Jennifer Hashmi – författare

How does the Lord of the Environment react when he hears of school children turning to extortion, or of wilful neglect of animals or people, or of children sick as a result of industrial waste? In these stories he gets involved! Merriol is kept very busy in the work of restoring the balance.

"Lord Hycarbox is the Lord of the Environment, responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Earth. Merriol, his energetic helper, travels down to the people below and records their deeds. These stories begin with a wrong being done to them or their community. The morals that arise as a result are simple to understand and possible for all people young or old to incorporate into their lives This book is well suited for parents to read to a young audience as well as for older children to enjoy on their own."

-US Review of Books

"This is a work instilled with important teachings and valuable life lessons. Hashmi has woven the elemental themes of spirituality, nature, and humanity into an intricate and thought-provoking tapestry of engaging children''s literature."

-Pacific Book Review

This book is a compilation of four books published previously under the titles, "Sonny, Gogo, Tobo, and their adventures", "Further Adventures of Sonny, Gogo, and Tobo", "Sonny and the Heroic Deeds", and "Sonny Falls into the Mystery". They have been edited and revised here to form one complete narrative.

Part one, which includes the first two of these books, is written for younger children aged from about six to nine years old. Sonny is seven when he first goes to Pongoland and grows older through the stories. Pongoland is one of an archipelago of islands existing in another dimension in the sky. The only way to travel there from our world is in the company of one of its inhabitants, and the mode of transport in the archipelago is on the back of a bird. Gogo, an inhabitant of Pongoland, stumbles into our world by accident and meets Sonny. They strike up a friendship and Gogo takes Sonny back with him to Pongoland for fun. Sonny helps to rescue Gogo''s younger brother Tobo from one of his blunders, and Sonny becomes a welcome visitor in the archipelago for the rest of his childhood. Parts two and three are for slightly older children aged about eight to twelve. However children may feel free to read any of them they choose. There is no clear boundary line in reading difficulty or content. At the end of the book Sonny himself is twelve years old.

The Sonny stories are about learning to fit in and adapt, and as a result become part of a whole new way of life. The children share adventures and solve mysteries. Sonny in the process discovers that the notions of time and space, accepted in his world as how things work, in fact are much more fluid and elastic than he could ever have imagined! The archipelago becomes to him what he means by home.