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.

Ruskin Bond was born in Kasauli in 1934; grew up in Jamnagar, Simla and Dehradun; spent a few years abroad, and returned to India when he was twenty-one. Although unmarried, he has a large adopted family. A resident of Mussoorie, he is a well-known writer of fiction and a raconteur par excellence.His Tales and Legends from India, Angry River, Strange Men, Strange Places, The Blue Umbrella, A Long Walk for Bina and Hanuman to the Rescue are also available in Rupa paperback. The Ruskin Bond's Children's Omnibus has been a firm favourite with young readers for several years. Ghost Stories from the Raj, The Rupa Book of Great Animal Stories, The Rupa Book of True Tales of Mystery and Adventure, The Rupa Book of Himalayan Tales and The Rupa Book of Great Suspense Stories are some of his recent books for Rupa.