Geetha
It was a great deal to pick this list of Best Ruskin Bond books for children as almost all of his books are super cool and heartwarming. Being semi-autobiographical, his stories happen around the foothills of Himalayas. These stories in this list of best Ruskin Bond books for children will entertain your kids for sure and fill in them with otherworldly adventures! Of more than 500 short stories and 50 books for children, we’ve tried to shortlist some 10 best Ruskin Bond books for children for your kids to cherish. Let us get into this wonderful list and into the beautiful world of Ruskin Bond!
Are your kids reluctant to read a book too? My kids were like that once, but not anymore! Tap to learn the 5 simple tips to help children love reading!
“I had a pretty lonely childhood and it helps me to understand a child better.”
Ruskin Bond
Stories filled with Adventures
Children are curious by nature and they love to explore anything and everything when they are left alone. This is a list of the best Ruskin Bond books for children that are filled with adventures and never ending fun! Being brought up at the foothills of Himalayas, Ruskin Bond is fond of mountains, trekking, going into the wild. Also he includes characters from his real life as his grandparents, friends to make these stories more real and interesting. With simple vocabularies, these stories will keep your kids engaged and they’ll forget that your TV and other gadgets exist!
1.The Hidden Pool
This is a story about three little boys and their extraordinary adventure through a hidden pool, snowy mountains and freezing glaciers! Laurie comes on a vacation to India where he befriends Kamal and Anil, an unlikely friendship that leads to an incredible journey. The trio wades through forests devoid of human lives, they find a hidden pool over there. Their journey doesn’t stop there as they move further uphill through the snowy mountains to the Pindari glaciers. Did they manage to return back safely, what happened to Laurie afterwards? Get your hands in this book to know it all!
This is the first of Ruskin Bond’s children’s novels and unarguably one of the best among his books. The journey and the landscape are described in brilliant details and your kid could visualise them right away as they read. Get your kid this book to take them on an adventure to the Hidden pool alongside Laurie, Kamal and Anil as Ruskin Bond guides you through.
The Hidden Pool Must read
- Book type: Paperback
- Age recommendations: 9-12 years
- Pages: 88
2. Children’s Omnibus
Children’s omnibus is one among the best Ruskin Bond books for children for its simplicity in idea and the catchy narration. Not just kids but even adults could enjoy this book mulling over their childhood and the exciting adventures that we would have undertaken! This Children’s Omnibus is a collection of many such adventurous short stories that your children and you would love for sure.
With a mischievous monkey, a curious crocodile and with all kinds of fun Ruskin Bond drives you through his adventurous world to fill your kid’s world with cheerful stories. This collection of stories, one of the best Ruskin Bond books for children, has more than 10 stories and is 327 pages long – A perfect gift for your kid’s vacation!
Ruskin Bond’s Children’s Omnibus Value for money
- Book type: Paperback
- Age recommendations: 9-12 years
- Pages: 327
3.Getting Granny’s Glasses
Next in this list of Best Ruskin Bond books for children is a short book with just 48 pages, filled with colorful pictures and a whole lot of adventure. Adventure knows no age and when you do things for love, nothing would seem impossible! Here is a story of a little boy who goes along with his grandmother to get her a pair of glasses which unfolds into an adventurous journey!
Mani’s Granny is seventy and can barely see through her old, scratched glasses. With only a hundred and fifty rupees in their pockets and a thirst for adventure, Mani and Granny set off to buy a new pair. On the way, they get drenched in the rain, run into mules and encounter a terrible landslide. Will Granny ever be able to reach the town and get herself a new pair of glasses? Buy ‘Getting Granny’s glasses’ for your children to know it all!
Getting Granny’s Glasses: A Popular Puffin Chapter Book by Sahitya Akademi Winning Author Ruskin Bond Must read
- Book type: Paperback
- Age recommendations: 5+ years
- Pages: 48
4. Adventure Stories for Children
Next book on this List is The Adventure Stories for Children – a collection of three stories. These stories have the same Ruskin Bond touch as they are filled with incredible adventures all the way. These stories will make your child feel content, empathy, thrill and much more as a package. I would recommend this book for the mixed emotions this would kindle.
This short read consists of three stories of Ruskin Bond – Zigzag walk, The Wind on haunted Hill, and Wild fruit. Ruskin Bond takes you to the streets of Missouri, to the windy hills of Himachal and introduces the landscape and people through this book. Besides adventure, Ruskin Bond’s books help children to develop good virtues for them to be a better person. Let’s look into those books next!
Adventure stories for children Intriguing stories
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended age: 7-11
- Pages: 64
Are your kids too young to read these story books? Don’t you worry! Did you know that there are talking books for children to learn alphabets and numerics. Learn more about talking books for children here!
Moral values and Life lessons
For our children to make a better future, it is essential that we bring them up with virtues. The sense of morality can easily be taught to them through stories. There are collections of moral stories such as Panchatantra, Jataka tales – but they are from a very old time. On the other hand, this list of the best Ruskin Bond books for children conveys moral values with a context that could easily be related to them!
1. Angry River
Sita, along with her grandparents live in a small hut on a small island in the middle of a river. Her grandfather is a boatman and her grandmother took care of her and other chores. Brought up by them, Sita learnt many things from her grandparents. The small island is prone to flood if the flow of the river increases.
