the reviews
"...a lucid but relentless narrative ... At a time when civil society seems to be particularly endangered in India, this book reminds its impressionable readers that information is power and obliviousness can be inhuman." 
 — The Telegraph

"Bhopal Gas Tragedy aims at disturbing the young among us in their sleep ... The book is a ready reference of what was happening in Bhopal: before, during and after that deadly night."
 — The Week

BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
Classes VIII upward

This is the second book in the In Focus series, taking a close look at what is perhaps the worst industrial disaster in human history. It traces the story of that horrific night and its aftermath, up to date, probing issues that arise from it. This is perhaps the first book that attempts to bring the incident to young readers, and in a way that is informative yet very readable.
     The author refers to it as 'an alarm call to mankind'. What is the alarm? Because the Bhopal picture gets larger as we look closer, till we find that it affects each one of us in our lives. This book addresses young people who are on the threshold of their careers. And in almost any area they choose to follow, there is an aspect of 'Bhopal' that is relevant. For instance, in the challenge of discovery and experiment to help the world through science and technology, are we tempted to compromise on dangers? Do the pressures of larger corporate responsibilities make us less caring towards individuals? As lawyers, do we hush the voice of conscience? Does the routine of medical practice numb sensitivity? Don't we often bend ethics and principles just a little – in public relations, advertising and media, in politics?
     The horrors of Bhopal are happening around us all the time in different ways. That is why the issues raised in this book need to be thought about, discussed and debated, so young people realise that 'a tragedy can be understood, analysed and prevented from recurring.' 

SURESH AND THE SEA
HINA IN THE OLD CITY
Classes VII - IX
These real stories of children from diverse environments open minds to very different, and very real, lifestyles. They also work as springboards for children anywhere to make their own connections with the world around them — how their surroundings influence and change their lives. Questions at the end of the books help teachers to guide them. The use of photographs works as an exciting example for children to follow in compiling their own stories.
     The suggestions provided in the books also throw up interesting possibilities for debates and discussions, with reading lists for more information on the subjects. Alongside the stories, the books also have bits of information about connected issues — e.g. about the marine ecosystem or on the zardozi craft and the history of Old Delhi. For environment-based classroom projects, and in individual discovery of one's place in the web of life, these books are a great beginning.

'Hina in the Old City' used in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Vasant Valley School and Springdale School, New Delhi

the reviews
"The book is very interesting for the way it begins with the simple and gradually introduces children to the more complex aspects of the lives of the fisherfolk."
— Deccan Herald

"The boxed information takes off from crucial ideas in the text and gives the reader multiple directions and a freedom to follow one's inclinations. The information is in fact snippets selected with a lot of care, precise and interesting. . . The questions at the end lead to many curiosities. And that is precisely why the book should be on the shelf of school libraries." 
— Indian Review of Books

RIVER STORIES
Classes III-V
A set of 4 books (purchasable individually), each covering a major river from a different part of India – Ganga, Brahmaputra, Narmada and Kaveri. Fluidly combining geography with history, myth, environment and culture, these books read like stories, easy to assimilate. As part of the Read and Colour series, illustrations are bold black and white line drawings inviting children to colour them in. These pictures too are well researched and based on authentic references, therefore educative in themselves. Each book has a centrespread of a pictorial map of the course of the river.

Used in American School,  New Delhi; Lady Andal Venkata Subba Rao School, Chennai

picture books - bilingual picture books - wordbird books -  in verse - under the banyan 
paperback fiction - classics in translation - think about - gandhi books - fact + fiction - read + colour  green books -  where I live - looking at art -  in focus - your companion - resource books