YOUNGUNCLE COMES TO TOWN

Younguncle (he’s been called this for so long, everyone has forgotten his given name) likes to do things his own way. From the moment he arrives during a monsoon, his nieces and nephew know things will be more interesting. He switches jobs frequently because he becomes too involved in his workplace. He saves his sister from a bad marriage by acting like a monkey only around her intended in-laws. He enlists the help of a band of wild monkeys to rescue a kidnapped cow. Using his genius for schemes and with the help of a tiger and a ghost, he saves a wildlife preserve and rescues a kidnapped horse. Though the children appear at the beginning, only the baby, who desperately wants to consume one whole shirt of Younguncle’s, plays a role in any of the stories. There are unexplained references to aspects of Indian culture, and the pictures don’t always match the text. Still, this Bollywood-meets-Mary-Poppins import from India is an acceptable choice for larger collections, good for those serving large Indian populations. (Fiction. 7-10)