Indian Children's Literature in English

Published on 5 Apr 2022.

Indian Children’s literature in English is a relatively new area in terms of its history and scope. The history of children’s literature in India, which includes books and magazines written solely for children, can be traced through a study of the various publishing houses that were set up and the works they produced.

Children in India were traditionally brought up on a diet of stories from Indian mythology. Narrated by grandparents, these stories were often violent sagas of revenge and retribution with little or no attempt made to tone them down for children’s consumption. The other favourites were stories from the Panchatantra. This collection of stories was believed to have been narrated to a group of princes by Vishnu Sharma, with the purpose of teaching them life skills that are essential in their future roles as rulers. These animal fables were meant to impart moral and ethical training and instil in the young princes a sense of what was expected of a ruler. What was common to all of them was the extraordinarily strong moral message that they carried.

Indian Children’s Literature, illustrated by Guru G

Chandamama was one of the earliest publications for children. It was a long running monthly magazine and  was published in several Indian languages. Noted Telugu film maker B Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani started the magazine. It was first published in Telugu and Tamil, and appeared as Ambulimama in 1947. The name, which means Uncle Moon, harks to a favourite Indian tradition of referring to the moon as the maternal uncle of children. The magazine was published in other Indian languages (Marathi, Malayalam, and Gujarati) before it began English publication in 1955.  Soon, Chandamama was published in twelve Indian languages and entertained children throughout the nooks and corners of the country.

The magazine contained stories that were meant to deliver messages and consistently used a third person point of view to narrate stories of greedy kings and foolish men and women, who were forced by circumstances to learn their path’s mistakes. These stories were set in fictitious kingdoms and usually featured character types, rather than individuals. One of the longest running stories in Chandamama was based on the ancient Sanskrit text, Betal Pachisi and featured the righteous King Vikramaditya and his recurring battle of wits with a betal, or demon. The stories in Chandamama were accompanied by coloured illustrations, featuring beautifully laid out cities, neat villages set in idyllic locations, sumptuous palaces, and poverty-stricken hovels. The magazine was immensely popular and continued to be published until 2013.

1957 saw the emergence of two publishing houses, Children’s Book Trust and National Book Trust. Children’s Book Trust, or CBT, was established by cartoonist Keshav Shankar Pillai, popularly known as Shankar. Shankar authored several books that were published by CBT. Books like The Loyal Mongoose, The Scare and The Singing Donkey were retellings of well-known Panchatantra and Jataka tales. In addition, Shankar also authored and illustrated Life with Grandfather, which introduced readers to culture specific incidents in a child’s life.t Books like Nehru for Children by M Chalapathi Rau, A Pinch of Salt Rocks an Empire by Sarojini Sinha, and Indira Priyadarshini by Alaka Shankar introduced children to important events and people from Indian history.  The titles in the How it Works series attempted to explain the working of everyday machines to children.

In 1978, Shankar instituted a competition for writers of children’s books with CBT publishing the winning entries. The competition asked for entries in different categories and for children of different age groups. Over the years, the list of categories was expanded to reflect the changing trends in reading among the children. Concept books and stories of ‘socio-emotional learnings’ were recent additions to the list of categories. The number of themes suggested in the competition guidelines was also added in order to help create a publication list that was updated and focused on groups that had so far been marginalised in books for children. The call for short stories in the recent competition, announced in 2019, mentioned ‘stories of kings, queens, princes, princess’ and also included ‘spirited tales of people coping with disability, disease, pain or loss,’ among the possible topics.

