The Legend of Ondar the Groovin' Tuvan

Great alternative holiday story for your unconventional childhood.

This book is a touching tribute to the late great Kongar-ol Ondar, a master of the Tuvan art of throat singing. The story is simple, but in all the right ways, giving a heightened and fantastical retelling of some of the events of Ondar’s life. Combine the charming, folktale-like prose with the warm colors of the illustrations and one has a great book that all ages can enjoy. As a bonus if you listen to it with the audio book, you get a background soundtrack of Ondar’s singing, which helps to set the mood of the story. There’s no better word to describe this story other than “groovy.” P.S. If you’ve never heard throat singing before, go to YouTube and look up Kongar-ol Ondar. He has one of the most unique voices I have ever heard in all of music.

A must for fans of Tuvan throat singing, alternate universes, harmonic overtones, and the noble eightfold Way (with a sense of humor). Not to mention stamp collecting, the Pasadena Rose Parade, and flying reindeer! This is an excellent picture-book for grownups, and with its Christmas and New Year theme would make a good inexpensive gift. It would be great for kids too, as long as you’re willing to explain reindeer eating magic mushrooms and flying high to them! There’s a fantastic, catchy audio track of Ondar singing his 2 notes at once. Beautiful tribute to Ondar, mega-voice and mega-soul of this world.