My Bookshelf: Indian Children's Books
When we brought Vennela home, we knew she was losing so much, including growing up in a country where she could look around at anytime and see people who look like her. While we're really lucky to live in a diverse city and neighborhood, and have Indian friends and coworkers, we're also cognizant it's not the same as living in India. Additionally she's not exposed to aspects of her culture on a daily basis, like food, holidays, or history. While we can't fully make up for that, we do our best to be intentional about celebrating her culture and trying to give her racial mirrors. One of the easiest ways to do that is through books!
I love to read, and always have, so when we were preparing to bring Vennela home, I wanted to gather all the best books to get her excited about reading too. I also wanted to be intentional in the books I chose, looking for ones that would empower her as a girl, and also that reflected the diversity of people in the world, especially when it comes to race and ethnicity. Knowing that often children's books feature mostly white characters, I set to work googling to find diverse books, and went through several great lists other folks had compiled. However, while I found a lot of great books featuring characters who were people of color, almost none of the characters were Indian! I got many of the books I found because again, we wanted her bookshelf to reflect the world, but I then went on a mission to find books the reflected her. Now that she's home we have read most of these, and they have been big hits!
I also want to note that India is a huge country, with many different people groups, each with different customs, religions, words, food, etc. so not every book is representative of every person from India.
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal
This book is a play on The Wheels on the Bus, but instead of the bus doors opening and shutting, it has lines like "Tuk tuk riders say 'Namaste Ji, Namaste Ji, Namaste Ji.'" The book references lots of things from everyday life in India: chai, poppadoms, rupees, and more. We sing the book to the same tune as The Wheels on the Bus, which made it fun for Vennela and easy for her to learn. Once she knew a lot of it, it was a great song to sing in the car to pass time while driving. After a few readings we started using motions to go along with each page, which she loved.
Ganesha's Sweet Tooth by Sanjay Patel
We brought this one to India, and she really enjoyed it right from the start. I think having something familiar was really helpful for her. It retells a legend about the Hindu god Ganesha (who has the head of an elephant) and how he broke his tusk. She just recently brought it back out for another round in the bedtime rotation!
Festival of Colors by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal
Didn't even realize until I was writing this that these were the same authors as Wheels on the Tuk Tuk! This is a beautiful book that very simply explains the holiday of Holi. It really doesn't get into the legends behind the holiday (which are actually different by region in India) but that's fine for Vennela's age, because just understanding what's happening was enough for her. We read this for a week leading up to the Holi celebration we went to, and it helped her get excited and understand what was happening when we got there. The illustrations are colorful and lovely.
Tiger in My Soup by Kashmira Sheth
I love this one precisely because it's not about something specifically Indian- it's just a story about a kid who happens to be Indian! It's a funny story about a boy with a big imagination, pretending there's a tiger in his soup that he has to fight. My daughter loves it because it's silly (and it has a tiger, her favorite animal).
Hot Hot Roti for Dada-Ji by F. Zia
We brought this one to India too, and it was a little too advanced for her at that point; it's pretty long and wordy, and has a more involved story line, so it was just too much for her attention span and level of English at that point. We may try it again soon and see what she thinks because Geoff and I both enjoyed it.
On our list to read next:
The Elephant's Friend and Other Tales from Ancient India by Marcia Williams
We have this one but haven't read it with Vennela yet, but I think she has the attention span to try it soon! I showed it to her recently and she immediately said the pictures were "so so pretty." It has eight fables/tales in graphic novel format (but very simple and meant for children). Most are about animals so it should be a big hit!
Amma Tell Me About Diwali by Bhakti Mathur
Bhakti Mathur has several books in the "Amma Tell Me" series, about various Hindu holidays and legends. We plan to check out this one first, leading up to Diwali, to talk as a family about what the holiday means and the stories behind it. If it's good we'll check out the rest!
I love to read, and always have, so when we were preparing to bring Vennela home, I wanted to gather all the best books to get her excited about reading too. I also wanted to be intentional in the books I chose, looking for ones that would empower her as a girl, and also that reflected the diversity of people in the world, especially when it comes to race and ethnicity. Knowing that often children's books feature mostly white characters, I set to work googling to find diverse books, and went through several great lists other folks had compiled. However, while I found a lot of great books featuring characters who were people of color, almost none of the characters were Indian! I got many of the books I found because again, we wanted her bookshelf to reflect the world, but I then went on a mission to find books the reflected her. Now that she's home we have read most of these, and they have been big hits!
I also want to note that India is a huge country, with many different people groups, each with different customs, religions, words, food, etc. so not every book is representative of every person from India.
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal
This book is a play on The Wheels on the Bus, but instead of the bus doors opening and shutting, it has lines like "Tuk tuk riders say 'Namaste Ji, Namaste Ji, Namaste Ji.'" The book references lots of things from everyday life in India: chai, poppadoms, rupees, and more. We sing the book to the same tune as The Wheels on the Bus, which made it fun for Vennela and easy for her to learn. Once she knew a lot of it, it was a great song to sing in the car to pass time while driving. After a few readings we started using motions to go along with each page, which she loved.
Ganesha's Sweet Tooth by Sanjay Patel
We brought this one to India, and she really enjoyed it right from the start. I think having something familiar was really helpful for her. It retells a legend about the Hindu god Ganesha (who has the head of an elephant) and how he broke his tusk. She just recently brought it back out for another round in the bedtime rotation!
Festival of Colors by Kabir and Surishtha Sehgal
Didn't even realize until I was writing this that these were the same authors as Wheels on the Tuk Tuk! This is a beautiful book that very simply explains the holiday of Holi. It really doesn't get into the legends behind the holiday (which are actually different by region in India) but that's fine for Vennela's age, because just understanding what's happening was enough for her. We read this for a week leading up to the Holi celebration we went to, and it helped her get excited and understand what was happening when we got there. The illustrations are colorful and lovely.
Tiger in My Soup by Kashmira Sheth
I love this one precisely because it's not about something specifically Indian- it's just a story about a kid who happens to be Indian! It's a funny story about a boy with a big imagination, pretending there's a tiger in his soup that he has to fight. My daughter loves it because it's silly (and it has a tiger, her favorite animal).
Hot Hot Roti for Dada-Ji by F. Zia
We brought this one to India too, and it was a little too advanced for her at that point; it's pretty long and wordy, and has a more involved story line, so it was just too much for her attention span and level of English at that point. We may try it again soon and see what she thinks because Geoff and I both enjoyed it.
On our list to read next:
The Elephant's Friend and Other Tales from Ancient India by Marcia Williams
We have this one but haven't read it with Vennela yet, but I think she has the attention span to try it soon! I showed it to her recently and she immediately said the pictures were "so so pretty." It has eight fables/tales in graphic novel format (but very simple and meant for children). Most are about animals so it should be a big hit!
Amma Tell Me About Diwali by Bhakti Mathur
Bhakti Mathur has several books in the "Amma Tell Me" series, about various Hindu holidays and legends. We plan to check out this one first, leading up to Diwali, to talk as a family about what the holiday means and the stories behind it. If it's good we'll check out the rest!
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