Upendrakishore is the doyen amongst authors of children's books in Bengali. A multi-faceted genius, Upendrakishore was a writer, painter, musician and a pioneer in the field of printing. Born in 1863 in a little village called Masua in Mymensingh district, in East Bengal(now Bangladesh), he was an adopted son of a zamindar (landlord). After passing his Entrance Examination in 1880 from Mymensingh Zila School, he moved to Kolkata and completed his Bachelors degree in 1884 from Calcutta Metropolitan Institute. While working as a pioneer in the area of halftone printing, he was creating rhymes, folktales, fairytales, mythological tales, and science fiction for children, enriched by his own paintings. His Chotoder Ramayan (1894-1895), Sekaler Katha (1903), Chotoder Mahabharat (1909), Mahabharater Galpa (1909) and Tuntunir Boi (1910) would remain evergreen in the world of children's books in Bengali. His untimely death at the age of fifty two left a big void, that was to be filled in by his illustrious son Sukumar Roy and, later by his grandson Satyajit Roy.
