Evan Purcell

This middle-grade novel on zombies is actually a fun read and is suitable for 8-12 year-olds. It is the second book in a series that stars Karma Tandin, Monster Hunter and is set in a village in Bhutan. Twelve-year-old Karma is ‘not the bravest or the smartest kid’ but has decided.


Reviewed by: Padma Baliga
Penny Chrimes

Fly is short for Blow-fly–the name given by her employer Black Bill when he got her as a baby from the workhouse. Born a maggot, and grown up into a dirty fly is what he tells her. Scrawny, spunky Fly lives up to her name as she shinnies up and down the chimneys Bill makes her clean to earn a living.


Reviewed by: Deepa Balsavar
Sudha Murty. Illustrations by Priyanka Pachpande

Lying on the terrace under the starry night sky, my lockdown companion recounted her childhood days in a small town of the then Andhra Pradesh. She was nostalgic about sleeping under the open sky listening to mythical tales told by her grandfather.


Reviewed by: Manika Kukreja
Anushka Ravishankar. Illustrations by Priya Kuriyan

Hey Diddle Diddle is classic Anushka Ravishankar, the whimsical literary nonsense approach that actually packs in a lot of sense. Think about it, it’s a story about a well-known nonsense nursery rhyme that comes true, well, almost. The cow may not have jumped over.


Reviewed by: Samina Mishra
Lubaina Bandukwala. Illustrated by Sonal Gupta

After taking over Instagram and Bookstagram and winning hearts everywhere, is it any wonder that cats have begun to dominate children’s books too?

They say the world is split between dog people and cat people, and currently, if you look at children’s books and the pets that feature in them.


Reviewed by: Padma Baliga