually laughed and sometimes I felt deeply sad for the characters.
.
Ruskin Bond is very skilled at transporting the reader into a completely different World with the simple magic of his words.
Makes for an easy read when reading time is scarce.
🧶
As is with short stories I liked some more than the others specially A Tiger in the House,
The Fight, The Boy Who Broke The Bank and off course The Room Of Many Colors. 🧶
I picked up this one because it felt like a good way to reminisce about the books I read as a child and also because I had it on my shelves untouched for the past four years 🤭
🧶
Recommended for anyone who wants to rehash their childhood reading.
.

[Laila Abuwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure we SSC students ( 90's scholars 😉) must recall Ruskin Bond's name from some lessons in Hindi class by Ashok sir - ( This is specific to PJHS students) . Nostalgia hits you everywhere with every page turned with every time he mentions Shimla's pleasant weather . Since I vividly remember how transported we all used to feel after a short lesson from our Hindi chapter book .

People who assume Children's books are just past time read , do not understand the depth and calmness it can shower you with , in the midst of City bustle and an everyday Job chaos .



P.S : I have already placed an order for 25 Ruskin Bond novels from all genres and I cant wait for them to arrive so I can take a deep dive again in chilly soulful valleys of Dehradoon.

[Nikhil · Rating 4 out of 5]

 It was a pleasurful read. And it is an accurate representation of Ruskin Bond's unique storytelling technique. And his feelings are also evident here. From reading it, I can relate a thing or two of the story to Ruskin Bond's own life. 

[Prashanth Adurthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart touching stories for all and especially kids..

[Lakhan Dev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good writing style as I got into the story the character become real to me.....Feast for readers.

[Angelina Tamang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Ruskin Bond!!! And I fell in love with this book. Sweet and simple storylines. 5/5 stars

[Kriti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart-warming. Awakens the child in us and makes us appreciate nature!

[janya · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice.

[Krittika acharyya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm literally mesmerised by every single one of these stories
This book is outstanding!
I personally loved 'the tunnel' and 'life with uncle Ken'
You should definitely read it.

[kanii · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is the definition of nostalgia for me

[Apoorva Nadig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice fiction

[Nakul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cover - Wow! Just look at the colour of it. I loved the cover so much, I even recreated it in one of my art journals.

Plot/Storyline - As we know, this is a collection of short stories, so every story was different and unique. All the elements in each short story were so detailed and well portrayed. It went very smoothly and the plot progresses quite well in all the stories. The themes of each story is equally good.

Characters - Since it's a collection of short stories, there are different characters in all stories. And I must say, each character is very well portrayed by the author. The depth in which you feel the emotions of every character is unmatched. Noone can write character the way Mr. Bond does.

My opinion - The title of the book says it's a treasury of stories for children, but I think its Ruskin bond and he's appropriate for all ages. The stories made me remember my childhood days! I definitely recommend it to everyone!!

[Sangeeta Shirodkar Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timeless! A collection of short stories set in northern India bring with them nostalgia, depicting the quiet life in villages and small towns. You can feel the peace that comes with closeness to nature and wildlife. Ruskin bond can really write amazing characters (in fact as a reader it feels that these are real people, maybe they are). And inspite of the simplicity his characters have such depth, it’s fascinating.

[Shilpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing writing skills which actually takes you to the landscapes being described. You will fall in love with small small things in your life after reading this book as it makes you realize their importance with such a powerful writing. Must read !!

[Madhavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable

[Aarushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

its a lovely book
nature loving children will love it

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story collection from the story teller I admire. Though many stories I read earlier the collection worth rereading.

[Prashant Kulkarni · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://ppkya.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/the-room-of-many-colours-ruskin-bond-2/

[Narendran123]

the auth or ruskin bond describes the various places ,streets vendors etc of the himalayas. the book is a collection of many short stories and is a must to have for collectors.

[Ruchika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely set of short stories. I could literally feel the mountain breeze and see those tall deodars while reading this. All about life in the hills of India.

[Gouri Shankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruskin Bond as usual... :)

[Utkarsh Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light hearted book, narrates various short stories about the amazement we face during our childhood.