Nalini Ramachandran. Illustrations by Annushka Hardikar

Trumpet Calls: Epic Tales of Extraordinary Elephants by Nalini Ramachandran is divided into nine chapters beginning with ‘What is an Elephant’ and ending with ‘The Keepers of Memory’.  Each chapter has a short introduction to the theme in focus, a short ‘ele-fact’ i.e., facts about the elephants and additional information which is connected to the main story. The black and white illustrations  are attractive primarily due to sketches and drawings by Annushka Hardikar.


Reviewed by: Mahendra Vyas
Lavanya Karthik

Young readers and budding artists will be entranced by the beautiful illustrations that hit you as soon as you open The Girl who was a Forest: Janaki Ammal by Lavanya Karthik. The words have been chosen with care and are as intense and deep as they are few. It is a book for all age groups with the illustrations being an endearing, additional pull factor.


Reviewed by: Jyothi Malhotra
Divya Arya

These are words from Saumya’s last letter to Duaa in the book Postbox Kashmir. This is a non-fiction book holding sixteen brief yet substantial letters between the two girls. The letters are strung together by Divya Arya giving elaborate historical details of events in and around Kashmir and references related to discussions that happen between the pen pals.


Reviewed by: Manika Kukreja
Chitwan Mittal and Sarita Saraf. Illustrated by Aparajitha Vaasudev

It is not unusual to hear children of all age groups chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. They learn to chant it with ease from their elders because of a magical lilt in the lyrics and a charm about the language known as Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi.In My First Hanuman Chalisa, the authors and the illustrator have remarked in the opening pages that they were taught the 40 verses of the Chalisa by grandparents or parents.


Reviewed by: Indira Ananthakrishnan
Subhadra Sen Gupta. Illustrated by Devashish Verma

The book begins with a comprehensive overview and a strong introduction to why we should understand what went into making our present. Subhadra Sen Gupta, in her inimitable style, takes us on a journey around the world and offers a great many nuggets of information about the world’s earliest civilizations. We read about the Egyptian rulers who built lavish tombs for their afterlife


Reviewed by: Aakangshika Dutta
Nandita Basu

With the onset of adolescence, girls and boys are pressured to conform to socially sanctioned gender roles. They are expected to follow the gender norms and practices that a particular society has set. The problem arises when children develop a gender identity that is set against a society’s expectation. There are cultures that are more fluid but there are many which discriminate against non-binary individuals because of stereotypes and misinformation.


Reviewed by: Sushmita Ghosh