1500 Varieties of Mangoes and Other 101 Awesome Facts About India [Review]

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Book Title: Discover India Series: 101 Awesome Facts About India
Author: Sonia Mehta
Publisher: Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Type: Paperback
Recommended Age: 8 years+ (by publisher)

India is a vast country with mind boggling diversity in terms of terrain, languages, food habits and climate. This diversity makes India home to some extremely cool facts, which have been brilliantly explained by Sonia Mehta in her book 101 Awesome Facts about India.

The facts are arranged under thirteen headings ranging from “Land and Water” to the “The Sporting Spirit”. The facts mentioned in the book are such that they can be read to curious little ones (5 plus) because they are written so simply and they create a sense of amazement, and further fuel curiosity.

There were many amazing facts in the book like,

– The Rann of Kutch is a desert consisting entirely of salt, and that every winter it is home to hordes of flamingoes?
– The word shampoo actually originated from the hindi word “champu”!
– There are more than 1500 varieties of mangoes grown in India!
– Our beloved Jalebi, is not an Indian dish, but of Persian origin!

My 5 year old enjoyed reading some of the facts and was wowed by many of them. One of them particularly held his fancy – a festival called Pulikkali in Kerala, during which people paint their faces as tigers and dance. He too wanted his face painted as a tiger after he read this, as it fascinated him to see the photograph! And so we did a tiger face painting.  

This is a lovely book to add to your library and is one that will lead to many more conversations and further research!

SONIA MEHTA HAS AN EXTENSIVE DISCOVER INDIA SERIES WHICH COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (for 8 years onwards as the books are text heavy.)
Discover India Activity book is perfect for the summer break. (64 pages)
There are around 35 books in the Discover India series – one each for every state and some more on culture as well as the landscape of the country!
Discover India: Food, Culture and People of India is very popular.
Mumbai, Here We Come (Discover India City by City)
Delhi, Here We Come (Discover India City by City)

If you enjoyed this review and wish know more awesome facts about India, you might as well order the book from Amazon! (kbc affiliate link),

CLICK & BUY NOW!