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The Hidden Pool
Ruskin Bond's first novel for children in a whole new look!
Laurie, an English boy in a small hill town in India, strikes up an unlikely friendship with Anil, the son of a local cloth merchant, and Kamal, an orphan who sells buttons and shoelaces but dreams of going to college. One day the three discover a secret pool on the mountainside, and it is there that they plan their greatest escapade yet—a trek to the Pindari Glacier, where no one from their town has gone before.
This newly illustrated edition of Bond’s magical tale of camaraderie and adventure is sure to win over yet another generation of readers.
Laurie, an English boy in a small hill town in India, strikes up an unlikely friendship with Anil, the son of a local cloth merchant, and Kamal, an orphan who sells buttons and shoelaces but dreams of going to college. One day the three discover a secret pool on the mountainside, and it is there that they plan their greatest escapade yet—a trek to the Pindari Glacier, where no one from their town has gone before.
This newly illustrated edition of Bond’s magical tale of camaraderie and adventure is sure to win over yet another generation of readers.
94 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1978
36 people are currently reading
678 people want to read
About the author
Ruskin Bond
667 books3,502 followersRuskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 18, 2014
If I remember right, I read this book way back in 1968 or 1969. It had come in as part of the big pile of books won by my brother A V Abraham as a prize in the Shankar's International Children's Competition. It had been first published by Children's Book Trust, New Delhi, in 1966. The story has always been a part of me and whenever I think back to it, I feel nostalgic. Perhaps, it's also partly because I had a lovely childhood with some very good and close friends - like the gang of three kids in this book. Apart from that, the idea of the mountains (I grew up in the Nilgiri Hills)and the streams and pools have remained with me as an ideal place to live in (if living by the sea is impossible). I like Ruskin Bond's lovely, simple flowing style. He doesn't care to make his stories complex or complicated and yet, they are wonderful. This book especially will not disappoint anyone who picks it up.
July 19, 2021
There is something extraordinary about the way in which Ruskin Bond writes. In sweet and beautiful words about simple people and things and even though I had read most (if not all) of these stories at least a hundred times before, I still fell in love with them.
And here are 5 reasons why you should read this
»Gorgeous cover and awesome illustrations
»Lyrical Writing
» Ruskin Bond!!
» Set in an Indian Village
» 10 brilliant short stories celebrating friendship and adventure and life for whatever little joys it provides us.
And here are 5 reasons why you should read this
»Gorgeous cover and awesome illustrations
»Lyrical Writing
» Ruskin Bond!!
» Set in an Indian Village
» 10 brilliant short stories celebrating friendship and adventure and life for whatever little joys it provides us.
August 25, 2018
A sweet little tale of three friends - Laurie, Kamal, Anil - their friendship, the hidden pool they discover, and their trek to a glacier up the himalayas.
November 2, 2020
I feel like this book should not exist as it is just a mere copy of his other work with a different title.
May 19, 2018
Totally loved it ! Full review follow soon.
February 19, 2021
This is the first Ruskin Bond book that I picked up from my Father's bookshelf, and 20 years later, I still find myself going back to it. It's like one of those movies, you make your friends watch, because you just love it so much, and you watch their reaction, more than the movie!!!! I read this book out to my best friend and coerced him into liking it. He later gifted me a new copy of it, in English, which is a present I cherish.
The Hidden Pool is a story of three friends, their adventures, dreams, and the quintessential Ruskin Bond description of the mountains. This book holds a special place in my heart because of all the nostalgia. This marks the beginning of my love for the writings of Ruskin Bond, a secret desire to have friends like Anil and Kamal, and my never-ending love for the mountains.
Read to re-live your childhood!!
The Hidden Pool is a story of three friends, their adventures, dreams, and the quintessential Ruskin Bond description of the mountains. This book holds a special place in my heart because of all the nostalgia. This marks the beginning of my love for the writings of Ruskin Bond, a secret desire to have friends like Anil and Kamal, and my never-ending love for the mountains.
Read to re-live your childhood!!
