Rating: **** 4 stars

Riske Lemmens, English text by Kunal Dutta,
A Box Full of Monsters.
Mantra, 2002
Panjabi / English

A super story, amusingly told in rhyme and lively illustrations with the kind of little details that will capture young children's interest and imagination. Boris has a box which he's not sure he should open — he imagines all kind of monsters leaping out of it and hiding in various places. There is lots of fun lifting the flaps and matching descriptions of monsters to the pictures. This dual text version in Panjabi and English is excellently produced typographically. It is never easy to translate rhyming verse — this Panjabi tranlation is not too bad, given the constraints. This flap book would be a popular addition to early years. (Available in eight dual language editions.)

Urmi Chana