Welcome to the final episode of season 2! What a wonderful season it’s been. We travelled all over the world learning about international folklore: from eastern Europe, to Korea, to the ancient world, and finally to Persia with Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah series!
Do you love Percy Jackson? Have you read all of Rick Riordan’s series? Are you now stuck on what to read next? Travel no further, we have the perfect next series for you!
Roshani has reimagined the story of the Pandava brothers, the main characters of the magnificent Hindu epic Mahabharata. Learn more about the Pandavas here. Aru’s story starts with ‘Aru Shah and the End of Time.’
‘Twelve-year-old Aru Shah stretches the truth to fit in. Whilst her classmates are jetting off to exotic locales, she’s at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture where her mother works. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur? When Aru’s schoolmates dare her to prove that the museum’s Lamp of Bharata is cursed, she doesn’t think there’s any harm in lighting it.
Little does Aru know that lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and, accompanied by a wise-cracking pigeon and her long-lost half-sister, it’s up to Aru to save them.’
Roshani draws this incredible series to a close with book five, though this isn’t by any means the end of Roshani’s writing. As kids age out of the Aru Shah series, they can try Roshani’s YA books, which might even carry a hint of fairytale reimaginings. Read more about Roshani and her books here.
You can find all the books that Roshani or Hannah mentioned (that are in print in the UK) here.
Thank you to the wonderful team at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights – the best booksellers this side of the Atlantic – Roshani Chokshi for providing us with a stellar season 2 finale, our sound editor Seb Jensen, and the Bookshop Band for our lovely music!
Keep your eyes out for Season 3 of A Flamboyancy of Children’s Authors. Until then, happy reading!