Ganesha's Sweet Tooth: Great book for kids

Our family is a big fan of the work of Pixar artist, Sanjay Patel. I wrote about his work in an earlier blog post where I strongly recommended his two books, Hindu Deities and Ramayana: Divine Loophole. In addition to these two books, he has also created a journal composed of his art and a wonderful art poster book with gorgeous large size illustrations of Indian Gods and Goddesses. His latest book titled Ganesha's Sweet Tooth was announced in Spring when I promptly preordered it. The book shipped last week and I am happy to say, it lived up to all our expectations. Read on for a full review of the book.Ganesha's Sweet tooth is a very loosely based origin story of how Ganesha came to be the scribe for Mahabharata. For this effort, Sanjay Patel has partnered with Emily Haynes. If you have experienced Sanjay's art through any of his previous works, you will find yourself happy to see that he continues to be at the top of his game. To me, every page was a standout but the two I would like to point out are one of Ganesha playing cricket and the other of a two page layout of Mahabharata- no words, just a  cornucopia of images from different parts of the epic. They convey at once the grandiosity of the epic and the talent of the artist who managed to cram all that mattered in two pages. It has to be experienced to be believed.The story itself is simple and imaginative. It ties two stories from Indian mythology pretty neatly. But it is the style and the art that really matters. One standout element in this book given that it is an original story is the way it makes kids relate. This is pretty important if the author is interested in making a connection with the reader or the one the story is being read to. When I read the story to my son who only knew of Ganesha, his love for laddoos and hi mouse, there was so much he could relate to or identify with. And that is when the author wins. And as a parent, I wanted that connection established to ensure that my son will want to read the book over and over again. It would also someday serve as my segue to the far more complex and challenging Mahabharata.I am a happy customer and more importantly a happy father. And when a book with an Indian storyline without blood and action and with dollops of love and humor arrive in a colorful eye-popping package, what more can I ask for?You can order the book in printed form or Kindle version here.