While books like Devika Rangachari’s When Amma Went Away and Growing Up focus on children dealing with peer pressure and learning to be themselves, CBT also has books like Folk Tales of Uttarakhand by Deepa Agarwal and Folk Tales of West Bengal by Swapna Dutta. These collections have brought together stories from different regions and contributed to preserving the rich folklore tradition of the country. CBT has consistently revamped its publication, both in terms of content and production.  CBT now brings out beautiful illustrated books that tackle themes that are relevant to today’s children. Some of the best illustrators of the country have worked on titles published by the CBT and the artwork of people like Mickey Patel, Pulak Biswas, Jagdish Joshi, and Subir Roy has brought these stories vibrantly alive. The books published by CBT are modestly priced and often translated into Hindi and other Indian languages. They target children in the smaller cities and towns of India, fulfilling the aim of this institution to make good literature available to a large number of readers.

The National Book Trust, or the NBT was established in the same year as the CBT by the government of India. In addition to producing good literature in English, the NBT also focused on translating literature from various Indian languages. It aimed at making these books easily available to the readers by arranging exhibitions and fairs in different parts of the country. The children’s imprint, the Nehru Bal Pustakalay publishes books in English and various Indian languages.

Pulak Biswas’s Busy Ants introduces the young child to the fascinating world of ants through a wordless narrative; Jagdish Joshi’s thought-provoking A Voice in the Jungle offers a peek into life in the forests. For older children there are adventure stories like Cheerful Spirits by Gita Iyengar and Adventures in the Desert by Cheryl Rao. Children Who Made It Big by Thangamani is a collection of stories about the childhood experiences of celebrities, and Everest: My Journey to the Top, the autobiography of Bachendri Pal, offers inspiration to young readers.

The focus of both the CBT and the NBT is on books that are set in an instantly recognisable Indian setting. NBT’s Procession 1 to 10, illustrated by Mickey Patel, is a counting book that uses a traditional Indian wedding to introduce children to numbers; Manjula Padmanabhan’s A Visit to the City Market offers visually familiar clues to the readers. Arup Kumar Dutta’s The Kaziranga Trail, published by CBT, is a fast-paced adventure story that deals with the problems of poaching of the one horned rhino and offers children a peek into life in Assam. Both these publishing houses favour illustrations that are inspired by the diversity of the nation.

The CBT also brings out a monthly magazine called Children’s World. The first issue of the magazine appeared in 1968 and was meant to be a vehicle to showcase the entries that Shankar received for Shankar’s international painting competition. The stories published in the magazine marked a definite shift from the kind of content that Chandamama had popularised. Although Children’s World published retellings of popular stories like Vikram and Betal, Children’s World focused on stories set in contemporary India that featured children grappling with the problems and challenges around  growing up.  ‘A Letter to You,’ a long-running column written by Poile Sengupta, enjoyed great popularity among readers and  Dilip M Salwi’s fiction introduced them to the genre of science fiction.  Pratibha Nath, Sigrun Srivastava, Swapna Dutta, Vaijayanti Savant were regular contributors to Children’s World. The magazine is still in publication and encourages child writers to send in entries. The November issue, in celebration of Children’s Day, is devoted to stories penned by readers.

In 1968 Delhi Press published the first issue of Champak, a magazine for children, in Hindi. Champak was published in two other Indian languages before the English version was launched in 1975. Most stories in Champak featured anthropomorphised animals and often used slapstick humour to convey the point.  The stories were straightforward narrations that could be easily understood by the readers and seldom contained any surprises in terms of the narration or the outcome. The colour palette adopted by the magazine was very different from the dark tones associated with Chandamama. The illustrations in Champak were often bland and lacked any attempt to provide a detailed background but they used bright colours that instantly appealed to the young readers. A standard feature of each issue was a story, in the graphic format, featuring a helpful rabbit named Cheeku who often saved other animals from dangers of different kinds. A similar comic strip had appeared in Children’s World; the common features in the basic premise underlined the extent to which publications for children continued to be influenced by the Panchatantra. Credited to Anant Pai and Mohandas, this too was set in a jungle and featured a gallery of animal characters. Kapish, the eponymous hero, was a smart monkey who used his quick wits to protect the smaller animals from the dangers of hunters and attack by larger animals.

