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A new book by Bhakti Mathur always causes much excitement and anticipation! In 'Amma Tell Me About the Avatars of Vishnu, Part 1,' the author returns to verse and the result is spectacular. Written in a rhyme scheme that engages young readers and draws them in completely, this book narrates the story of Lord Vishnu's first avatar, the Matsya avatar.
The result is magic. Bhakti does wonders with this format, as evidenced by the love that parents shower on the 'Amma Tell Me About Krishna' trilogy.
In this book, Klaka and Kiki are back! It is Janmashtami and the children are enjoying the celebrations immensely. When it is time for bed, they ask for their customary story and their mother narrates the story behind Lord Vishnu's first avatar.
What a wonderful book this is and how exciting it is to read it with your children! It has everything - adventure, great storytelling, and action verse too (kids love those, so do adults). Bhakti brings so much into her narration. She subtly shows us how the different avatars trace the evolution of life on earth. When Manu's fish becomes bigger and bigger, we wait with bated breath to see what he does next. This is the stronghold of stories that are rooted in the mysticism of the past - children are engaged so deeply that they consider so many elements of the story. Bhakti brings in the story of the Matsya avatar from the Bhagavata Purana as well and how Vishnu took the form of a fish to slay the demon who stole the Vedas and to restore them to Brahma
The Matsya story mirrors other famous stories of famous floods and rescues that we have read in other cultures.
So now you also know why Vishnu became a fish
To salvage the Vedas by plunging into the sea
Books are for reading, not for hoarding or stealing
Learning their wisdom will set you free.
Bhakti Mathur fans, you are in for a treat. This book is Part 1 of the Avatars series, which means that you can expect 9 other books soon! We think that you simply shouldn't miss this book. It is a great addition to your bookshelf for the festive season and will certainly ignite your child's interest in our stories and our rich heritage.
Forget the daughter, I am a Gajapati Kulapati fan too. I have not seen a child who isn't captivated and tickled by Ashok Rajagopalan's world famous fictional Indian elephant. These books fly off our shelves month after month.
Well, Gajapati fans and parents of young children, you are in for a treat! Gajapati Kulapati's Big Day is a new Gajapati Kulapati book by Ashok Rajagopalan but hold your breaths - it is a coloring book too! It also has easy and fun counting activities. The children can read it after they color it. I have always wanted to draw and color Gajapati and here is my chance! This book is also a great pick with our Gajapati Kulapati bundle.
Libraries - who doesn't love them? Neil Gaiman compared the library culture with the essential inoculation of children. The title of 'Spaceship to the Universe' written by Anuradha Jagalur and Shruthi Rao is borrowed from Isaac Asimov, who called the library "a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future..."
'Spaceship to the Future' is non-fiction book for children is all about libraries through the ages.
'This is a book that both children and adults will find exciting. They will love reading about all kinds of libraries in this book, libraries grand and humble, ancient and modern. These libraries come in all shapes and forms, beautiful and stately, ramshackle and precious.
There are many non-fiction books for children that are flooding the market but books like these bring commentary, nuance and compelling narration. There are stories to be uncovered from the library. In this book, you will read library stories from the past and the present, from how artists and conservators tried to unroll and revive the Herculaneum scrolls to the cave library in Mogaoku in China. Find out about libraries on boats, horseback libraries, secret libraries, human libraries, community libraries and libraries for children from marginalized communities. Discover incredible libraries in India and in other parts of the world.
My daughter and I loved reading about SR Ranganathan, the Father of Library Science in India, and his inadvertent entry into the library science field after being a math teacher for many years. When he became the librarian at the Madras University's library, the library was very disorganised. Ranganathan visited London to study modern methods of Librarianship and he came back to revitalize the Madras University Library. My daughter was suddenly very interested in a librarian's career and I must say, it did sound wonderful! We marvelled at the Library of Congress in the US and its LOC collection app, which collects all the tweets ever made in history. The current librarian, Carla Hayden, is the first woman and person of color to head the library. Isn't it amazing?
The beauty of this book is that we go to the very root of libraries, of shared reading experiences, of culture and history being passed on from generation to generation.
A must-read!
Lavanya Karthik's beautiful and evocative Dreamers series gets to the heart of two great artists and how they achieved so much without giving us so much of the facts and details of their lives but by delving into their personalities and their inner realities. We don't learn about when Teejan Bai was born or which school Satyajit Ray went to but dive into their minds and imagination. Ray saw lights and shadows everywhere - light in their home, in the eyes of family and friends, in the stories that his mother told him every night, and the shadows existed everywhere too. The book explores the ideas and perspectives that shaped Satyajit Ray's vision and brilliance as a director and an artist.
With Teejan Bai, we explore her fight for the freedom to sing and to pursue her dreams. By singing in the neighboring village, Teejan broke many stereotypes about women in the performing arts. The book follows her inner journey as she sings, catches the public's eye, and rises to great heights. These picture books inspire children who want to achieve all the things that their hearts may desire, no matter how impossible they may seem.
