In our second pairing for the literary exchange, we look at elephant adventures featuring feisty girls. Chaya, a no-nonsense, outspoken hero, leads her friends and a gorgeous elephant on a noisy, fraught, joyous adventure through the jungle where revolution is stirring and leeches lurk. Will stealing the queen’s jewels be the beginning or the end of everything for the intrepid…
By JoAnne Saldanha “LEAVE MY BROTHERS ALONE.” These words stand out on the opening spread of Lady Tarzan! Jamuna takes a Stand, a picture book biography of the indigenous environmental activist Jamuna Tudu, written by Lavanya Karthik, illustrated by Rajiv Eipe and published by Jugnoo Prakashan. The illustrations indicate that the ‘brothers’ being harmed are trees. Jamuna’s fierce cry and…
By Nidhi Gaur Climate change is not fifty years away. It is here, shaping our reality. When we are Home, written by Priyadarshini Gogoi and illustrated by Pankaj Saikia urges readers to take heed of this crisis through the story of two siblings rafting on an overflowing Brahmputra, as they think about their home… fragrant with Aneaido’s til pitha, rhythmically…
By Richa Chadda Life in coastal suburbs runs in a different rhythm to the one inland. Instead of being dictated by a clock or calendar, time follows the routine set by the moods of the sea. What happens when this coastal almanac gets threatened by the clamour for development? When cities grow to swallow every inch of land, getting under…