Myths and Legends from Around the World by Sowmya Rajendran

Myths and Legends from Around the World Reviews

• 
  Vishnu Chevli

  I remember growing up listening to Hindu mythological stories from my father. We did the same with our kids but nowadays he has developed taste for more than Hindu gods and goddesses, even panchtantra. So we shifted to different genres. Recently I was recommended the book "Myths and Legends from Around the World".
  
  The very first impression of the book cover was that of Maa Bahuchara & her sister deities. I am not sure whether your guys know it or not, but in southern Gujarat, many goddess shrines & temples have similar decoration to the one in cover design.
  
  The book contains a little over 20 short stories, from different cultures and civilizations. Even theme of the stories is also divided into three parts just like of Hindu belief of creation, organization, and destruction. You will find stories based on deities and animals. I read one story per day to my kid for the last month and he enjoyed it.
  
  The language is easy for kids. The story length is also aa per child's interest not too long not too short. If parents read it to a child it will take roughly 10-15 minutes which is adequate for them to get sleepy with a nice story.
  
  I love it and currently second round is going on with some of the favorites of my child.
  
  The book deserves 4.5 out of 5.
• 
  Mridula Gupta

  Myths and Legends are my kryptonite. I might be getting a little dramatic here, but you get my point! Sowmya Rajendran's latest collection titles 'Myths and Legends from Around the World' is a mythology lover's haven. Before I move into the stories, I would like to mention that Rajendran let's the narrative do the talking. She refrains from manipulating the story and strictly follows a concise approach to give us the conception behind the stories.
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  Divided into three sections- Creation, conflict and Churning, the author takes us across multiple mythological dimensions, including the lesser known tales from Indian Mythology. (I didn't know the story behind Onam🥺)
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  'Myths and Legends from Around the World' is a collection suited for readers across all ages. If you are a mythological aficionado, this is a book that must be a part of your shelf.
• 
  Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe )

  Book Title: Myths and Legends From Around The World
  Author: Sowmya Rajendran
  Format: Kindle
  
  My Thoughts:
  Sometimes being a dimwit or a child lost in the past times is what I love to become. And this is entirely possible when I read children's books. This might look funny, but the reason for reading the young people's literature has two advantages. One is it helps me forget the reality for a small amount of and second is to understand how the books enhance a kid's mind and thoughts.
  
  When I first started reading this book, I did not realise the magic it is going to do. The first story in the book How Nu Wa created the world?, from China blew my mind. The vivid description, the intrinsic detailing and the narration caught my attention. Since the lockdown, I have been reading excellent books, but deep down in mind, there is some unknown pressure due to the ongoing events in and around the world. Being a book from the children literature, this book has hugged me with its fantastic stories and warmth.
  
  The book has twenty-two stories that belong to different places, and these are categorised into three. One being the Creation, second is Conflict, and the third category is Churning. The story mentioned above from China falls under category one. Another story from the Churning category, which I liked is - 'Andal', an Indian story.
  
  How good is the author's writing style
  Author Sowmya is known for engaging narration and accessible language in her books. Her previous books have been reachable to the young readers for attractive writing skills. In this book also, she has given the readers an ala-carte of short stories from all over the world. A consistent way of presenting good stories to the young minds is her strength, and in this book, which happens to be my second book of hers, her writing stays atop.
  
  How entertaining is the book?
  This book by Sowmya is basically targetted towards children and young kids who always come with questions like how did the world start, who created the world or how did humans come onto the earth. This is an example of how the author has shared with her readers with many stories and tales that run on the myths across the world. I myself have found some stories absolutely stunning and interesting, which I admit I am unaware of.
  
  There is information, there is wow factor, and there is knowledge in the stories. The stories are all around the world, which makes the book more interesting. All such points intersect and thus make the book ' entertaining'.
  
  Final Verdict
  Informative, interesting and fascinating book!
  
  Rating:
  5/5
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Geethan Gunaratnam

  Some of the stories are totally out of context and closure and some stories are fine with the context and all but that is not what this book is about. The takeaway that this book intends is how ancient civilizations, ancient humans percieved things and how they attributed absurd mythological characters and stories to justify the extraordinary natural phenomenons which were unfathomable to them. And this insight makes religions, religious stories, their rules and traditions, myths and belief systems sound totally funny.
• 
  Enakshi J.

  Myths and legends act as a foundation for learning and understanding modern Literature. While many don’t believe in knowing about the myths, I feel they are important as they narrate the ancient tales about the world and the experiences of mankind. This, in return, rekindles our curiosity to know more about the past that eventually acts as the compass for our future. Therefore, Myths and Legends is just the book that will re-tell every legend and help the readers take a plunge into folk Literature.
  
  Read the full review here:
  https://aliveshadow.com/category-book...
• 
  audrey

  Detailed rating: 9/10
  
  Designated song: Promisedland - MIKA
  
  What I love about this book is how it can package such beautiful myths into something very concise whilst utilising very laid-back and modern narratives and still managing to make the myths sound beautiful. I also love how the stories are not exclusively from the Western Hemisphere. I love it when authors bring a decolonised perspective in mythology because nowadays, we are much more familiar to European and Classical Myths. So, to find stories from the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia -- that's just gorgeous!
  
  Here's to more decolonised and deconstructed narratives!
• 
  Agyat Luitel

  Myths & Legends have always fascinated me. Although I have read different versions of these stories, reading first hand stories is always more amazing. This book has worked as fine aggregator of stories around the world. Worth reading.
  
  Just In: Just knew that England don’t have any original myths. They are surviving with imported myths. Except for legends of King Arthur.
• 
  Purva Khandelwal

  Lovely stories.
• 
  Somyajeet

  A nice wholesome collection of mythological and folk stories from around the world.