The latest book in the Puffin Chapter Book series by Sudha Murty is a slim, beautiful book titled 'How the Earth Got its Beauty.' This is an ambitious title and the book does it complete justice! How the Earth Got its Beauty is a beautifully narrated modern fable. Mother Earth has created rivers and plains but there is not much variation to her creation. She decides to disguise herself as a ten-year-old girl, Devi, and see what the humans are up to. She meets three sisters, Seetha, Sunaina and Shyama, who tell her that as much as the earth is beautiful, they would love to see more variations - animals, birds, plants, waters, oceans, less of plains and more of mountains. Devi reveals herself as Mother Earth and tells the sisters that they have a month before full moon to paint their dreams for a new world on a canvas. On the next full moon day, they will all come true.
As with every modern fable, things don't go as planned but in 'How the Earth Got its Beauty,' it all adds up perfectly in the end. Written in Sudha Murty's simple, heartwarming and magical style, children will completely resonate with this story. I know my daughter did for a simple reason. Give a child a canvas and ask them to paint their vision of the world? They are hooked!
The book looks like a gleaming, precious wave-washed treasure, filled with colors that don't go over the top but complement each other beautifully. Priyanka Pachpande brings Sudha Murty's lyrical prose to life. A continuation to 'How the Sea Got Salty' and 'How the Onion Got its Layers,' these contemporary takes on classic fables will enthrall your child. We cannot recommend it enough!
Time stops in our house when a new Anisha book comes out. It is then always about reading that book together, discussing it, and trying to be as whip smart and funny as Anisha Mistry, the ten-year-old 'accidental' detective. In this book like the previous two books before it, Anisha uses her logic, intelligence and resourcefulness to come to everyone's rescue. In 'Anisha Accidental Detective: Granny Trouble' we follow Anisha and her family, including her Granny Jas, making a trip to the National Space Centre to meet a space engineer! The family decides to come with her because they want to visit the Leicester festival where a beautiful diamond is at display. When the diamond is stolen, the suspicion falls upon Granny Jas, but Anisha knows that there is more to this theft than meets the eye. With her friend Milo and her cousins Mindy and Manny, she sets out to prove Granny Jas innocent.
Serena Patil's book is clever, funny, hugely entertaining and full of heart. My daughter and I laughed hearing about the Secret Hindu Society of Grannies. We wanted a cap cam for sure. Highly recommended and in my daughter's own words, "a billion trillion thumbs up!"
History presents us with astonishing stories, stories that make us saucer-eyed and breathless with anticipation. The problem is that most non-fiction books for children that are based on history are a litany of facts and incidents.
Enter India to the Rescue, a riveting and action-packed book by Shruthi Rao about the Indian armed forces and their stupendous military operation saving the island state of Maldives from a surprise attack. This incident is part of history and of course, most of us know the ending, but it still feels new and suspenseful as we read it.
The first chapter starts with how we can take over a country. What would we do if we wanted to take over the government of a country? We'd start with dominating the army, for one. We will also control other instruments of a free nation - the press, for instance.
When we read this book, we feel like we are part of the mission. We take a secret flight on a fighter jet with a paratroopers, go on a tiny boat and sail in the darkness in the ocean, and step into the shoes of the general, the head of the Maldives government, the fighters -- as they charge into an unexpected battle of courage and grit.
We could not put this book down. This is an incredible way to hook all kinds of readers and not just lovers of history. Shruthi Rao wrote this book with Sushant Singh, a journalist and senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. An absolute must-read!
We have been waiting for a children's book that explored Indian classical music and mathematics. In this picture book, Shyama Panikkar narrates the story of Riaan and Nyra who travel to Kerala to visit their grandparents. Their grandma decides to entertain them in a game of hopscotch and Nyra gets a wonderful idea. She suggests that they write Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa in the hopscotch squares instead of numbers. Both the siblings learn classical music and they know the 7 swaras of Indian classical music.
Grandma is excited too and they decide to play a fun game - bounce the ball and count, sing and jump. Their cousins from next door, Anup and Veda, join in too. They try different games and create different musical patterns. They learn about different ragas - Raag Durga or Shuddha Saveri, Raag Bhupali or the Mohanam in South India, and so many more. Indian classical music and all its elements are represented cleverly in the illustrations. Children will understand and appreciate them to the fullest.
We love how the author weaves Indian classical music into the story so effortlessly. She connects music to everyday sounds around the children, right from the tinkle of anklets and the squawk of a parrot to the ring of the milkman's cycle, resulting in an orchestra that they never anticipated.
We are passionate about Indian classical music at Toka Box and we have been longing for a book that combines music and STEM so perfectly. Do check out Bounce Bop Raaga Pop!
According to this report, financial education in children and youth goes a long way in shaping their money beliefs and in preventing negative consequences of money mismanagement, including student debt and a lack of planning for the future. Financial education includes much more than understanding how money and banks work, but also dives into our experiences with money, how our parents talked to us about money, and our own motivations and discipline as human beings.
The Magic Box: A Story About Baking is set in the imaginary town of Lokapuram. Two siblings, Rahul and Ananya, want to buy their friend Kabir a board game that costs Rs. 100. They have Rs. 80 between them and they need Rs. 20 more. They discuss their plans in the local park. They wonder how to rustle up the remaining amount to pay for the gift. As they race each other to the playground, Rahul trips over something - a shiny and beautiful box that is lodged in a mound. The children dig the box out and Ananya decides to keep it. She puts her money, Rs. 40, into the box and at night, much to her excitement, the box glows and is stuck shut. She is unable to prise it open and on the eleventh day, she manages to open it and finds that her money has increased to Rs. 50! We read on to find out about the person who is at the other end of the story - a little elf named Baroh Young, who needs to borrow money urgently. Baroh walks to the park to get some fresh ideas and accidentally drops his money box when he sees two children run towards him. Not wanting his kind to be seen, Baroh runs and hides, while the children find his magic box. They don't know that it belongs to him and they decide to take it home.
What follows is an interesting interplay between Baroh and the children, involving money, savings, and earning interest. The author has used a very clever and engaging story to illustrate important money concepts to children. While understanding saving and spending, wants and needs, are important, learning about interest rates and passive income can also empower young minds in many ways. It is often hard to explain these ideas to children when they deal so much more with the concrete than purely the abstract, so it is great to see a riveting story that illustrates all these concepts so beautifully.
The book has a concept check at the end. The children and their friend Kabir also visit the bank with Tara akka. They interview the people they see at the bank - people who want to deposit money, take a loan, or withdraw money. They learn about the workings of a bank, about earning and paying interest, and how the bank manages money!
'Red, White and Whole' by Rajani LaRocca reads like a memoir of an Indian American girl, growing up in the Midwest in the 1980s. What’s more it is written in verse and is a breezy read, though I felt a touch of melancholy and loneliness that this girl experiences as a tween caught between two cultures.
Reha ( named after the stars) is an only child of South Indian parents growing up in the US. Weekdays are for school and homework and an American Reha while weekends are for “Indianing” as she says.
She feels caught between what she feels her parents want for her and what she wants for herself - her Indian side and her American side.
When her mother falls seriously ill - she decides to be virtuous like Savitri in the Amar Chitra Katha comics she reads! Perhaps then Yamraj would take kindly to her and spare her mother if she followed the rules and does what makes her parents happy.
I had to remind myself that this book is set at a time when Reha’s parents did not have easy access to their motherland as we do now- only aerogramme letters, not a daily WhatsApp family group chat.
This definitely colors the way the parents perceive holding onto their Indian- ness for themselves and their children. And the children’s own perception of a fault line between the two cultures which for our generation seem blissfully blurred though only time will tell when this generation of kids write their own memoirs!
Does Reha discover belonging - a place we are all seeking whether we fully belong to one culture or not.
Fancy a book about history that doesn't include kings, queens, economic policies, battles, or dates? How about history from the eyes of everyday, ordinary people? Find out about the weaver who created the first loom, potters, farmers, gardeners, mathematicians, astronomers and merchants who contributed to the world's evolution and journey forward. Traveling minstrels and storytellers, merchants who journeyed along the Silk Road and sailors who voyaged across the Indian Ocean, weavers creating amazing Baluhchari saris, folk musicians and dancers, farmers, gardeners, cooks and more. Each chapter has a lovely little story of a person from a particular trade or vocation, and the author goes on to talk about the trade, its place in history and how it contributed to the country.
While kings, queens and politicians are fascinating, we loved reading about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people who lived through history and contributed to many great changes and progress.
There isn't a book by Chitra Soundar that we don't love. She is one of our all-time favorite writers, a gifted wordsmith with a great eye for plot, a wonderful sense of humor and a keen idea of what children really, really like to read. When we heard that she wrote a chapter book for emergent readers, we were thrilled! Manju's Magic Muddle is part of the Bloomsbury Young Readers Series, created by experts to get children to read and transition to chapter books.
In this book, a genie has a terrible cold and Manju finds it impossible to get him to fulfil her wishes when he keeps pronouncing them all wrong because of his cold! So instead of a water slide, we have otter slides, blue goats instead of boats, and more. One more mistake and the Genie will be struck off the Genie register. How can Manju help him?
This fun book is also a great way to get children to explore sounds and phonics. The story gets them interested to want to read more and to explore each chapter as it comes. Go for it!
Shyam is a storybook, a picture book and a coloring book rolled into one. The author narrates the story of Krishna, fondly known as Shyam, to a new generation of readers. Written in a conversational and engaging style, children will love exploring Krishna's traits, his intelligence, kindness, mystery, power and charm.
This book is created in such a unique and beautiful way. Each page gives us one part of a story from Krishna's life, with an illustration and its corresponding copy, uncolored, which children can explore. You will be delighted to know that the artwork found in all of Devdutt Pattanaik's books, except the Devlok series, are his own! The illustrations are expertly sketched, yet with a fluidity and artistic elegance that remind us of folk drawings and paintings.
