The adventures of an Indian boy and his beloved elephant. Born near Calcutta, Mukerji won the Newbury Medal for children's fiction.

It would be pleasant indeed to gather the characters of this book together and listen to the conversation of wholly different but interested couples—for this is a book of contrasts and has been written as such. Lives of the most dramatic and adventurous quality have been gathered from all corners of the earth, and from every age in history, in such a way that they may cover the widest possible variety of human experience. The publishers believe that such a book would not be complete without some characters that are no less real because they have lived only in the minds of men...

"While many scientific men now understand our place in the universe, we electrons are anxious that every person should know the very important part which we play in the workaday world. It was for this reason that my fellow-electrons urged me to write my own biography. I am pleased to say that my relationship with the scribe who has put down my story in the following pages has been of the most friendly description. I have allowed him to place what he calls "The Scribe's Note" at the beginning of each chapter, but it will be understood clearly that these are merely convenient embellishments, and that I am responsible for the story of my own experiences." (Introduction adapted from the text)

This book describes the adventures of ten Kumaras, i.e., young men, (all of whom are either princes or sons of royal ministers), as narrated by the men themselves. These narratives are replete with accounts of demigods, ghosts, gamblers, intrigues with voluptious women, astonishing coincidences, cockfights, anthropophagy, sorcery, robberies, murders and wars.

The Woodpeckers is a wonderful introduction to the world of bird study for the young naturalist, covering such topics as how he finds food, courting, how he builds his nest, the interesting ways he uses his different body parts as tools, among other topics discussed in the book. If you wish to investigate further, the book has a few diagrams and an Appendix that contains more technical information such as detailed descriptions of the different species of North American woodpeckers which were not read as part of this audiobook.