Did you know that bees make a real song and dance over honey? And delicate butterflies can frighten fearsome birds? Superbly comic pictures exaggerate funny but true facts about the mad, mad world of creepy crawlies.
Takdir is a tiger cub in who lives in the thick jungle of the Bandhavgarh National Park. One day, when his mother, Sita, is away and his sisters are asleep, Takdir decides to go off on his own. The story of what happens to him is told by Nanda, a wildlife photographer and filmmaker, and Latika, a wildlife biologist, who studied these tigers for over 10...
A small boy loves colour. So he paints his hair green and his legs blue. Then he picks up his brush again and…? A simple bilingual book for beginner readers, with repetition for easy language learning. The dramatic illustrations draw children into an imaginative and inspiring world of colour.
Bahadur, the little elephant has forgotten how to sleep. Worried and very, very sleepy, he goes to his animal friends for help. But they all sleep in their own different ways – elephants don't sleep like that! What will Bahadur do? The snoozy-woozy first story in the ever popular series about Bahadur the baby elephant! CBSE recommended
Sometimes a circle, sometimes a slice and soon not there at all... This picture book in easy verse urges a child to look out of the window each night to watch the 'moon show' in the sky – its waxing and waning. Echoing the text, the illustrations are deliberately childlike and capture the grand sweep of the night sky.
Sonabai lives beside a tree that bears delicious red berries. Every day she picks the berries and makes sweets to sell in the market. She is very content... until Kolaba the fox sneaks into her life. Ranjan De's papercuts add to the mystery and fun of this well-loved Marathi folktale.
The famous storyteller, Gorannagaru, is in the village to recite the Ramayana. Bangaramma forces her husband, Penchilayya, to attend. Tired and sleepy, he goes quite unwillingly – and finds the stories sweet one night, salty another! Bangaramma is intrigued... A gentle folktale from Andhra Pradesh about the magic of stories, with pictures in the style of...
Big, burly Tarlochan is a champion wrestler, eager for a real challenge. So when he hears of Paramjit, reputed to be unbeatable, he sets off across the Sutlej river to take him on. The two begin their bout with gusto and become so absorbed in it that they literally get 'carried away'! The pictures for this folk fantasy from Punjab imbibe the spirit of its...
Moyna lives in a little tribal village. She cannot go to school because she has to tend goats, collect firewood, fetch water… But she is so full of questions that the postmaster calls her the ‘why-why girl'! In this inspiring and delightful story, her first picture book, acclaimed Jnanpith award-winning writer Mahasweta Devi tells us how she meets Moyna...
Bhikhubhai's mouth waters for some coconut... fresh, juicy, grated, with a dash of sugar. But there aren't any in the house and he must go to the market for one. The problem is that he'd rather not pay for it! This hilarious folktale from Gujarat has pictures based on the stylised painted paper scrolls used by Garoda storytellers in northern Gujarat.
Nazneen carefully cooks some fragrant marzwangan kurma for a special family dinner. But just when it is all ready, guests arrive — unwanted guests, who cleverly sniff out a good free meal. A warm, amusing folktale from Kashmir which captures life in a simple Kashmiri household. The illustrations use traditional Kashmiri embroidery motifs to provide...
Sunu-sunu the snail is playing with his friends, the ants. Suddenly there is a storm. He ‘hurries' home to his mother and tells her all he saw and heard. With repetitive sound words creating the mood, eloquent illustrations evoke a snail's-eye view of the storm in his world – the garden!
Kalia, a poor cobbler, lives with his wife in Patna. He makes beautiful shoes with fine curling points. One day, tired of being poor, he seeks the help of a holy man who appoints him a ghost, Bhootram, who will earn Kalia a lot of money. The only problem is that Bhootram must always be kept busy – or he will eat them up! What will they do? The...
The children of a village take the cows to graze in a forest, where they love to play under a large, shady banyan tree. One day, a bad-tempered snake who lives under the tree bites a cow, and the children become afraid. The snake too is unhappy — until he learns the secret of life from a wandering monk. The folktale from Bengal has pictures adapted from...
In the beginning, the peacock had no markings on its shimmering blue-green tail. The sun king's daughter sees this beautiful creature one day and falls in love. Much against her father's wishes, she marries the peacock. What happens then and how the peacock gets ‘eyes' on its tail is what this folktale from Rajasthan is all about. The bold, stylised...
Muthu, a poor playwright, his wife Chellam, and their six children live a hard life. Chellam cooks and cleans homes while Muthu writes plays and sometimes doesn't get paid. One day, Muthu goes in search of a job. He loses his way in the jungle and falls asleep under a tree. What happens then? Find out in this folktale from Tamil Nadu, with pictures in the...
Using a simple, direct approach this book presents a basic concept – it encourages children to recognise forms through lines and circles and observe them in the world around them. As the two forms come together to create various images, the narrative builds on the concept to tell a story. The pictures have been inspired by folk toys.
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...
An endlessly entertaining tale from Kerala with repetitive text and animated pictures. Eecha the practical fly and her friend Poocha the greedy cat make delicious rice soup. While Eecha flies off to fetch a jackfruit leaf with which to spoon out the soup, Poocha watches over the pot. But Poocha is hungry, so hungry…
Boondi is a little drop of water who rolls and tumbles in the river. One hot day he feels himself being lifted up, up, up into the sky into a big, heavy cloud. What now? This is one of five First Look Science books, perfect for a child’s first introduction to basic concepts about the world around because they were conceived visually. The stunning...
A little girl spills, drops, breaks, trips on things. She is called Clumsy, Slowcoach, Careless... words that scare away all other words. But in her head, words become stories and stories, pictures – and with a box of paints and a brush, she sweeps herself away from the names people call her! Vivid watercolours lift her from her everyday milieu into a...
Renchu prods her grandmother for a story. But her Daadi’s stories are never told straight. She is “sometimes in the story and sometimes out of it”. And as she moves in an out, we see two worlds – one of a time when they were people of the forest, and one of now when they have been forced into cities as ragpickers. The illustrations too flit between the...
From a sorrowful Sita to a resolute Razia, little Nina has played them all. Everyone calls her a fine actress. But Nina is at a loss when she’s given the role of Kasturba – after all Kasturba was only Gandhiji’s wife. Wasn’t she? Confused, she starts preparing for the play, and soon discovers that an ‘ordinary’ wife can be quite an extraordinary person.
Ten bunches of bananas, a bundle of sugarcane, coconut, jaggery and a big ball of rice. A rather heavy meal, even for an elephant, as Gajapati Kulapati finds out! Bringing together all that’s familiar – the cast of characters, words that repeat, sounds that roll, a gentle tone and sprightly pictures, the third book about this endearing elephant, makes for...
