It’s late at night. Tipu is fast asleep when his two black puppies, Layla and Jugnoo, bound into his room. Down comes his star-filled quilt – and it becomes a cosmic playground for the three of them. Anything is possible, even flying to the moon! With illustrations that reflect the blending of reality and fantasy, this is a story about the sheer joy of imagination, and the wonder of play.

“What colour shall I be?” wonders the baby bird. And as her feathered friends hop forward one by one to claim their own colour as best, they pick out hues from across the country. Pink like Kutch flamingos, purple like fiery Naga chillies, red like the Satpura’s palash, black like Bhadra panthers… Vibrant palettes take us on a visual journey across India, reflecting that it’s the diversity that is delightful, the medley that is most magical.

"हिंदी के जाने-माने कवि-कथाकार प्रकाश मनु ने बच्चों और किशोर पाठकों के लिए भी खूब लिखा है। उनकी कहानियों में बच्चों की दुनिया का हर रंग, हर खुशबू है—उनकी शरारतें और नटखटपन, उनके शिकवे-शिकायतें, उनके सुख-दु:ख और छोटी-बड़ी परेशानियाँ; साथ ही उनके खेल-कूद, मस्ती, सपने और मिलकर कुछ करने का हौसला भी। यही वजह है कि बच्चे और किशोर पाठक मनुजी की कहानियाँ ढूँढ़-ढूँढ़कर पढ़ते और सराहते हैं। कोई पच्चीस वर्षों तक लोकप्रिय बाल पत्रिका ‘नंदन’ से जुड़े रहे प्रकाश मनु की कहानियों का यही जादू उनकी चुनिंदा किशोर कहानियों की पुस्तक ‘गंगा दादी जिंदाबाद’ में एकदम नए रूप और अंदाज में सामने आया है। ‘गंगा दादी जिंदाबाद’ संग्रह में ‘मास्टर जी’, ‘प्यारे अनुराग के लिए’, ‘जब चित्र बनाए पैरों ने’, ‘मेरे प्यारे नंदू भैया’ और ‘किस्सा घुमक्कड़राम का’ सरीखी मनुजी की बेहद चर्चित किशोर कहानियाँ शामिल हैं, जिन्हें एक साथ पढ़ना रोमांचक अनुभव है। इसी तरह ‘सरस्वती बाबू’, ‘रज्जो की सहेली’, ‘अंधा गायक’, ‘मैं जीत गया पापा’ और ‘तुम भी पढ़ोगे जस्सू’ ऐसी कहानियाँ हैं, जिनमें बचपन के दु:ख और अभावों की छाया है; पर इसके बावजूद जीवन के रास्ते कभी खत्म नहीं होते, और हर मुसीबत के बाद नई राहें निकलती हैं। विश्‍वास है, साहित्य अकादेमी के पहले बाल साहित्य पुरस्कार से सम्मानित प्रकाश मनु की चुनिंदा किशोर कहानियों का यह संग्रह बच्चे खूब रस लेकर पढ़ेंगे। "

Everything is changing for Vinoka — his village, the mountains, the climate. And now his sister is leaving. How will he come to terms with these big changes? A story about migration in the face of climate change, and what home and family mean in a world that’s changing, faster than ever.

Stories from across the country about people who have special bonds with the wildlife around them: People in Mumbai live with leopards in their neighbourhood… School children in Karnataka discover an unusual creature in their village… Youth in Nagaland spearhead a ban on hunting… Ten short stories – all inspired by real-life situations! *Parag Honour Book 2020 The development of this book was supported by Parag, an institute of Tata Trust.

Lined up on a street are noisy motorbikes, honking cars, crowded buses, impatient autos... In their midst sits a queenly Maharani! At the heart of this funny little vignette is a cool-as-a-cucumber cow, an all too familiar character of an Indian streetscape. Nancy Raj’s full-of-life pictures bustle with detail and drama, capturing the bovine and the boisterous as everyone tries to unseat her highness. 2018: The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Award – Best Picture Book 2018: Honor Book, South Asia Book Award

Little Kesar loved to sing. She never imagined that when she grew up her voice would travel to distant galaxies. Read this book to find out about legendary singer Kesarbai Kerkar’s fascinating musical journey.Written by Neha Singh and Illustrated by Shubhshree Mathur.

Holi Ki Ghujhiya

Shanmugam the gentle lion does three things in a day. He eats, he sleeps, and he snores — khorhrhrh..... phshhew..... khorhrhrh..... phshhew..... One day, a tawny, brawny, nasty new lion comes to take over the jungle. The animals are afraid. They go to their king, Shanmugam — but he is, of course, sleeping! The roary-snory second story in the ever popular series about Bahadur the baby elephant!

He unfurled a turquoise bale and draped it on the tiger Who, in the manner of a model twirled before the mirror Watch out – there’s a tiger strolling through a Jaipur bazaar! But wait. Is he looking for prey… or PRINTS? A wildly whacky saga of a runaway tiger from Ranthambore, in deliciously slick verse, with colour-popping pictures, that will have you ROARING with fun!

Gardy isn’t sure if he is the lost lion cub prince who will save the ‘City of Lions’, Singapore. But he rushes there with his friends, all the same. They find that the city is indeed under threat – from its very own haughty, crotchety, bickering guardians, Sir Leon and the Old Woman under the Sea. What is seeing clearly all about – guessing the future, seeing things how they are, or seeing things how they should be?

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.

A little book about the gentle, BIG giant who can sneeze up a storm. A visual delight, superbly illustrated by Suddhasattwa Basu. This story is excerpted and retold from a novel by Asomiya winner Asomiya Kumar Bhattacharyya, winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jnanpith.

Ilham has a problem. Her Papa has given her a crisp fifty rupee note for her birthday, and she doesn’t know where to keep it absolutely safe. A pocket would be best, but her new frock doesn’t have one. So she runs to Salma Chachi the tailor to get a pocket stitched — but that leads to another problem. A charming little nugget of a story with the flavour of old Hyderabad captured warmly in the pictures!

Ajay is off to work. His office is in Agumbe. His job is to find the king cobra. We can see the antenna he carries, but where on earth is the radio that transmits to it? Walk with Ajay as he follows the king of snakes.

Mati pesters her grandmother and father for her own plot of land. When she does get it, she works hard. And then she hears that a company wants to make a coal mine in their village – the enormous black pit that will eat up all their lands, like it has in the next village… As always, Rinchin powers her questions through irresistible storytelling. The little girl’s anxiety about losing her land to “a monster machine” cuts close to the heart as it takes head-on an issue that is ravaging tribal Chhattisgarh, where this story is set, and every other place where there is ‘development’ at a cost.

One day, Jojo the dog wakes up to find purple spots on his body. Where did they come from? Jojo sets off on a search... This charming tale with a twist is also a wonderful introduction to colours.This is a bilingual book

Banko discovers the beauty of coins when he sees his grandmother’s collection. Join Banko to find out the images that can be spotted on Indian coins.

An endearing poem of a child who refuses tempting invitations, instead staying with her mother at playtime, blissful in her company. Words woven with great tenderness by the greatest poet of all times, a gentle verse for all the little ones.

Written by Aparna Karthikeyan and translated by V Gayathri, this book explores the life of an extraordinary woman’s journey of single parenthood and managing a sampangi farm in a Tamil Nadu hamlet. The narrative is based on the article ‘A thorny life but Chandra bets on flowers’.