Paro Anand

2 is an extraordinary 2-in-one graphic novel, written mainly over the internet across 3 continents—between the two co-authors Paro Anand (Delhi) and Orjan Persson (Gotland, Sweden) who wrote in Swedish, and translator Nina Winternheimer (Los Angeles, USA), his daughter.


Reviewed by: Nita Berry
Premola Ghose

Bula Comes to Montreal was created as it celebrates the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal founded on 17 May 2017. Kala Bharati, a nongovernmental organization is a centre for Indian culture, dance and music in Montreal. This child friendly Bharata Natyam repertoire has a book on learning dance called Shishu Sadhana, the cover of which was designed by Premola Ghose.


Reviewed by: Kamala Menon
Vasantha Surya

Vasantha Surya’s Mridu in Madras is an illustrated chapter book that is delightfully entrenched in Tamil culture and society. However, the book is not set in contemporary times and harks back to an era where large joint families were the norm, cycle rickshaws were common, and the price of commodities was way lower than what it is now.


Reviewed by: Sowmya Rajendran
Rana Behal

Juggernaut Books could not have published Tales from the Quran and Hadith at a better time. India in 2016–17 is perpetually grappling with misconceptions about Islam. From ill-informed journalists to self-proclaimed defenders of the faith, it is an open season which has left the ordinary citizens of the country confused, and in some cases angry.


Reviewed by: Saba Mahmood Bashir
Bhakti Mathur

Amma, Take Me to the Golden Temple by Bhakti Mathur is aninnovative way of teaching and imparting knowledge by re-flecting on various tenets of one of the youngest and modern religions of the world with more than 30 million followers.


Reviewed by: Dalbir Singh
Subhadra Sen Gupta

Three major deities of Puranic Hinduism, three tales about each of them. Well, not exactly. Three tales each about Vishnu and Shiva, but the collection titled Devi has a story each on Parvati, Durga, and Saraswati. These are tales that have been told and retold over countless generations, and Subhadra Sen Gupta, skilled storyteller that she is, recreates the old magic in language that the internet generation can quickly relate to.


Reviewed by: Bharati Jagannathan