Sowmya Rajendran has published several books with Tulika. Her writing evokes strong themes with wit and lightness. From Aana and Chena to The Pleasant Rakshasa and Wings to Fly, Sowmya has always shown her ability to handle strong themes with sensitivity.
The life of an extraordinary man, whose questioning ‘why's led him to fight untouchability, urge Dalits to protest against the inhumanity they suffered — and finally, to help draft the Indian Constitution that would ensure equality for all. Visualised with quirky imagination, this is a story that will raise the awareness of children, and make them ask...
Little Malathi wants to run after hens and chicks, and catch ripe yellow mangoes as they fall — but how can she, on a wheelchair? Moments and experiences from the remarkable life of disabled athlete Malathi Holla, with energetic illustrations full of warmth and cheer. 2018: Best Of Indian Children's Writing : Contemporary
Karimuga is a pleasant rakshasa. He is a beautiful rakshasa too. But that makes all other rakshasas jealous of him. Karimuga can't bear to see them unhappy... A story that inverts ideas of beauty with a light touch, while the pictures add to the fun.
Suddenly the lights go off and the house is plunged in darkness. Mother lights a candle, and so begins a game of elephant, cat, deer, snake and more.
Time to go to school, and the little girl in this book is still in a world of dreams. As she tries to hurry up, her grandmother tells her the secret of what made her father go to school.
Keshav's friend Lobsang is from Tibet. The reality of exile and the longing for home are delicately explored as the children pretend to travel across the world.
On Monday Mani is a monkey, on Tuesday he's a crocodile, on Wednesday… A days-of-the-week-book that gives a real ride to the imagination!
Aana the elephant doesn't like his looks, but Chena the yam says he's beautiful. How? asks Aana. Endearing conversation and pictures that say, be yourself!
In her second diary, Mayil is perceptibly older, and wiser to a lot more things that make up teens. But some things don't change, and Mayil will still not be quiet about anything — from sexual harrassment to caste distinctions (even in Harry Potter!).
An engaging journey into the mind of a 12-year-old. With everyday dilemmas to questions of gender stereotyping and popular culture, a must-read coming of age book. 2015: Bal Sahitya Puraskar, Sahitya Akademi
Fiercely fun, madly morose and prone to spontaneous combustion — this is Mayil Ganeshan at Not Yet Sixteen. Much like before. But edgier. Older and bolder, the unstoppable ‘Mayilwriter’ rants in rhyme, ponders in verse, and doodles in between. For every moment of clarity, there are others filled with anger, confusion and self-doubt. But Mayil keeps her...
A riotously illustrated, riveting retelling of well known fairytales, in which familiar heroines are ingeniously recast to overturn stereotypical notions of beauty and strength.
With gender issues hitting news hotspots, there are more and more questions but answers are shrouded in stereotype and convention. This book ‘talks' directly to teens on all aspects of gender, lifting confusions and creating awareness. Alongside is a visual commentary that prods and provokes, even as it makes you laugh. 2016: Honour Book (Non-fiction),...
