Special: Cool books for Christmas

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBEBy C.S. Lewis

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is having an awesome run at the box office worldwide, so you might just want to have your little ones check out the book. This is the original, the big daddy of children's fantasy, the second part of C.S. Lewis' Narnia chronicles. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe takes you on a magical journey to the land of Narnia, where animals talk, are free, but are in danger and need the help of a couple of kids. There are seven parts to this magical series, and we highly recommend you read them all! Much noise has been made about the religious overtone of the series (the magical, talking lion Aslan represents Jesus) but even if you read this as a simple story book, you and your kids will have a great ride.

CALVIN AND HOBBESBy Bill Watterson

Another book to look out for this winter holiday is the new complete Calvin and Hobbes collection. Get a load of the cutest brat in the history of cartooning and his obnoxious pet tiger. It will set you back Rs 2500/- but is guaranteed to have you in splits! Creator Bill Watterson is not into the marketing frenzy that's usually associated with larger-than-life cartoon characters, so the bad news for you is that those cute Calvin T-shirts or Hobbes mugs don't get Watterson's seal of approval. But his collections are a must for any rainy day, or any day, for that matter, to get that smile on your face (and make you count your blessings for not being born as his much-harassed parents!)

THE MANTICORE'S SECRETBy Samit Basu

And over your long Christmas break, check out another fantasy novel, The Manticore's Secret. This one is by a 26-year Indian, Samit Basu. It’s the second part in his Game World trilogy following The Simoquin Prophecies. Basu has been hailed as the first Indian writer of fantasy fiction, but forget the hype and check out the book for yourself. His writing is clever and he has references to all kinds of mythology and pop culture. If you can ignore the hype and even the grumbling critics, take a time out and read this one as a kid.