A collection of Japanese folktales translated from the Japanese by Hema Pande and illustrations by Arup Gupta.

A dog suddenly appears on a street one day and decides to stay. So now he needs to be given a name. But he is too scrawny to be Laddoo, not furry enough to be Fluffy, and too much of a scaredy-dog to be Rambo... What do they call this dog? A warm and funny vignette of a typical Indian street with assorted people – and a friendly stray!

DESCRIPTION AWAITED

Hiss! Boo! Muahahaha! Mala creeps up from behind and scares everyone. Then her mother gives her a pair of pretty silver anklets... The pictures of this charming and very popular story have the exuberance and freshness typical of Nancy Raj's work.

Book Awating Description

The faces in the mirror just won't go away. Not the frog, not the lion, not the monkey. They won't even get scared. Then Thangi has an idea! This beginner reader is part of the Thumb Thumb Books series, created around the common thumbprint and featuring Thumb Thumb Thangi and Thumb Thumb Thambi. Short sentences, bold type and vibrant visuals make entry into reading easy and exciting. At the end is a page for children to make their own thumbprint drawings – and the line ‘I can read this book’ affirms the young reader’s confident place in the word of books.

Chaitu wakes up to loud and angry voices. The night is dark but a fire rages in the distance. Chaitu is terrified for her family, friends and home. Why are these voices so angry? What do they want? A story set in a world fed by fear and intolerance.

On Tamil Nadu’s coast lies a small town that centuries ago must have been filled with the sounds of hammering and chiselling on stone – Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. From a mammoth relief panel to cave temples and monoliths, it showcases sculptural art of astounding skill and a variety of styles rare to find in one location. The book takes us through this ‘open-air museum’ for a one-on-one ‘looking’ experience through its rich archive of 65 vivid photographs. The magnified visual details and narrative cues also throw up a sea of stories – and some riddles to be unravelled!

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!

Legless Goby and noisy Snap are best friends who live together in a burrow deep in the ocean. What happens when Goby gets tired of Snaps loud claws? READING LEVEL: 02; for Children who recognize familiar words and can read new words and can read new words with help. Written by Sheila Dhir Illustrated by Anjora Noronha

Phir Milenge- A Gift from Iran. Phir Milenge is written by one of the most melodious Irani poets Ahmad Raza Ahmadi. It is illustrated by Nahid Kazemi. See the first sentence of the book...jab tez hawa chalti hai to pedon ke phool chale jaate hain. Jab Phool chale jaate hain to kya phool shabd bhi chala jata hai? Did you ever think about this wonderful nature of words? A poet once said 'a flower blossomed in word, blossomed forever'. This is a book definitely written for children but it would be enjoyed by all ages. An unparalleled picture story.

Yasmin’s home is a tin box, burning hot in summer and freezing cold in winter. But Dubki, her stray dog friend, has no home at all. How unfair! So Yasmin decides to build one for Dubki, just like she has seen her Ammi and Abbu build for others. A heart-tugging story on a child’s idea of home, centred round a family of migrant workers who construct big houses while living in hovels themselves, displaced and longing for their own home far away. Told in the voice of little Yasmin, it speaks straight to the child reader. Illustrations evoke a gentle glow of joy and hope.

Four delightful tales from Arunachal Pradesh on how the world came to be ñ two brothers create the world; a river wanders over the mountain; the dove sings a lullaby; a wayward sun tries to scorch the earth.

Kali hates school. And school hates him, he thinks, for he has no friends. His classmates find him strange. He wishes his father were an ‘ordinary' bus-conductor or postman instead of a snake-catcher, even if one of the most celebrated in the Irula tribe. He worries that others will see him eating fried termites (his favourite snack!) and laugh. And then one day, a large rat snake creates havoc in the classroom... A simple, sensitive story crafted by a writer deeply involved with environmental issues. Best of Indian Children's Writing: Contemporary

Asha’s first trip in her colourful auto every morning is to the flower market, where she buys a big bag of jasmine buds. Follow her through the week and through the city, as she picks up and drops off passengers at the railway station, the beach, the cricket stadium… stringing and selling jasmine all the way. Vibrant pictures liven up the route and offer snapshots of a city – Chennai!

The old snake is punished – the frogs will now ride on him. The frogs jump for joy – but they had better watch out! This unusual bilingual retelling of a Panchatantra favourite swings sympathy in favour of the snake. Stunning pictures are based on wooden folk toys from Channapatna in Karnataka, a craft style that came centuries ago from Persia.

A tiger researcher is out looking for tiger hair and poop as part of his study. He finds plenty of signs of the tiger, but where is the big cat. After all, there are so many ways to see a tiger without seeing a tiger.Written by Mujahid Khan ,Illustrated by Manjari Chakravarti.The development of this book has been supported by Oracle.Guest editor Radha Rangarajan and Guest art director Aditi Dilip.

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 playfully with the photographs to tell the story of the local people - of their survival and concern for the forests, especially for the endangered tiger.

A little chokli, a stray puppy, wanders into a muddy rain puddle one day and loves the icky, sticky, scratchy feeling. From then on, he can’t stop himself from getting messy and enjoying a sumptuous scratch! What he enjoys even more is telling tall tales about himself! With happy, whimsical illustrations, this small book about a big-talking dog celebrates smart and spunky choklis everywhere.

In a jungle far far away, the animals are getting ready for the storytelling festival. Lion, Monkey and Tortoise delight the audience with well-known stories from their family lore. “C-c-can I tell a story too?” asks Ostroo the ostrich. Others make fun of him because he stammers – but where there is a story, there’s always a way! From a seasoned storyteller comes this sensitive story with many stories within it, which inspires us to overcome our fears. Soft pastels and colour pencils create warm pictures of a world in which encouragement comes from unexpected friends.