The huge arjuna tree teems with birds, animals and insects that play out their own mesmerising stories! Well-known artist Paritosh Sen watches and records all of this in loving detail to reveal the remarkable chain of life, the interdependence of all living things. Apart from being an invaluable lesson in ecology, this book is a fascinating visual...
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...
Trained to be king from the time he was 12 years old, Tipu was a bold and fearless boy – no wonder, then, that he chose the tiger for a mascot! Here’s a tale of how this Tiger of Mysuru challenged the growing might of the British in the late 18th century. A hands-on way for young children to understand and explore ‘information’, this series keeps them...
Manu was always different. Unlike other girls of her time, she went to school, learnt to ride and shoot. Later, as Rani Lakshmibai, she bravely told the British, “I will not give up Jhansi!” And it is Rani of Jhansi fighting on horseback that is still the most inspiring image of India’s First War of Independence in 1857. A hands-on way for young children...
A battle over salt? Yes, fought the Gandhi way! What guns and soldiers could not do, he did simply, quietly and non-violently, just by picking up a lump of salt. Follow Gandhiji’s famous march to Dandi to see the brilliant strategy that made the British give in and the world take notice. A hands-on way for young children to understand and explore...
“At the stroke of the midnight hour... India will awake to life and freedom,” declared Jawaharlal Nehru the night before Independence. But along with joy, there was also the trauma of Partition... Children’s voices from all over the country capture different shades of that momentous time in India’s history. A hands-on way for young children to understand...
A collection of short stories focusing on communal harmony. Includes writers such as Zai Whitaker, Poile Sengupta, Githa Hariharan and Shama Futehally.
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…
Danger! That’s what the digital butterflies seem to spell out. There is a little boy, Otto, who has been snatching up words and making them disappear. Armed with Siril and Gardy’s own word-hoards and Monkeyji’s mind power, the adventurers go to Hong Kong – the city of dragons – to stop Otto and his platoon of crows from destroying the city. Does...
From oppressive loneliness, Sonabai Rajawar 'makes' her way into a world of beauty and joy! This sensitive telling of her story follows her artistic journey from her first creations in clay, experiments with colours and light, play with pattern and design, to being embraced by the art world. Rich photographs make for a fascinating introduction to the life...
Every child may not grow up to be a writer or an artist, but learning to understand the arts is essential to education. Backed by the versatile genius and vast volume of work of poet, novelist, dramatist, artist and thinker Rabindranath Tagore, educationist Feisal Alkazi sets out to introduce literature and art appreciation in the classroom. His is a...
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...
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...
"Come in for a haircut! You choose... We cut!" says the sign outside a hair cutting saloon, so a lion walks in to do just that. But where is everyone? And who are these other lions staring at him? Well, by the end of the story we know why lions DON’T have haircuts – in spite of the alluring array of mane makeovers the illustrator offers!
Gitti the rock is very old. After a long, long journey that started from the boiling hot centre of the earth, he now sits quietly on a mountain, watching the sun rise and set. What is his story? 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...
The Ningthou and Leima, king and queen of Manipur, rule well over their meeyam, their people. As the years roll by, it is time to decide who will succeed to the throne. The Ningthou and Leima desire that the throne go, not to the eldest son, but to the wisest, most able child. And so they hold a competition. Who wins the bout? This folktale from Manipur...
Graa-aaa-aaa-ooo-oon! Every time Beni Ram tries to sell his camel, Bholu promptly trots back. “The villagers use vans now instead of camel-carts. Nobody wants to give your old man a job anymore,” says a gloomy Beni Ram. But fate has surprising plans for the out-of-luck Beni Ram and his beloved camel... The warm and vivid illustrations beautifully capture...
Looking for a Deep Rose that may make Aditi’s grandmother feel better, the adventurers go to the coast of Devon in England. There they meet the little boy Grendel who lives under the sea, prowls around at night scaring others, can’t remember anything and doesn’t care about it. Re-casting ‘monster’ characters from the Beowulf story, the author wonders if...
