Books kids can curl up with all summer
(8+ years) After The Gutsy Girls of Science, Ilina Singh has written another book on incredible women leaders,The Gutsy Girls Who Led India. She delves into history to pen 10 stories of fearless women warriors, including Rani Laxmibai, Abakka Chowta, Queen Didda, Velu Nachiar and Mai Bhago.
It includes activities that nudge young readers to find their own leadership style. The chapter on Mai Bhago, who was the first female bodyguard of Guru Gobind Singh, for instance, has activity sheets on what it takes to be a team player—you could use images or words to describe something you achieved as a team.
(HarperCollins India, ₹399) (6+ years) A box set of 10 books with poems by Ruskin Bond, Rabindranath Tagore, Jerry Pinto and Sukumar Ray, this delightful selection of poetry provides children a glimpse of different styles while giving free rein to their imagination. Each poem in Birds, Ghosts, Laughter and Trees is accompanied by vivid illustrations by Adrija Ghosh, David Yambem, Ekta Bharti and Pankaj Saikia, who add to the verse with their visual vocabulary.
Especially delightful is The Ghost by Keki Daruwalla, illustrated by Ekta Bharti, which lists different kinds of apparitions—a lady ghost bathing in a Mussoorie hotel, a dhoti just sailing by, a ghost rummaging through a litter. (Speaking Tiger/Talking Cub, ₹2,199) (5+ years) “Be a jungle dancer…fierce like the monsoon rains, grounded like the palm tree in a storm, and determined like the lotus." Thatha and Thaye are teaching their granddaughter, Priya, the nuances of a traditional dance over a video call.
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