Mr Oliver’s Diary by Ruskin Bond

A gun-toting; violin-playing Headmaster. A homicidal barber. A hungry leopard and about a hundred frogs on the loose. Boys with a talent for pranks and jokes. Ruskin Bond’s fresh new school stories are a non-stop laugh riot. Mr Oliver; a history teacher; arrives in Simla with a train-load of hungry boys to start a new term at the Prep School. As he records the antics of the amazing characters there; and all that they get up to; we quickly realize that there is never a dull moment. A fire; a missing Headmaster; runaway students make sure not a day goes by when Mr Oliver has nothing to report in his diary. He writes about the eccentric teachers; the girls’ school next door and the lovely Anjali Ramola; whom he secretly admires. Laugh-out-loud funny; with a core of old-world charm that is trademark Bond; Mr Oliver’s Diary has stories and characters that have never appeared anywhere before. With his runaway wig; pet shrew and endearing dry wit; Mr Oliver is sure to become as well-loved as those other vintage Ruskin Bond characters; Uncle Ken and Rusty."