From travel, suspense, crime, haunted houses, wicked and adventure stories from different periods and places all over the world, Ruskin Bond, our anthologiser par excellence, now shifts his focus. In a world rent apart with excitement - good and bad -this anthology brings together stories to restore one's faith in the goodness of human nature, stories that symbolise the healing, therapeutic and rejuvenating effect that literature can have. These are stories that return to you, again and again, over the years. They will always bring you something: warmth, hope, and the joie de vivre so...

When Bina shifts to a school in Nauti-which is a long way from Koli, her village-she must daily cross the mountain, the river and walk through the jungle to get there. She is accompanied by Prakash, a boisterous twelve year old, and Sonu, her excitable younger brother. Together, they have many adventures-from helping old Mr Mani save his potatoes from porcupines to visiting the town of Tehri; and from escaping a landslide to encountering a leopard in the jungle.A touching and warm story by Ruskin Bond, this beautifully illustrated book showcases life in the hills and the wonders of friendship...

Since he was a young boy, Ruskin Bond has made friends easily. And some of the most rewarding and lasting friendships he has known have been with animals, birds and plants-big and small; outgoing and shy. This collection focuses on these companions and brings together his finest essays and stories, both classic and new. There are leopards and tigers, wise old forest oaks and geraniums on sunny balconies, a talking parrot and a tomcat called Suzie, bears in the mountains and kingfishers in Delhi, a family of langurs and a lonely bat-and many more 'wild' friends, some of an instant, others of...

Why be happy and how, and why not to worry if you think you are not. Why it is easy to be happy, and how you can miss happiness even if it stands before you. How a bird can fill you with joy and how a stranger's smile can soothe you. Why happiness may not even be the word for what we really need. India's beloved sage and writer brings together his own pithy observations and those by artists and thinkers he admires in this beautiful little anthology. A Little Book of Happiness is a miscellany for all seasons, one to cherish and to share."

• What is the first rule of love, and what the last?
• How can love or friendship be good if it must end?
• Is a book as good a companion as a person?
• Is it sensible to love at all?

Indias most beloved writer collects his own observations and those by some of his favourite authors and artists in this brilliant anthology on love, fellowship and togetherness. This is a book to gift yourself and every companion who has ever walked with you.

• Why you must pause, look up and out of the window.
• Why a geranium flowering on the windowsill and wind soughing in the pines is serenity
• How rain drumming on the roof can still the mind as effectively as a night of meditation
• How to recognize serenity once you have achieved it

This gorgeous pocketbook collects some of Ruskin Bonds wisest observations-as well as those of the thinkers he most admires-on a life of calm and how to live it. A Little Book of Serenity is perfect to dip into in moments of disquiet and of peace-and to share.