Leela Garady is an author, playwright, translator, storyteller, puppeteer and educator with three decades of experience, She has pioneered innovative teaching methods during her career at The Valley School and Centre for Learning. She has also contributed to renewing the art of traditional string puppetry of Karnataka.
Across the room, over a table, under a chair… Anita follows a long line of ants. Where do they take her? Zestful pictures capture the curiosity of a lively little girl and introduce young readers to some simple, everyday vocabulary.
Dhum Dhum Dhum… dhup dhup dhup… Dungi dances to a dhinchak beat in this foot-tapping story that will make young readers move and groove, clap and tap! Big sheep, small sheep, bored sheep, happy sheep… eye-catching visuals bring to life the dance and drama in a woolly world. 2018: Best of Indian Children's Writing: Contemporary
Little Malathi wants to run after hens and chicks, and catch the ripe yellow mangoes as they fall – but how can she, on a wheelchair? She grows up to show that she can do much, much more! Moments and experiences from the remarkable life of disabled athlete Malathi Holla, told simply and sensitively, bring out her determination and untiring spirit. The...
Kuk... Kuk… The poor rooster can't KUKAROOKOO because his throat is so parched. There is not a drop of water left in the village pond. The only hope is to find a badwa who can ask the gods to send rain. What does the badwa tell them to do? Go home and paint! The adventure-filled origin myth about Bhil art revolves around the thirst for rain and water...
Ma buys the perfect present for her little Tokai from a pavement hawker – a toy bird that repeats everything it hears. The problem starts when Ma can't make it stop! There is mayhem in the middle of busy, busy Dalhousie Square, with a stalled bus and an angry policeman. Will Tokai get his present after all? Bright, bold pictures set off this hilarious...
Tiger cub Sultan and his Ammi have a special friend they call Junglee Bina, who loves the jungle, and wanders there on her own for hours, taking photographs. It is these stunning photos that show us Sultan's life in the Ranthambore forest, even as he tells us the story of a warm relationship between a woman and the wild. Images drawn from folk toys meld...
Tak tak sum, tak tak sum… Hambreelmai sits by the Kamblang river, happy at her loom, copying patterns from the clouds, the birds, the ripples in the water. She is the first weaver, taught by the goddess Matai herself. One day, Sheipung the porcupine sees her exquisite cloth and wants it… What happens next is the story of how the Mishmi people learnt to...
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...
A hot summer day, an old man in dusty clothes who calls himself a maharaja, a little boy Munna who believes him, and a teashop full of people who don’t… With the familiar feel of a folktale, this delightful story keeps the reader guessing till the end! Going with the flavour, Deepa Balsavar chooses an illustrative style that’s “part folksy, part whimsy”,...
When Sun was out people did things, but when Moon appeared all they did was sleep! Moon isn’t happy – she too wants to be noticed. So from where the three seas meet at the tip of India she goes up to the mountains, ruffling up waters to announce her presence. But nothing helps. She then follows the advice of her ocean friends and works at what she is good...
