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16 reviews for:
The Secret Kingdom: NEK Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art
Barb Rosenstock
4.27 AVERAGE
16 reviews for:
The Secret Kingdom: NEK Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art
Barb Rosenstock
4.27 AVERAGE
Will come back to write a detailed review. However, in very brief, this was a wonderful read.
Pair this book with OUTSIDE IN by Jennifer Bradbury. Nek Chand is the historical character who saves the life of the fictional homeless boy in OUTSIDE IN.
Also perfect to show how the experiences of someone's childhood can turn into their lifelong passions.
Also perfect to show how the experiences of someone's childhood can turn into their lifelong passions.
This brought tears to my eyes. A loving tribute to art and belonging.
How a road inspector in India created the "largest visionary art environment in the world."
How a road inspector in India created the "largest visionary art environment in the world."
Beautiful book about storytelling, art, and disobedience in the face of injustice.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
I love sharing stories like this with my son about real people who do something seemingly small and personal that ends up making a huge impact on society.
A fun random kid's biography. I've certainly not been to the garden in this book. But I've been to https://www.seerockcity.com/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petersen_Rock_Garden which have kind of a similar flavor. It was a fun book and yet passed on a bunch of history and societal change at the same time. With quite good enough art.
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Interesting story about an artist I'd never heard of before, Nek Chand, who secretly built a whole wonderland of folk art in a forgotten wilderness corner of his Indian town. He sculpted animals and people from the folk tales of his childhood, made out of concrete and recycled materials; over 25 acres of whimsical art! In a postscript the book's author talks about how the authorities tried repeatedly to tear down his park, but always the local citizens rallied around it to keep it going. Nice watercolor and gouache artwork in this book, in a folk art style. It also includes color photos of the actual Chand art, on the back of the dustjacket and in a two-page pullout spread.
Nek Chand loved living in his village of Berian Kalan in the Punjab region of India before the Partition of 1947. He especially loved listening to the ancient stories that were always being told there by the whole community. As a child, Nek began to build a world of his own based on the stories he heard along the river back, using rocks, sticks, and other materials found in nature. But, in 1947, when Punjab was split into two countries, India and Pakistan, Nek and his family were forced to leave their home - they were Hindu and their village was now in Muslim Pakistan. Fleeing at night, they walked for 24 days to the new Indian border.
The family traveled to the newly created city of Chandigarh, where Nek found work as a government road inspector, but he never felt at home in this new modern city. When he discovered a few acres of scrubland in northern Chandigarh, he began clearing it away and bringing all kinds of materials he might need to create a new world of his own in miniature again. After seven years of secretly collecting, Nek was ready to begin building.
Nek managed to keep is kingdom a secret for 15 years, until one day, the government began clearing the area and found his secret. They wanted it all destroyed, including the small building Nek had illegally been living in, but then the people of Chandigarh heard about what he had built and began to visit by the thousands. Nek's kingdom made everyone happy, and soon stories were once again being told. Luckily, they managed to convince the government not to destroy Nek's creation, and instead provided protection for this incredible piece of folk art.
This is a beautifully written, fascinating story of how one man's love of his childhood home drove him to turn his nostalgia into a kingdom made up of recycled materials and the stories he had heard as a child. The lyrical text compliments the folk art style watercolor and gouache illustrations, each capturing those aspects of India that Nek loved and the disruption due to the Partition. Nek's story is topped off with a four page pull-out spread of photographs of just some of the parts of the real secret kingdom. Included in the back matter is an Author's Note describing more about Nek, his childhood dream, and what has become of his kingdom, as well as an extensive bibliography. This is an enchanting biography of a true folk artist.
The family traveled to the newly created city of Chandigarh, where Nek found work as a government road inspector, but he never felt at home in this new modern city. When he discovered a few acres of scrubland in northern Chandigarh, he began clearing it away and bringing all kinds of materials he might need to create a new world of his own in miniature again. After seven years of secretly collecting, Nek was ready to begin building.
Nek managed to keep is kingdom a secret for 15 years, until one day, the government began clearing the area and found his secret. They wanted it all destroyed, including the small building Nek had illegally been living in, but then the people of Chandigarh heard about what he had built and began to visit by the thousands. Nek's kingdom made everyone happy, and soon stories were once again being told. Luckily, they managed to convince the government not to destroy Nek's creation, and instead provided protection for this incredible piece of folk art.
This is a beautifully written, fascinating story of how one man's love of his childhood home drove him to turn his nostalgia into a kingdom made up of recycled materials and the stories he had heard as a child. The lyrical text compliments the folk art style watercolor and gouache illustrations, each capturing those aspects of India that Nek loved and the disruption due to the Partition. Nek's story is topped off with a four page pull-out spread of photographs of just some of the parts of the real secret kingdom. Included in the back matter is an Author's Note describing more about Nek, his childhood dream, and what has become of his kingdom, as well as an extensive bibliography. This is an enchanting biography of a true folk artist.