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Ruskin Bondwas born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh , on 19th May, 1934, andgrew up in Shimla, Jamnagar, ehradun and Mussoorie! "s a young man, hespent #our years in the $hannel %sland and &ondon! He now li'es in &andour,Mussoorie, with his adopted #amily!

%n the course o# a writing career spanning thirty #i'e years, he has writteno'er a hundred short stories, essays, no'els and more than thirty boo(s #orchildren! )hree collections o# short stories, )he *ight )rain at eoli, )imeStops at Shamli and +ur )rees Still row in ehra ha'e been published byPenguin %ndia! He has also edited two anthologies, )he Penguin -oo( o#%ndian host Stories and )he Penguin -oo( o# %ndian .ailway Stories! -onds

writing is greatly in#luenced by the hills, and the 'alley o# ehra un, wherehe spent his childhood!

Ruskin Bond?s#irst no'el, The Room on the Roof, written when he wasse'enteen, won the John &lewellyn .hys Memorial Pri/e in 190! 2agrants inthe 2alley was also written in his teens and pic(s up #rom where )he .oomlea'es o##! )hese two no'ellas were published in one 'olume in 1993! Hisnon#iction writing, .ain in the Mountains was also much acclaimed! Sincethen he has written se'eral no'ellas including 2agrants in the 2alley, "5light o# Pigeons and elhi %s *ot 5ar6, essays, poems and children7s boo(s!

Ruskin Bondhas also written o'er 088 short stories and articles that ha'eappeared in a number o# maga/ines and anthologies! His no'el, )he 5light o#Pigeons was adapted into a mo'ie!

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Summary of Blue Umbrella

This is the first comic by ACK that blends stories from Contemporary Indianliterature. The book consists of two stories, The Blue Umbrella & the Anry

!i"er. The Blue Umbrella is about a #$%year%old little irl named Binya who

comes to own a beautiful umbrella. oon, Binya and the umbrella become

inseparable companions and her fondness for it rows with each passin day.

'owe"er, there are some people in the "illae who en"y the little irl and are

willin to do anythin to et hold of the umbrella.

The second story, Anry !i"er re"ol"es around ita, who li"es with her

randparents on a tiny island in the middle of a bi ri"er. (ne day, the ri"er

floods and destroys ita)s belo"ed home when her randparents are away.

'er only hope of sur"i"al is to clin on to a sturdy peepul * the only tree on

the island. But e"en the fifty%year%old tree, she disco"ers, can)t withstand the

anry flood.

+laboratin on the concept of introducin stories of !uskin Bond in Amar

Chitra Katha, !eena uri, +ditor, ACK, said, At ACK, we have a segment

called Ancient Indian Classics which includes stories by Kalidasa, BanaBhatta, Ilango Adigal and other great writers of long ago.

But we felt the need to have stories from contemporary Indian literature

because Contemporary Classics bring us closer to our times and the issues

that are important to children today. So, our thoughts immediately went to

us!in Bond as his stories have simple yet strong plots and lend themselves

beautifully to the visual format.

"ith these stories I hope to tap the rich variety of stories that have been

written in India, for children, in the last #$$ years % not &ust in 'nglish but in all

Indian languages.(

The special part of this book is the rapport we shared, durin its makin, with

!uskin Bond. 'e was "ery supporti"e and encourain and did not chane

e"en one word of the final script, which was the biest compliment for ACK.

The Blue Umbrella & the Anry !i"er ha"e stron child heroes who confrontdifficult or comple- situations with simple courae and compassion. The comic

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is priced at !s $ & it is a"ailable at most bookstores and online.

)y congratulations to the talented artists and script*writers at Amar Chitra

Katha for ma!ing my stories so attractive in comic boo! form. Both +he Bluembrella and Angry iver are among my early boo!s written especially for

children, and their popularity has increased over the years.

"hen the Blue mbrella was published in the SA, it was named -Boo! of

the )onth by the /arenting maga0ine. ecently, it was made into a wonderful

film by 1ishal Bharadwa&. And now here it is in a new avatar. )y good wishes

to all my readers and Amar Chitra Katha. )ay you all prosper and be

happy(, shared !uskin Bond

'ihlihtin more on the Blue Umbrella%tories by !uskin Bond, !eena,

stated, I thin! the S/ of the Blue mbrella Stories is launching it in the

comics format. In this medium, the story is told with more visuals than words

and becomes easier for a younger child to read and understand.

2immy, our scriptwriter has been careful not to disturb us!in Bonds style

and has retained his use of words as much as possible. +he stories are a

visual treat with fresh and vibrant illustrations.

A lot of thought has been put in by the artist, Sabu Sarasan, into perfecting

the feel. +he attractive element of this boo! is its color fusion. Colorist

amesh has managed to portray through his palette the freshness of the hills

and the dar!ness of a river in spate.(