By Priyanka Dave. Illustrations by Brinda Pancholi

A novel piece of designing which has a centre page that opens up like an accordion, followed by another set of pages. Its soft illustrations and the dotted lines on each page act as a gentle nudge and compel the reader to turn to the next page. A butterfly is constant on each page and apparently poses the title question. It tracks all the animals till it completes a full circle and reaches the elephant again, only to realize that the same pattern of one following the other continues. How does that happen?


Reviewed by: Shivani Bajaj
Written and illustrated by Kavita Singh Kale
RUN
2024

A big Himalayan sheepdog chases three children, who come face to face with it and, terrified by its loud bark, start running through the hills. When they reach the edge of the cliff they are met with a furry surprise. The illustrations are colourful and vibrant and little ones would want to see them repeatedly.


Reviewed by: Jaya Krishnamachari
Written and illustrated by Nina Sabnani

The story begins many years ago, describing the family set-up, particularly the relationships in the prevalent joint family system. The young protagonist calls her parents by their popular names and her father’s older brother is addressed by the term for a father. She lives and journeys to places with her elder aunt and uncle while her sisters live with her parents. Visits to temples and far-off cities are enjoyed in the same way, exclusively with her elder aunt and uncle. She even gets a sewing machine to stitch dresses for her dolls and learns the art in the process.


Reviewed by: Ira Saxena
By Esha Gupta. Illustrations by Charbak Dipta

He asks if his sister is missing him, but she is busy reading. He meets his chachu, who isn’t missing him either, but he reminds him of someone else. Bittoo searches everywhere for this mysterious family member who might be missing him, but cannot find him.


Reviewed by: Richa Dang
All four written by Shruthi P. Illustrations by Crafting Crimson

Tale of Two Birds is about two birds who set out for a mountain, one wanting to go straight up and the other looking at the height, afraid. So they go the way a small bird can—to the first tree, then the next, resting on every branch until the mountain is near enough to reach. In this gently illustrated nature board book for children, little readers follow a climb taken one step at a time, and find that going slowly beside someone is its own kind of brave.


Editorial
By Ayesha Ray

These combatants have been documented as well-educated females from affluent families, making their profiles complex and multifaceted. She groups the motivations for these radical female recruits into three categories: the uniting factor of religious ideology, the narratives of victimhood, and a political choice made to liberate oneself from the patriarchal traditions. They were committed to the roles of recruiters, facilitators, fundraisers, and were even stationed as gatekeepers of patriarchy tasked with promoting gendered policies (p. 112). Like their Pakistani counterparts, these women were also part of several


Reviewed by: Reshmi Kazi