Book Review: The Little Book of Hindu Deities

Hindu gods have never looked so cute. Even wearing a belt of chopped arms doesn't look so intimidating.

The Little Book of Hindu Deities is a lighthearted guide to some of the more popular Hindu gods and goddesses.

The text and illustrations are clearly targeted at kids. Each god is dedicated two pages, one for the description, and the other the illustration. Because of the condensed nature of the material, there might not be enough religious context - as I've read in some comments from other reviewers.

The tone of the text is pretty conversational, nothing like text books. For example, in describing Kali the "Black One":

She then swallowed his whole body in one quick bite. What can you say? Some girls have big appetites.

or in Ramayana, one of the great Indian epics:

So work hard to do your duty, and if things get tough, it never hurts to ask a monkey for help.

I can see why some aren't too thrilled about language.

As a quick and informal guide, I think it's a pretty good and entertaining book.

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy from the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn