Ram the Demon Slayer Book

In Ram the Demon Slayer, readers follow Ram from his conception and birth through his training with sages and first successful demon battles to his marriage to the beautiful princess Sita and his final triumphant victory over the demon king. This beautifully illustrated retelling of the Ramayana makes accessible to Western children and their parents, one of the favorite heroes of the Hindu tradition.

Uma Krishnaswami - Children's Literature

The story of the Hindu epic the Ramayana is retold here as part of a series of books by Vatsala Sperling, all published by Bear Cub Books. Other titles include How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head, and Little Krishna. The story of the hero prince Ram, incarnation of the god Vishnu, is one of Hinduism's most well-known and beloved tales. It is stirring material by any reckoning--royalty and battles, a kidnapping and a rescue, good poised against evil to reclaim a world in chaos. Its compression here into the 32-page picture book format necessitates an overly dense and occasionally rushed narrative. Still, Sperling remains true to the Valmiki Ramayana, her source for this rendering. Understandably, given the targeted 6 to 9 year old audience, she chooses to omit a final tragic and controversial epilogue concerning Sita, Ram's wife, which forms part of the Sanskrit epic. Watercolor and tempera illustrations are consistent with the style used in the other books in this series. They appear to combine popular calendar and comic book art with a more classic temple sculpture style that somewhat conflates north and south Indian traditions. Also included is additional contextual material: a list of characters, prefatory text about Ram and his story, back matter addressed to parents and teachers, and the ubiquitous reproducible "line drawing for children to color" that seems to be a trademark of these books. 2005, Bear Cub Books, Ages 6 to 9.