‘On reading [Shey], I find it is not just for children but for the eternal child. Those for whom you have written it will never cease to be children’—Banaphul, in a letter to Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore wrote SHEY to satisfy his nine year old granddaughter's demands for stories. Even as Tagre began to create his fantasy, he planned a story that had no end, and to keep the tales spinning he employed the help of 'Shey', a "man constituted entirely of words" and rather talented at concoting tall tales.

So we enter the world of Shey's extraordinary adventures, encountering a bizarre cast of characters, grotesque creatures and caricatures of contemporary figures and events as well as mythological heroes and deities - all brought to life through a sparkling play of words and illustrations in Tagore's unique style.

In this first-ever complete translation of Shey, including Tagore’s delightful nonsense verse, Aparna Chaudhuri brilliantly captures the spirit and flavour of the original.