Once when her grandparents went to the town to treat her ailing grandma, Sita was left on her own. The angry river flooded and our poor Sita had a huge task of saving the hens and escaping the flood! This story teaches the importance of perseverance and the will to remain strong at tough times. This is one of the best Ruskin Bond books for children and make sure to get this so they can learn these values on their own.
Angry River Moral lesson
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended age: 5+ years
- Pages: 60
2.Great stories for children
Among the best Ruskin Bond books for children, this is my personal favourite. I. This book, 1.Grandpa advises and helps little Rakesh to plant a cherry seed and watches it grow in A Special tree. 2.A Leopard patiently waits for deer despite being hungry leaving school kids to pass unharmed in School among the pines. 3. Tutu the mischievous monkey gives all sorts of trouble to Aunt Ruby in Monkey Trouble 4.Romi tries to help a thief to become a good man even though the thief betrays his trust in The Thief’s story. Ruskin Bond’s stories are full of these beautiful characters.
It would be a mistake if this book isn’t in this list of the best Ruskin Bond books for children! Great stories for children is a collection of 18 short stories all set in different contexts and all kinds of characters.
Ruskin Bond: Great stories for children Best Values
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended Age: 7-11 years
- Pages: 200
3. Blue Umbrella
Binya is a little girl who lives in a village called Garhwal. When a group of foreigners came to their village they exchanged their beautiful blue umbrella for her leopard claw pendant. When Ram Bharosa, the shopkeeper got jealous of the umbrella, he wanted to buy it from her, but Binya refused. Rajaram, a small boy who worked in Ram Bharosa’s shop wanting to please his master, makes a failed attempt to steal the umbrella and gets caught.
People thought Ram Bharosa made the boy steal and stopped visiting his shop. What did Binya do then, how did she react to Ram Bharosa – read it in The Blue Umbrella, one of the best Ruskin Bond books for children! ‘The Blue Umbrella’ is all about kindness, forgiveness and the importance of spreading love!
The Blue Umbrella Book on kindness
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended Age: 5+ years
- Pages: 64
Ruskin Bond’s childhood stories
Even though most of his stories contain part of his childhood experiences, in this set of books, Ruskin Bond takes us through his memory lane. As a boy, He used to wander into the villages of Himachal,made friends with different kinds of people, and travelled to different kinds of places. These best Ruskin Bond books for children contain the childhood experiences of Ruskin Bond etched into it!
1. The whistling schoolboy and other stories
The reason behind this book being in this list of Best Ruskin Bond books for children is that it vividly shows us the picture of his time! Children who attend online classes these days would be excited and thrilled to read about the schools that functioned during the 1950’s. Ruskin Bond narrates about his experiences at the Boy scout, his strict and funny teachers, him being a goalkeeper of his football team and much more!
In this book, there is a collection of 15 stories, set at the foothills of Himachal. The landscapes, the dense and pulling forest covers, animals and different kinds of birds, all come to life in these beautiful stories of Ruskin Bond. Books can be time machines for your kids to visit back in time with this brilliant book! No hesitations, this is one among the best Ruskin Bond books for children!
The Whistling school boy and other stories Nostalgic, witty
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended Age: 9-12 years
- Pages: 142
2. Tales from my Heart
Yet another heartfelt book of Ruskin Bond and hence undoubtedly it is among the best Ruskin Bond books for children. Tales from my heart consists of 16 short stories that happened during his childhood. It has all about his days at his grandparents’, the cat they had and all other memories of his childhood. He sought escape from his loneliness through adventures. He made many friends both people and animals, and wandered through the hills and valleys! With splendid narration, he sheds light on his childhood through which he illuminates the readers hearts as well.
Talking animals, birds, eery ghosts, an annoying cat and loads of fum within these 16 short stories. The language is simple for kids and the content is hearty for the adults. So anyone could read this beautifully woven book. Give it a try!
Tales from my Heart Funny, witty, must read
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended Age: 7+ years
- Pages: 120
3. The Railway Gang
What if animals could talk? More specifically, what if all those stray dogs on your street could talk?! It would be fun, wouldn’t it? Ruskin Bond’s childhood memories of roaming at different places is the root of this story, The Railway Gang. This is a story of Chottu, a stray dog that lives by the railway station of Dehradun along with his many stray friends. One day, Chottu happened to get onto a train to Haridwar, a place completely strange to him. What did he do, whom did he meet, did he manage to come back to Dehradun is all what The railway gang is about!
This beautiful short story is not only about stray dogs, but about their lesser known miserable lives and the many people we meet with their many stories! Only Ruskin Bond could write something like this with all his experience and the kind of people he has met. Thus ‘The railway gang’ gets into the list of Best Ruskin Bond books for children.
The Railway Gang Must buy, Humour
- Book type: Paperback
- Recommended Age: 5+ years
- Pages: 48
Ruskin Bond was born on 19th May, 1934 in Kasauli which was then a part of British India. He was sent to a boarding school early in his childhood. He wrote his first story when he was 16 and published his book at 22. Till date Bond has more than 500 stories by his name and has published more than 50 books for children. He has been actively writing for more than 6 decades and has experimented with different genres such as fiction, short stories, novella, non fiction and so on!
That’s about the best Ruskin Bond books for children. If you love these books by Ruskin Bond, also check this article about Sudha Murthy’s books for children too! Get these amazing books to your children to make their leisure fruitful!