1979 saw the publication of a new children’s magazine called Target. Published by Living Media India Ltd, Target was a monthly magazine that was a cut above all the other children’s magazines that children in India. Target was an immediate success, with its large-format size magazine and a glossy cover page. Target was an immediate success. It contained a judicious mix of information, jokes, puzzles, and stories articulated in an easily accessible style. Children were not considered passive consumers of the content; Target invited active participation from readers in the form of letters, stories, jokes, and illustrations for the Children’s Day special issue, and as members of teams that interviewed celebrities, including the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.  For many readers, the thought-provoking stories were instantly appealing.  The stories mirrored the problems and dilemmas of a child’s life without necessarily attempting to smuggle in a moral message. Instead, an innovative series of stories presented readers with situations that challenged easy classification of right or wrong, inviting them to write their opinions on what the characters ought to have done. The portrayal of adults in these stories was equally refreshing, as they were no cardboard cut outs of authoritarian figures. Rather they were realistic portrayals of men and women trying to do their best and often making mistakes. Authors like Subhadra Sengupta, Deepa Agarwal, Sigrun Srivastava, Poile Sengupta created worlds that were relatable to the readers. Detective Moochwala, Tegrats, Gardhab Das and Granny’s Gupshup were some of the popular serials that ran in Target. Furthermore, the illustrations moved away from the flat pictures that characterised publication for children, with artists like Ajit Ninan, Atanu Roy, Suddhasattwa Basu and Tapas Guha creating quirky illustrations which showed evidence of a robust engagement with the text, thereby creating narratives at multiple levels.

Amar Chitra Katha published its first title in 1969 and aimed at helping Indian children connect with the culture and history of their country. Amar Chitra Katha (literal translation: immortal picture stories), was the brainchild of Anant Pai who was appalled to find that Indian children had little or no knowledge of the mythology of their country.  Changing societal trends had led to the slow disintegration of the Indian joint family, resulting in the nuclear family. Hence the grandmother, the family’s traditional storyteller was missing for the most part from the lives of children. Amar Chitra Katha stepped in to fill this gap by presenting children with stories about gods and goddesses that would ensure that they stayed in touch with their culture. For the first title, Pai chose to feature Krishna, the dark-skinned god known for his love of butter and his pranks. The story was narrated in the graphic format, making it instantly accessible to children. Parents and educators approved of the titles published by Amar Chitra Katha primarily because they helped children learn about the culture, heritage, and history of the country. The titles, whether they featured rulers from various periods in Indian history or the struggle for independence, were meticulously researched, and great care was taken to provide accurate visual representations of the events.

However, Amar Chitra Katha’s attempts to stay true to the tales from Indian mythology often caused a variety of unforeseen problems. The first of these was the language, which tried to create an authentic feel of the period and setting of the stories. This resulted in awkward usages and unnecessarily formal language that jarred on readers. In its desire to stay true to the original stories, Amar Chitra Katha also unwittingly propagated old class and caste structures and the prejudices that came with them with no attempt being made to educate children on the problematic nature of these structures. Parents and educators also objected to the way the books portrayed people of different classes and castes. The visual representations of the ruling classes always portrayed them as fair skinned, with regular features and a noble bearing. The asuras or the demons were always dark-skinned men and women with crude features and a savage demeanour. Objections were also raised about portraying all women as slim-waisted and well-endowed, with long black hair and large eyes. Parents believed this created a narrow idea of beauty among the children readers, often making them question their own appearance and sometimes resulting in body image issues. Even more problematic was the way women were always portrayed as weak-willed and timid creatures, who hid behind the men and were completely incapable of taking charge of their own destinies. As role models for young children, the women in Amar Chitra Katha titles left much to be desired. Despite these objections from a small section of the parenting community, Amar Chitra Katha continued to enjoy great popularity. Indians who lived outside the country saw these titles as an easy way to help their children keep in touch with the traditions and mythology of their home country.  Over the years, Amar Chitra Katha has made conscious attempts to balance the representation given to women in their publishing list by bringing out various women-centric titles. In addition to a title featuring Indian origin astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Amar Chitra Katha recently brought out a collection of stories about women titled Women Path-Breakers: Stories of Success & Strength, featuring pioneers like Anandibai Joshi, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Janaki Ammal among others. Another recent collection of stories about women freedom fighters of India titled Valiant Women: Defenders of the Nation, features lesser-known names like Kanaklata Barua and Jhalkari Bai.

