Caravan to Tibet

In the last years of the nineteenth century a caravan of traders sets off from the high hills of Kumaon India for Tibet. They traverse dangerous passes and brave blinding snowstorms in order to carry on their traditional trade in the Tibetan markets. Among them is fourteen-year-old Debu’s father. Many days later when the caravan returns Debu is heartbroken to learn that his father was lost in one of the treacherous passes. Somehow he cannot believe it and when a Tibetan trader turns up in the local market wearing an amulet remarkably similar to his father’s he is convinced that his father is alive somewhere in Tibet. Debu joins the next caravan to Tibet to look for his father little knowing he is setting out on the most perilous yet most exciting journey of his life. The adventures follow thick and fast-a forced stay in a monastery with a young lama who takes a fancy to him his capture by a band of bandits led by the cruel mysterious Nangbo gifted with magical powers a stay in the goldfields of Thok Jalong and finally ending with a heart-pounding breathtaking horse race.A Children’s Bookshelf Selection Each month our editor’s pick the best books for children and young adults by age to be a part of the children’s bookshelf. These are editorial recommendations made by our team of experts. Our monthly reading list includes a mix of bestsellers and top new releases and evergreen books that will help enhance a child’s reading life. Review A good book makes you a part of it ... this is a book that stays with you long after you ve read it --The TelegraphChildren will enjoy Caravan for its persevering protagonist racy plot the little Lama the rough robbers and the experience of a young boy upstaging the adults. --The Book Review About the Author Author poet and translator Deepa Agarwal grew up in the pristine Kumaoni region in the foothills of the Himalayas. She writes for both children and adults and has over fifty published books to her credit includingPuffin Classics Chandrakanta andListen O King! Five-and-Twenty-Tales of Vikram and the Vetal. A frequent contributor to magazines and journals in India and abroad she has edited compiled and contributed to several anthologies. Among other awards she received the NCERT National Award for Children's Literature in 1993 for her picture bookAshok's New Friends while her historical fictionCaravan to Tibet was on the 2008 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List. Her works have been translated into several Indian and foreign languages.