October 16, 2019
A story that literally took me to the journey so realistic, like i was watching everything in the gleam of light. Ruskin Bond certainly like always at his best. Impeccable writing with smooth flow of describing everything so detailed and beautifully. For one moment it was inevitable for me to not to put in Anil or Kamal situation in expecting that they all three will meet again. This lost classic was a magical tale of adventure and friendship, told in Ruskin Bond's inimitable style.
March 30, 2017
10 Stories of the master story teller that were brought with attractive cover and illustrations.
December 8, 2024
Emotional heart touching teenage youth and full of life
August 31, 2025
I find that warmth emanates from Ruskin Bond's beautiful and unpretentious writing. His words evoke a sense of appreciation for the simpler things in life.
April 12, 2014
Been on a Ruskin Bond reading spree today, and it's been great! I enjoy his books because of the simple narrative, his keen eye for detail, and the lovely perspective he sheds on life in the small towns of India.
The Hidden Pool is a short, breezy read about a friendship between three boys from very different backgrounds, and like all of Bond's tales, it is refreshing in its originality and sincerity. Unconsciously, I was reminiscing about my own childhood friends, and that's what Ruskin Bond does so well- he writes stories that remind us of our own, which is what makes his works seem so comforting and familiar.
The Hidden Pool is a short, breezy read about a friendship between three boys from very different backgrounds, and like all of Bond's tales, it is refreshing in its originality and sincerity. Unconsciously, I was reminiscing about my own childhood friends, and that's what Ruskin Bond does so well- he writes stories that remind us of our own, which is what makes his works seem so comforting and familiar.
December 31, 2024
Excellent story of three friends living different lives as individuals but seeing no religious partitions, sharing a close bond of friendship, hunger for adventure, having great hopes while suppressing the pain of parting. A very simple yet heart touching story.
November 8, 2010
Good. Like Usual Ruskin Bond's books for children.
September 6, 2019
The Hidden Pool by Ruskin Bond
A book review/report
When I was a child I had a copy of Hidden Pool that was really printed like a children's book in its dimensions with large black and white pictures inside. It was one of my greatest treasures but though it probably still survives and is with my eldest or second brother or in my father's house in Thiruvananthapuram, recently I got the chance to get my own copy from no other book store than the one frequented by Bond himself, though I could not meet him. After feeling happy a book on him by my colleague Cynthia Michael was there in the shop with my blurb which the book storeman assured me Bond had read, I bought only one book which was not Room on the Roof, or Night Train to Deoli or Blue Umbrella, all books I had loved but Hidden Pool. It was a much smaller version with different illustrations but I devoured it instantly. Room on the Roof was based on it, and Rusty's prototype is Laurie.
It has a younger version of Ruskin Bond as Laurie and two other characters who are Anil who is the son of a local cloth merchant in a small hill station of a town in India, and Kamal who is an orphan who sells buttons and combs and hopes to enter college by studying hard for the matric all by himself.
Their lives are knit together by age and the need for friendship and changed by a series of events that include finding a hidden pool that is their secret meeting place, celebrating Holi together and listening to stories about supernatural beings from Anil's grandmother as well as an unforgettable glacier (Pindari) trek in which a fourth lovable child of a character Bisnu appears as their sherpa or guide.
When I read it long ago, it was exotic for me as in my home town down south we did not celebrate Holi, had no chaat shop or hidden pool, and no tales of yetis or glaciers or snow. But beyond all that what really struck me was the friendship between the boys that knew no barriers of class or race or religion (or caste, I think), seemingly. Here to me was the answer to why India mattered for in it the East and West could meet as proved by Ruskin Bond, whom i considered immediately greater than R K Narayan and Rudyard Kipling and EM Forster for this vision of his, and his delectable story telling powers and his exquisite English.
