India, Aug. 16 -- Every anthology lives or dies a little by its title story, and Neeta Chaudhari's "Pot of Gold" - the tale that lends Pot of Gold and Other Real Treasures its name - is a fitting centrepiece for the collection. The story begins in Miss Dunn's classroom, where a lesson on the colours of the rainbow spirals into an old Irish legend about a pot of gold waiting at its end, and from there follows Rohan and Sara as a sudden storm, a rainbow, and a fallen tree lead them not to treasure, but to a trapped, injured puppy hidden beneath the branches. What makes the story work so well is its patience.

Chaudhari does not rush the children toward their discovery; instead, she lingers on the small, tender details - Rohan noticing the w...