BANGALORE: Want to know more about the exploits of Tenali Rama, or the crocodile that tried to eat the monkey? Head straight to the Children's Book Trust stall at the Bangalore Book Festival, organised by the Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers Association, on the Palace Grounds, Mekhri Circle entrance.

At the Children's Book Trust stall, as one can find hard-bound books on Panchatantra, Ramayana and Mahabharata and folk tales from different parts of the country. V. Badrinarayanan, sales supervisor of CBT, said these books were part of the "Golden Set" series.

"We published this series to encourage children to collect these books and preserve them," he said.

These books have been priced at nominal rates between Rs. 70 and Rs. 130.

Illustrations are also a feature in the recently released children's version of Encyclopaedia Britannica available in the stall of Britannica Book House.

Bestsellers and more

Many of stalls have copies of bestsellers. This include Chetan Bhagat's two books - `Five point someone' and `One night at a call centre'- and William Dalrymple's `The Last Mughal'. Also on display is the Man Booker prize winning "The Inheritance of Loss" of Kiran Desai. Five of Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk's works are available. The much talked about `Line of Fire' written by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has also been displayed.

For those interested in cartoons, there are three volumes of Bill Watterson's `Calvin and Hobbes'. The Sherlock Holmes fans can go for the recently released `New Annotated Sherlock Holmes'. For cricket enthusiasts, there is John Wright's `Indian Summer', Boria Majumdar's `Illustrated History of Indian Cricket' and Steve Waugh's `Out of Comfort Zone'.

The book festival features some rare Kannada books. These include Oudumbara Gaatha, a collection of works of Jnanpith awardee late Da. Ra. Bendre, complied by his son Vaman Bendre. The stall of Kannada University Hampi has encyclopaedias on topics including Animal Kingdom and Folk Art.

There are mythological and spiritual books in Tamil and Sanskrit. Books in Malayalam, Hindi and Urdu also find a place. "You have to spend a lot of time to choose the books you want," said Balram Sadhwani, president of Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers Association.

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