I felt sad when Kamal failed in the exam in the book and happy that he would try again and loved the part where the boys scared themselves after hearing the "bhoot, preth, dana, pisach" stories of Anil's grandmother, and loved their sparring and conversational sessions by the hidden pool and the unforgettable dangerous adventure of the glacier trek where they returned in one piece as well as the characters in the book, with the powerful and beautiful descriptions littered throughout it of the beauty of nature. This second time around it was even more powerful as I had by now been in chaat shops which were there in Bengaluru and seen glaciers as well as hidden pools and not so hidden ones in Ladakh and was no longer a stranger to the life presented in these stories, having visited and explored the North just before buying the book, especially Mussoorie and Dehra Dun.
The enjoyment was no less keen but the nostalgia was overlaid with a tinge of sadness. At the end of the story the hidden pool vanishes, and I felt that the India of today was becoming a place where the vision of unity in the midst of diversity was also vanishing. East could no longer meet West and live in harmony and peace unlike what Bond had envisaged or North meet South, unless with an effort, much effort. The innocence was gone and i feared soon his books that can be found in Mussoorie even in coffee shops would be too. But his immortal novella, this one, the Hidden Pool, will never die, all the same. it is a great book not only for children but also for adults, universal and particular, local and transcendental, and a classic, richly deserving all the reprints it has had and my only disappointment was finding a single typo in it and the different size as well as the new illustrations.
A book review/report
When I was a child I had a copy of Hidden Pool that was really printed like a children's book in its dimensions with large black and white pictures inside. It was one of my greatest treasures but though it probably still survives and is with my eldest or second brother or in my father's house in Thiruvananthapuram, recently I got the chance to get my own copy from no other book store than the one frequented by Bond himself, though I could not meet him. After feeling happy a book on him by my colleague Cynthia Michael was there in the shop with my blurb which the book storeman assured me Bond had read, I bought only one book which was not Room on the Roof, or Night Train to Deoli or Blue Umbrella, all books I had loved but Hidden Pool. It was a much smaller version with different illustrations but I devoured it instantly. Room on the Roof was based on it, and Rusty's prototype is Laurie.
It has a younger version of Ruskin Bond as Laurie and two other characters who are Anil who is the son of a local cloth merchant in a small hill station of a town in India, and Kamal who is an orphan who sells buttons and combs and hopes to enter college by studying hard for the matric all by himself.
Their lives are knit together by age and the need for friendship and changed by a series of events that include finding a hidden pool that is their secret meeting place, celebrating Holi together and listening to stories about supernatural beings from Anil's grandmother as well as an unforgettable glacier (Pindari) trek in which a fourth lovable child of a character Bisnu appears as their sherpa or guide.
When I read it long ago, it was exotic for me as in my home town down south we did not celebrate Holi, had no chaat shop or hidden pool, and no tales of yetis or glaciers or snow. But beyond all that what really struck me was the friendship between the boys that knew no barriers of class or race or religion (or caste, I think), seemingly. Here to me was the answer to why India mattered for in it the East and West could meet as proved by Ruskin Bond, whom i considered immediately greater than R K Narayan and Rudyard Kipling and EM Forster for this vision of his, and his delectable story telling powers and his exquisite English.
I felt sad when Kamal failed in the exam in the book and happy that he would try again and loved the part where the boys scared themselves after hearing the "bhoot, preth, dana, pisach" stories of Anil's grandmother, and loved their sparring and conversational sessions by the hidden pool and the unforgettable dangerous adventure of the glacier trek where they returned in one piece as well as the characters in the book, with the powerful and beautiful descriptions littered throughout it of the beauty of nature. This second time around it was even more powerful as I had by now been in chaat shops which were there in Bengaluru and seen glaciers as well as hidden pools and not so hidden ones in Ladakh and was no longer a stranger to the life presented in these stories, having visited and explored the North just before buying the book, especially Mussoorie and Dehra Dun.
