The stories of the wise bird Tuntuni were written by Upendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury a century ago. This Bengali children’s classic has been read by five generations of Bengali children.
Aloka Chatterjee has translated these stories into lucid English with verve and humour. She narrates the adventures of Tuntuni, the wise bird, the escapades of an old woman who outwits fox and tiger, of a pundit who outwits a hungry tiger and a wily fox who punishes a stupid crocodile.
Underneath the humour, there is a timeless wisdom in the tales – as in Aesop’s Fables and Panchatantra.