The Five Sons of King Pandu is based on Kisari Mohan Ganguli's ten-volume English translation of The Mahabharata published from 1883 to 1893. Condensing the epic for young readers was a vast endeavor for Seeger since the original consists of ninety thousand rhymed couplets. It is three times as long as the Bible and eight times as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey put together. The epic was part of the oral tradition of India before it was written down in Sanskrit between A.D. 200 and A.D. 400. As the epic spread, legends of other princes, philosophy, religious treatises, political passages, and didactic episodes were deftly linked to the central theme. It became a repository of Indian culture and values, giving the people an identity and cohesiveness as a nation. It still provides modern Indians with a sense of continuity with the past.

Seeger's version retains the...