The enjoyment was no less keen but the nostalgia was overlaid with a tinge of sadness. At the end of the story the hidden pool vanishes, and I felt that the India of today was becoming a place where the vision of unity in the midst of diversity was also vanishing. East could no longer meet West and live in harmony and peace unlike what Bond had envisaged or North meet South, unless with an effort, much effort. The innocence was gone and i feared soon his books that can be found in Mussoorie even in coffee shops would be too. But his immortal novella, this one, the Hidden Pool, will never die, all the same. it is a great book not only for children but also for adults, universal and particular, local and transcendental, and a classic, richly deserving all the reprints it has had and my only disappointment was finding a single typo in it and the different size as well as the new illustrations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2021
Gods own creation: "Konaseema". The Delta of the river Godavari, my native place. The Delta area is dotted with several canals and lakes. My father's village is situated on one such canal. As a boy, he learnt swimming and played in the canal. One of the items on my bucket list is what many boys do at these water bodies. The guys start running from far and splash straight into the water from a height. Alas in my city I never was able to learn to swim to repeat these feats. Reading the hidden pool kept reminding me of my father's stories of those lakes and canals. The book narrates the story of 3 boys, one anglo Indian and the other two Indian. The anglo Indian boy finds a pool created due to a stream formed by the monsoon rains. The boys play and enjoy the pool for themselves, never telling anyone or inviting anyone to it. Once the boys decide to reach the source of this stream, the glacier at the top of the hills. The trek to the glacier, how they reach and return forms the rest of the book. The trek to glaciers is another of my entry in my bucket list. The Tehri, Gharwal regions of the Himalayas are one of my favourite patches of land on the globule we call Earth. I hope the paths today are as pristine as described in the book. But I know they aren't the glaciers have melted, the wilds are lost to habitations. I could feel the pain in my heart when I think of the hurt we have brought to nature. This caused tears in the eyes along with the end of the book, wherein the boys all had to disperse and the pool disappears. In the end, it's a beautiful read with everyone reading, wishing to live those moments narrated. I would give 4 out of 5 stars for the read.
June 2, 2022
A brand new edition of Ruskin Bond's first novel for children Laurie is an English boy who moves to a hill town with his parents when his father is posted to India on work for two years. Laurie makes two new friends: Anil, the son of a local cloth merchant, and Kamal, who lost his parents during Partition and now sells buttons and shoelaces but dreams of going to college. Anil and Kamal introduce Laurie to an enchanted world of beetle races, ghosts, chaat, and Holi, and he shares with them the secret pool he finds on the mountainside. The boys fish, build dams, take midnight dips, wrestle, and ride buffaloes at the pool. It is there that they plan their grand adventure: a trek to the Pindari Glacier where no one from their town has gone before. On the slopes of the beautiful mountain, they meet pumpkin-eating bears and keep a close lookout for the Abominable Snow-woman who feeds children fruit, honey, rice, and earthworms. This lost classic is a magical tale of adventure and friendship, told in Ruskin Bond's inimitable style. I recommend everyone to read this book (especially children)!!
December 10, 2022
"The Hidden Bond" is the first novel that Ruskin Bond has written for children. Of all kinds of children's literature I have consumed, I liked this the best because there is no preaching, teaching, guiding, mentoring or any sort of strangling in the form of adults. The three children - best of friends - learn new things in their own fun way. The blurb at the book gives away the entire story, nevertheless, the way the chapters is rolled out is beautiful. Unlike a lot of children's literature that has Western elements like foreign names for the characters or way of living, this novel stands true for what it is trying to represent. The tiny adventure in the story has motivated kids to try such activities in real life too! I mean, if children's literature do not make the children's lives vibrant and keep them at their toes with enthusiasm and curiosity, what is even the point of it?
March 20, 2019
The way he understands people is fascinating.
What I loved it so much and why I think you should read :
The characters- all of them are so real and full of life they are written for kids but they are not shallow.
The friendship - it is THE plot of the story . I enjoyed every character they were so unique and fun to read , it reminded me of my childhood friends and our adventure.
The setting in risking bond book is always my favorite thing.
There is an innocence and purity to this story which is not possible in today's developed world .
And finally (even though I have a lot to say) the ending I will obviously not spoil it but it does something which I love and hate it books because it always breaks my heart .
Definitely a favorite of mine
What I loved it so much and why I think you should read :
The characters- all of them are so real and full of life they are written for kids but they are not shallow.
The friendship - it is THE plot of the story . I enjoyed every character they were so unique and fun to read , it reminded me of my childhood friends and our adventure.
