Achey Bachchon Ke Liye Achchi Kahaniyan by Shaida Tabassum is one such book which holds 11 moral stories told in an interesting and witty way. All the stories are illustrated in a colourful way which even the elders of the family would love to look at.

The stories are simple but convey strong messages on being well-behaved and living a disciplined life. For example, in Taron ki Baaraat, one small star had been disobedient to his parent stars so, as a punishment, his glow started to fade. And when he asked his fellow stars to give him some glow so that he could also shine with them at night, they refused to help him. He started to cry in hopelessness and his tears fell on the moon who, after coming to know about the matter, told every star that they had been rude with the little star and Allah doesn’t like this — He has made all creatures equal and we should help each other in times of need. Thus, all the other stars shared their glow with the fading little star and it started to shine again. And hence, the stars learnt that they should never disobey their parents and always help those in need.

Similarly, in the deer’s story Hiran Sahb, papa deer is shown to have a habit of saving some money. When one night it rained so heavy that all of their belongings washed away and they were left with nothing, no food, no furniture, nothing to put on in the night; Papa deer’s habit of saving money helped them. The next day they went for shopping and bought everything that was washed away. Other stories like, Phat Phatti, Thandi Meethi Ice Cream, Caterpillar, Badal Aaye Barish Lai, etc., are truly worth reading and give important lessons.

All in all, the stories are well written in an easy to understand Urdu and it won’t be wrong to admit that the writer is skilled enough in understanding children’s psyche. So Achey Bachchon Ke Liye Achchi Kahaniyan makes a nice addition to the bookshelf.

— Benazir Murad Baloch