Illinois Authors

Yali Books New York : 2021

2022 South Asia Book Award Winner On Sundays, Varun has his karate lesson, and his sister Varsha heads to dance school with their grandfather. One weekend, Varun reluctantly accompanies his sister to her lesson. Bored of waiting, he peeks into the classroom, and almost immediately, he is fascinated by the rhythm and grace of bharatanatyam, a dance from India that Varsha is learning to perfect. Varun tries a few moves at home in secret because...well, boys don't dance, do they? His grandfather is not so sure. Will Thatha be able to convince Varun to dance in his footsteps? A heartwarming picture book about an intergenerational Indian-American family discovering a shared love for bharatanatyam, an ancient classical dance form that continues to fascinate young dancers across the globe.

Kokila 2023

Inspired by the skateboarding revolution in India, Girls on Wheels follows three friends who support one another through the ups and downs of learning to skateboard. Anila is on her way to her favorite place: the skate park. She longs to glide on her board and feel the thrill of catching air. But when she arrives, the ramp looks like a concrete sea monster! Fear creeps in, making her once-broken arm ache. But Sana’s smile and Damini’s laugh wrap Anila in courage. Her friends remind her that in skateboarding, sometimes you fall—but sometimes you fly! Srividhya Venkat’s lyrical text and Kate Wadsworth’s vibrant illustrations capture the energy and movement that make this picture book soar.

Tota Books 2023

A heartwarming story of friendship and enjoying the moment. Kimaya loves making lists for everything. But when things go wrong on a playdate, she realizes that some things just can’t go ‘by the list’.

Tota Books Five-year-old Mihir is fascinated by his grandmother’s lunchtime tradition of feeding birds and squirrels at her kitchen window. Mihir likes to call them his ‘lunch-friends’. But when the big mango tree nearby that is home to the lunch-friends is cut down, they stop visiting. Mihir is anxious and wants to help. An inspiring story of a little kid thinking big.

Tota Books Nitya wants to be just like her grandfather, Thatha, who enjoys eating fiery-hot red pickles. But her plea to taste them is turned down because pickles are “too spicy for children”. However, Nitya is not one to give up. When she finally gets her way, she is disappointed to discover that that they are indeed too spicy. What does she do to satisfy her ‘Pickle Mania’? A delightfully delicious story of a little girl’s resolve to have a pickle of her own.

little bee books 2024

Little by little, drop by drop Kailash Satyarthi devoted his life to battling international child labor and exploitation. In 2014 his work earned him a Nobel Peace Prize alongside Malala Yousafzai. "My only aim in life is that every child is free to be a child." Kailash Satyarthi has fought injustice his whole life. As a young boy, he raised money so poor children could attend school. When he was a teen, he combatted caste discrimination by sharing a meal with "untouchables." And as an adult, he fought against child labor and for increased education, ultimately rescuing hundreds of thousands of children worldwide. In 2014, he was recognized for his efforts, winning a Nobel Peace Prize alongside Malala Yousafzai. This inspiring picture book shows that anyone can strive for change in their community that make a big difference around the world.

Karadi Tales Picturebooks 2019

With timeless art that swirls through the pages like a traditional Indian turban, The Clever Tailor by Srividhya Venkat and Nayantara Surendranath is a contemporary Indian take on a European folktale about the value of being resourceful and finding creative ways to minimize waste. Accompanied by a glossary of Hindi words, this title is an ideal addition to multicultural book collections.

Raj Publication 2018

Lonely Sid wasn’t always a tree. But the day he misses saving a soccer goal at school, things change for him. He wakes up the next morning to discover he is no more the boy he used to be. With an entire ecosystem hovering above him, he finds himself transformed into one of those brainless trees that he so detests. Will he ever be back to being Sid again? And will his loneliness end?