The setting in risking bond book is always my favorite thing.
There is an innocence and purity to this story which is not possible in today's developed world .
And finally (even though I have a lot to say) the ending I will obviously not spoil it but it does something which I love and hate it books because it always breaks my heart .
Definitely a favorite of mine
July 8, 2020
It is a beautiful story of Laurie, Kamal and Anil. I must thank Ruskin Bond for beginning it in a great way.
Laurie, a kid from England goes out secretly to play Holi. Anil convinces him to come, by reminding Laurie about the Christmas card, he gifted.
Laurie's dad was very encouraging. Otherwise, they would have never seen the glaciers.
Kamal's character was very inspiring. His parents were murdered in the train, during the partition of India. 😢😢😢
Poverty has never stopped him from dreaming to get better education. Kamal has proved it at the end, describing in the letter about passing the examination. The content in the letter, received from Kamal to Laurie was pretty good.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽#RuskinBond
Laurie, a kid from England goes out secretly to play Holi. Anil convinces him to come, by reminding Laurie about the Christmas card, he gifted.
Laurie's dad was very encouraging. Otherwise, they would have never seen the glaciers.
Kamal's character was very inspiring. His parents were murdered in the train, during the partition of India. 😢😢😢
Poverty has never stopped him from dreaming to get better education. Kamal has proved it at the end, describing in the letter about passing the examination. The content in the letter, received from Kamal to Laurie was pretty good.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽#RuskinBond
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2023
Ruskin bond storytelling always makes you amazed by a character of friendly English young boy. Nice simple fun story with funny moment. Ruskin loves Himachal pardesh so much, get ready for keep imagination of Himachal forest!
This book was the first book for children which is written by the bond. book is all about a 3 friends. Simple stort story with little adventure. If you like Ruskin bond just go for this.
This book was the first book for children which is written by the bond. book is all about a 3 friends. Simple stort story with little adventure. If you like Ruskin bond just go for this.
September 6, 2018
Who says these books are only for childeren. Well I am 18 and I absolutely loved this book by Ruskin Bond. It's a story of three friends in a small hill town and how their friendship grows over time. It's also a very short book which you can finish in one sitting. If you have nothing to do today pick this up, you won't regret . A very pleasant read!♥
March 26, 2020
Excellent story of three friends living different lives as individuals but seeing no religious partitions, sharing a close bond of friendship, hunger for adventure, having great hopes while suppressing the pain of parting. A very simple yet heart touching story. Check this article about 40 Best Ruskin Bond Books! https://dailybugle.in/ruskin-bond-boo...
April 29, 2020
When I read this book first as a schoolkid, little did I realize that I would fall in love with the writing of the great Ruskin Bond.
It is a beautifully penned story of three boys who became friends "just like that"..
It is a beautifully penned story of three boys who became friends "just like that"..
June 14, 2024
Such a heartwarming read, of course.
It had every element and trope characteristic of Ruskin Bond’s writing. The beautiful imagery of the mountains interlaced with the story of friendships made for the perfect summer read.
It had every element and trope characteristic of Ruskin Bond’s writing. The beautiful imagery of the mountains interlaced with the story of friendships made for the perfect summer read.
January 10, 2025
At present my favourite Ruskin bond book
I read his books as a slice of life and easy going story after finishing a complex book.
It is what a fantastic story about laurie and his friends considering it is 100 pages.
I read his books as a slice of life and easy going story after finishing a complex book.
It is what a fantastic story about laurie and his friends considering it is 100 pages.
February 22, 2018
really a good one
July 1, 2018
Reminded me of school and family. Wasn't a water body dad and me wouldn't jump into. He'd first survey, and then i'd go in. I've jumped into more water bodies than I can count now. ❤️
November 4, 2018
My first novel to read. I learnt the power of team and being together.
April 7, 2019
Beautiful story
There should be a second part of this book
All three should meet and go to the glacier again
I'll will be waiting
There should be a second part of this book
All three should meet and go to the glacier again
I'll will be waiting
May 16, 2019
Nice book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews