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This is Where We Live

Here is a story of a day that starts sunny, turns stormy and rainy, and all this through compelling and bold sketches. The book is sure to have the reader’s heart. And it is likely that readers will return to the book, time and again, and each time find something new. The narrative has the ability to connect with the reader’s world, their days of sun, storm and rain, and who knows, it may even encourage them to pick up a pencil and start sketching!

Pratham Books 2021 Manjari Chakaravarti

Tiger, Tiger, where are you?

The book is a telling through clues of where the tiger is, as you imagine the animal roaming the jungle. It keeps the reader guessing where the big cat is, while also getting a glimpse into how you track wild fauna. The watercolour illustration is gentle, soft and warm. Children may be enthusiastic about the outdoors and animals after reading this book.

Pratham Books 2021 Mujahid Khan Manjari Chakaravarti

When Adil Speaks, Words Dance

This sensitive and wonderful story on inclusion and friendship, and portrays empathy beautifully. Adil communicates through sign language, or as his friends see it words dancing to the and music within him. The book does not glorify Adil. Instead, it portrays him as a child who cannot hear but is able to communicate differently from other children around him. The illustrations play an enhancing role in this book.

Puffin Books by Penguin Random House India 2020 Lavanya Karthik Lavanya Karthik

Who’s Next?

Who’s Next is a big book. The illustration is so rich and vivid that children and adults alike are bound to find joy in it. The simple narrative is told through the eyes of a child by the window watching an urban wedding entourage pass by. The illustrations offer a parallel narrative, and looking closely, the reader will find elements of inclusions portrayed intelligently, and with wit.

Eklavya 2021 Mini Shrinivasan Priya Kuriyan

Home

This story about refugees highlights their painful journey of losing home and hope, of living with several uncertainties without family, familiar neighborhoods, known cultures. The refugees are often left questioning where they belong. The illustrations add beautifully to the story and support the questions it raises about the meaning of home and hope, of belonging and being.

Pratham Books 2021 Shweta Ganesh Kumar Annada Menon

Coming Home

The book is a fictional account of a true story of a young boy in the Sittilingi Valley of Tamil Nadu. The children of the valley, led by 11-year-old Selva, attempt to build their own school so that they do not have to choose between migrating for elementary education or giving it up altogether. Inspiring the young to find their own voice and confidence, this book is a part of an iconic set of five.

Karadi Tales in partenership with PARI 2021 Priti David Cover Design- Tanvi Parulkar

Kashmir! Kashmir!

This is a refreshing anthology of short fiction set in Kashmir. The stories are varied and multi-layered, and they talk about people living there, people who were compelled to leave and about visitors who come and go. The book is set on a cord where beauty and pain run in the same vein. The stories bring in the reader to the daily experiences of struggle, dissent, helplessness, love, compassion and courage of people living in Kashmir, and to the uncertainty that constantly looms.

Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd. 2021 Deepa Agarwal

My Name is Gulab

This powerful story tells of an act of courage of a manual scavenger’s daughter. Young Gulab takes the first step to ensure her father does not have to use bare hands for work. Addressing caste issues sensitively and sensibly, the book presents a world that many children are insulated from. Oppression and people living in the margins are portrayed through the narration. The illustrations are evocative, with a choice of colours that align imagination with reality.

Tulika Publishers 2021 Sagar Kolwankar Sagar Kolwankar