Anant Pai also launched two magazines for children – Partha and Tinkle. Partha was described as a self-development magazine for older children and aimed to ‘awaken the winner in you.’ Tinkle replicated the graphic format that Pai had successfully used in Amar Chitra Katha, but instead of just one story, it was a wholesome mixture of folktales, contemporary stories, and informative articles. The first issue that appeared in 1980 was instantly sold out. Tinkle was originally a monthly magazine that could either be subscribed to or bought from newsstands. Over the years Tinkle came up with a cast of characters who appeared in fresh instalments in each issue and were firm favourites with children. Shikari Shambu, the bumbling hunter, Suppandi, the foolish young man and Tantri the Mantri are some of these. In recent times Tinkle has capitalised on the popularity of these characters by introducing spinoffs which present incidents from their childhood. Titled Little Shambhu, Junior Tantri, and Little Suppandi, these characters give readers a chance to see the origins of the grown-up versions. The stories have been updated, so they are more relevant to the current trends, turning Shikari Shambhu into a conservationist.

Chacha Chaudhary was a character who appeared in a comic strip that was created for the Hindi magazine Lotpot, making his debut in 1971. The success of the comic strip resulted in a monthly magazine devoted to this character. The magazine was originally published in Hindi, and today it is published in various Indian languages and English.  The brainchild of Pran, Chacha Chaudhary (literally Uncle Chaudhary), was an uncanny hero. He was a senior man, always neatly dressed with a red turban on his head and a cane in his hand. He embodied the ubiquitous family elder, a common feature of every Indian family, whose intelligence combined with his experience made him the perfect person to offer suggestions and solutions to problems. Chacha Chaudhary’s constant companion was Sabu, an alien from Jupiter. Sabu’s height and immense strength made him the perfect foil to the diminutive Chacha Chaudhary and together the two fought crimes.

Two publishing houses that began in the 1980s were Eklavya and Katha. Coincidentally, both these were born out of a desire to make a change to the education system in the country. Bhopal based Eklavya, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation that began its work by taking charge of the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme. In its early years, Eklavya published popular booklets on science and history. In addition to their projects related to the design and revamp of teaching material for schools, Eklavya also brings out several magazines for children in Hindi. The publishing house initially concentrated on books for the youngest readers and brought out picture books that were aimed at children from the semi-urban and rural pockets of India. Eklavya also has an impressive list of books published in Hindi. In recent years Eklavya has begun to publish books for older readers.

The brainchild of writer Geeta Dharmarajan, Katha was established in 1988. In addition to publishing books, it also helps children from economically challenged sections of the society who lack access to regular schooling. Katha’s publishing list contains books by different Indian authors and well-produced translations of books from foreign languages. Bioscope by Mamta Nainy is the story of a village in Mithila, with Madhubani style illustrations. Ka: the Story of Garuda, stands out for the striking illustrations by Suddhasattwa Basu and the gorgeous palette of colours that bring alive this story from Indian mythology.

