Sandhya Rao is one of the finest writers for children in India. Her books have won awards and accolades: My Friend the Sea won the Ambitious Children’s Book Project award at the Berlin Children and Youth Literature Festival, 2005. My Mother’s Sari was chosen as an Outstanding International Book, 2007, by the United States Board for Books for Young People (USBBY) and the Children’s Book Council. Rights to the book have been sold for USA, Canada, Australia and the U.K. In 1996, she joined Radhika Menon to create multilingual books for children at a time when independent children’s publishing in India was nascent. She has written over 20 books. Chennai-based Sandhya has an eclectic taste in books, music and films and loves listening to stories, especially real stories. She works at The Hindu
A boy who doesn’t stop talking, furry cats and clacking needles... Shobha has a dream every night, but she always wakes up before they end. How do these dreams end? She really has to know. “Write them down,” says English Miss. And that’s what Shobha does. “The more she wrote, the more she wrote, and the more she wrote. She wrote and wrote.” The interplay...
The very first words Zakir hears from his famous father, Allarakha, are bols — rhythms played out on tablas! From then on, bols sing and dance in his head, on Amma’s cheeks, on the pots and pans in the kitchen… Sandhya Rao follows these beats, stringing together little vignettes from his life. From a childhood around music to the highs of a performer who...
Irfaan has a story in his head. So do Thanh, Suzanne, Wang and others. They write them down on white sand and yellow sand, pebbly and clayey sand... and then what happens to them? They are washed away by waves, churned in the oceans and left on other sands, where other children listen to them. Sandhya Rao lyrically evokes the ebb and flow of tales across...
The quiet villages of Sundarban are terrorised by a monster with wild eyes, sharp teeth, striped skin and pointed nails — Dokkhin Rai! Until finally, Bon Bibi, protector of the forests and people, asks him a simple question: Why do you do this? The answer to this question is central to the age-old theme of human-animal harmony. Set in the lush and...
The faces in the mirror just won't go away. Not the frog, not the lion, not the monkey. They won't even get scared. Then Thangi has an idea! This beginner reader is part of the Thumb Thumb Books series, created around the common thumbprint and featuring Thumb Thumb Thangi and Thumb Thumb Thambi. Short sentences, bold type and vibrant visuals make entry...
Thambi finds a flower, he picks it up, smells it. Mmmmm! But there's someone sitting inside... oh! This beginner reader is part of the Thumb Thumb Books series, created around the common thumbprint and featuring Thumb Thumb Thangi and Thumb Thumb Thambi. Short sentences, bold type and vibrant visuals make entry into reading easy and exciting. At the end...
Shh, Thangi is sleeping. The caterpillar crawls, the cat yawns... then a plate clatters to the ground. Thangi wakes up. Oh no! This beginner reader is part of the Thumb Thumb Books series, created around the common thumbprint and featuring Thumb Thumb Thangi and Thumb Thumb Thambi. Short sentences, bold type and vibrant visuals make entry into reading...
One day, Thangi gets into the mood and begins to sing. Immediately the cats mewl, the dogs howl and the donkeys bray. But when the peacocks join in, what does Thangi do? This beginner reader is part of the Thumb Thumb Books series, created around the common thumbprint and featuring Thumb Thumb Thangi and Thumb Thumb Thambi. Short sentences, bold type...
Who ate the dosas? Amma makes dosas but they keep disappearing! A story in which children have the last laugh! They will also experience the fun and excitement of making the pictures move. There are instructions on how they can do that at the end of the book. CBSE recommended
Any time is time for cricket. Who wins? Who loses? Who cares? As long as the game goes on — anywhere, anyhow, and played by anyone. This little book of photographs, with just a line of text on each page, is a light tribute to the universal and unifying spirit of cricket. It is also a reminder that cricket is a game, games are played for fun, and everyone...
“Help! Help!” calls the big black ant when the little black ant falls into the water. But the only answers it gets are “crokk”, “isspiss”, “aaaanh”, “cheek”, “miyawwwwn” and ‘”woaw”. Who will save the baby? Unusual sounds add excitement to a familiar pattern in this folktale based story. The sometimes onomatopoeic, sometimes alliterative, sometimes...
This zippy zestful grand-ant has travelled the world, and how! This smart ‘travel quiz' comes in crisp, cheery verse that jogs the mind even as it swings the imagination. Clues come through words and pictures, taking children on a whirlwind journey from New Zealand to Japan, China, Nepal... But how does grand-ant travel?
An endearing Marathi folktale about two sisters. Ekkesvali has one hair on her head. Dhonkesvali has two and thinks she's great. What happens when they meet an old woman who lives alone in a clearing right in the middle of the forest? This folktale takes on a special joyousness with Ranjan De's stylised representations and is full of interesting details...
A boy who doesn’t stop talking, furry cats and clacking needles... Shobha has a dream every night, but she always wakes up before they end. How do these dreams end? She really has to know. “Write them down,” says English Miss. And that’s what Shobha does. “The more she wrote, the more she wrote, and the more she wrote. She wrote and wrote.” The interplay...