Pratham, established in 2004, was another publishing house that aimed to get books to children who live in remote corners of the country and are denied access to books. Pratham’s tagline is ‘A book in every child’s hand,’ and the books they produce evidence this determination. Pratham primarily publishes graded picture books, meant for the youngest readers. Written with the target audience in mind, these use simple language and recognisable Indian settings to narrate stories that children can relate to. The illustrations are bright and colourful, and contain several easily recognisable elements from the world around. Nani’s Walk to the Park, written and illustrated by Deepa Balsavar, is a wonderful example of this. The story follows Nani as she takes the long way to the park, stopping at various places to meet friends, feed cats or shop for necessities. The illustrations contain a multitude of details that pay homage to the shops and vendors who people Indian markets. The people too are drawn with empathy and understanding and represent various sections of the society. Ammachi’s Amazing Machines, written and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe, uses details like a tiled roof, a well, and coconut trees to give readers a sense of the geographical location of the story. The book focuses on the use of science in everyday life, carried out with nonchalant ease and expertise by the grandmother. Both Balsavar and Eipe help children acknowledge and appreciate the older woman in Indian society, hitherto relegated to the background and treated merely as a fond dispenser of food and stories on demand.

Pratham’s Storyweaver platform was begun in 2015 with the intention of helping books travel farther and reach deserving children. This is an innovative platform that allows readers to access the entire collection of Pratham’s titles, completely free. The interactive website allows readers to translate the stories on the website and publish them. This ensures the availability of all the stories in multiple Indian and foreign languages, extending the reach of the website. The Storyweaver website offers tutorials for writers, illustrators, and translators on how they can create stories, ensuring that more stories are written and added to the already huge collection.

The late 1990s witnessed a revolution in the world of publishing for children with the arrival of Tara, Tulika and Karadi Tales. All three publishing houses were Chennai based and published picture books. Tara focused on creating books that were works of art, using handmade paper and indigenous styles of illustration to narrate stories. Activity books like 8 Ways to Draw Fish, 8 Ways to Draw Deer and 8 Ways to Draw an Elephant, introduce children to various forms of traditional Indian art. Tiger on a Tree by Anushka Ravishankar is narrated in rhyme, with stark black and orange illustrations by Pulak Biswas and text that cavorts across the page and mirrors the panic-stricken reaction of the villagers who spot the tiger.

Karadi Tales pioneered audiobooks in India, using well-known Hindi movie actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Vidya Balan and Saeed Jaffrey to narrate these tales. These featured narrations of well-known tales like The Foolish Lion, The Monkey and the Crocodile and stories from mythology. In addition to retellings of popular folktales like The Tale of Babban Hajjam by Ira Saxena and The Crocodile’s Tail by Sayoni Basu, Karadi has also published a variety of picture books. The Wednesday Bazaar and Bela Misses her Train by Neha Singh follow a young girl on adventures in Indian settings, the four books in the Curious Sameer series by Nandini Nayar explore a child’s imagination and The Clever Tailor by Srividya Venkat and the Farmer Falgu series by Chitra Sounder narrate stories of ingenuity and determination. Karadi’s list reflects the growing demand for inclusivity in stories narrated for children. Mamta Nainy’s Sadiq Wants to Stitch explores questions of gender defined work; Little Vinayaka by Shobha Viswanath features a little elephant who must learn to deal with his differences. A visually challenged child is at the centre of the sensitively narrated Thukpa for All by Praba Ram and Sheila Preuitt while Shobha Viswanath’s Whose Lovely Child Can You Be? is about adoption, a topic not usually addressed in Indian children’s books.

Tulika, set up in 1996, aimed at narrating stories that would instantly resonate with children, and also determined to use Indian languages. Starting from stories like Ekki Doki, a retelling of a folktale by Sandhya Rao, Tulika went on to publish stories that reflected easily identifiable aspects of life in an Indian home. What Shall I Make? by Nandini Nayar is set in the kitchen and is about roti making, an integral part of everyday life in several parts of India. Tulika has steadily expanded its list to bring in topics that are not commonly discussed in books for children in India. Guthli Has Wings by Kanak Shashi features a boy who identifies as a girl; I Didn’t Understand! by Mini Shrinivasan and Jerry Pinto’s Anya and her Baby Brother focus on differently abled protagonists, giving readers a glimpse into varied realities. A Home of Our Own by Meghaa Gupta, My Name is Gulab by Sagar Kolwankar, and The Gular Flower by Rinchin draw attention to the living condition of children from different sections of the society. Rinchin’s I Will Save My Land features a young girl in Chhattisgarh battling to save her land from a mining corporation, highlighting the cost that must be paid for development. Nina Sabnani’s Stitching Stories: The Art of Embroidery in Gujarat has a documentary style narration that features people who left Pakistan to live as refugees in Gujarat. The illustrations are literally stitched together and Sabnani uses these to illustrate how these women have made the journey within themselves and found the perfect language to narrate the stories of their lives.

Although Tulika primarily publishes in English, all their titles are translated into various Indian languages. This ensures that children read stories in their own mother tongues, and also introduces them to life in different parts of the country, since the books feature culture and region-specific details of food and lifestyle. In addition to the translations, Tulika introduced bilingual books with the same story narrated in English and one Indian language. Like Karadi Tales, Tulika has attempted to foray into books for older readers. These publishing houses continue to be known for their imaginative stories meant for younger children, illustrations that draw upon Indian art forms and the high standards of production and design.

In complete contrast to these independent publishers are giants like Puffin and Scholastic. Scholastic’s publishing catalogue features books by foreign authors with Indian content being limited to a few titles. Indian authors like Asha Nehemiah, Ruskin Bond, Anushka Ravishankar and Deepa Agarwal have written original fiction for the publishing house, and the catalogue also features retellings of stories from history and mythology. Subhadra Sengupta’s collection of short stories, History, Mystery, Dal and Biriyani, features stories of ordinary people from different periods of Indian history.

Puffin, the children’s imprint of Penguin Random House, has its share of retellings of stories from mythology, and also extending this to narrations about places of devotional interest. Their fiction for children features the immensely popular Butterfingers series by Khyrunnisa A, Jane De Suza’s When the World Went Dark about the pandemic and Nandini Nayar’s The Curious Case of the Sweet and Spicy Sweetshop. Puffin’s list of books for younger readers features stories on topics that are normally considered taboo. Sharanya Manivannan’s The Ammuchi Puchi discusses the loss of a loved one, Neha Singh’s I Need to Pee focuses on the challenges of finding and using bathrooms when outside the house, What’s the Big Secret?: Why You Need to Know…Period by Sonali Shenoy attempts to normalise topics like menstruation. Nandini Nayar’s Sometimes Mama, Sometimes Papa introduces children to different kinds of families, and Samina Mishra’s Jamlo Walks is about the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown on children from economically challenged sections of society.

Rupa’s children’s imprint, Red Turtle, has books by authors like Ruskin Bond, Subhadra Sengupta and Ranjit Lal in addition to non-fiction titles like Anu Kumar’s How Did the Harappans Say Hello? And 16 Other Mysteries of History and Do Tigers Drink Blood? And 13 Other Mysteries of Nature by Arefa Tehsin.

Mango, the children’s imprint of DC Books, created a strong list of original narratives, interesting non-fiction and imaginatively told biographies. Books like Saffron Picking, Khadi Weaving by Sheela Preuitt and Praba Ram narrate tales from different communities across the country, introducing children to the various skills of these people. Vahana: Tales of Divine Animal Mounts of Gods by Mamta Nainy offers a fresh perspective on mythology. The four books in The Diary of an Indian Schoolgirl by Nandini Nayar tackle issues of body shaming, bullying, child sexual abuse, peer pressure and other challenges faced by children in urban schools.

Two publishing houses have set up their children’s imprints in the recent past, indicating the growing interest in publishing for children. Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger, has published books for middle-grade readers and is currently making forays into books for younger readers. HarperCollins Children’s Books has published books for older readers and early chapter books (which bridge the gap between picture books and longer novels.) The Lucky series by Nalini Sorenson features a dog; Nandini Nayar’s Mini series is about a little girl and her adventures.

The emergence of early chapter books marks a welcome shift in the way publishers of children’s books look at readers and their needs. Previously, children who graduated from picture books or even magazines like Champak, were thrust into the world of novels. These were usually mysteries or adventure stories, with intricate plots, several themes, and vocabulary that was often challenging for the new reader. Early chapter books offer readers an opportunity to test their reading levels before moving on to longer narratives. These books are narrated in simple language, use a linear narrative, and stick to the third person point of view to tell stories about topics likely to interest children of seven and above. They feature illustrations that bring alive the world of school, friends, siblings, and home for the newly independent readers.

Duckbill, which has recently been acquired by Penguin Random House, India, has also introduced the Hole and Hook books. The Hole books feature a hole in a corner of the book, and the Hook books are simple stories with illustrations that target early readers and hope to hook them into the world of reading. Duckbill’s books for older readers have constantly pushed the envelope when it comes to the themes explored, while also aiming for inclusivity. When She Went Away by Andaleeb Wajid focuses on what happens to a family when the mother leaves; Talking of Muskaan by Himanjali Sankar explores the pressures that drive a teen to self-killing. Devika Rangachari’s historical novels for older children introduce children to three lesser-known women from Indian history: Queen of Ice is about Didda of Kashmir, Queen of Earth focuses on Prithvimahadevi of Odisha, and Queen of Fire is about Lakshmibai of Jhansi.

Hachette India publishes a small number of fiction titles and focuses on interesting non-fiction titles. History, Dishtory: Adventures & Recipes from the Past by Ranjini Rao and Ruchira Ramanujam features dishes from the past, while Bookworms & Jellybellies by the same authors introduces easy-to-make recipes inspired by well-loved children’s books. Hachette’s non-fiction list includes The Gita for Children and The Vedas and Upanishads for Children, both by Roopa Pai.

Non-fiction for children, which was earlier restricted to biographies of freedom fighters or scientists, has changed both in terms of the subject matter and the presentation. Most publishers now focus on publishing innovative non-fiction titles that help children learn while they have fun. In addition to retellings of folktales from around the world, travel, history, and recipes are topics covered in the recent non-fiction titles brought out by various children’s publishers. Books like Bhakti Mathur’s Amma, take me to Tirupati, Amma and Take me to the Golden Temple introduce children to various places of worship. Ranjit Lal’s 10 Animals You May Never Again See in the Wild and Shruthi Rao’s 10 Women who were the First to Do What they Did are a couple of titles in a series published by Duckbill. Three books by Arthy Muthanna Singh and Mamta Nainy, Eeeeeekkkks! I saw an ant!, Eeeeeeekkkks! I saw a Cockroach! and Eeeeeekkkks, I Saw a Mosquito! offer readers a wealth of information about common insects. Fact and fiction come together in Vaishali’s Shroff’s The Adventures of Padma and a Blue Dinosaur, which uses a creative narrative to introduce readers to Indian dinosaurs.

In recent years, the world of Indian children’s publishing has witnessed a subtle shift in the characters, themes, and the focusing narratives. While adventure and mysteries are still published, there is a definite attempt towards inclusivity, resulting in more girls being featured as protagonists and a more sympathetic treatment of differences among people in the books. Books about children dealing with bullying, various disabilities, and rising above the constraints of their economic backgrounds make for interesting reads. Books that are set in rural and semi-urban pockets of India allow readers to learn about how different people live in their country. In recent times, these books have embraced the Indian influence on English and increasingly, books have more than just a token smattering of culture and region-specific words from Indian languages. Focusing on stories from the hinterlands of the country, creating stories that feature marginalised communities and people, and tackling taboo topics are some of the ways in which Indian books for children have changed, resulting in books that offer a fair representation of contemporary India.