1. Mini’s Friend by Nandini Nayar, Illustrations by Isha Nagar (HarperCollins India, pp. 72, Rs 150): Mini’s Friend is about a girl called Mini, who makes a new friend at school called Anika. They both teach each other things. Anika teaches Mini how to sing a song in front of the class and how to get ready for school quickly.  Mini teaches Anika how crackers cause pollution and scare away bats. It is a lovely Diwali story that explores how friends care for each other and teach each other what they know. Sharing is caring. And Mini and Anika show us how.

2. The Henna Start-Up by Andaleeb Wajid (Penguin Random House India, pp. 268, Rs 299): The Henna Start-Up is about a girl called Abir Maqsood, who wants to continue studying after college but her parents have other ideas such as getting her married to someone whom she hates. One day, her mother, a henna artist, is not paid her dues for her henna service. Abir decides to help her by starting a henna app so no one could get away with giving the people who apply henna less money. There is an incubation project, but getting the funding is harder than what Abir thinks. Can Abir get the funding and not get married to some potential bridegroom at the same time? Will she find her share of freedom? Read the book to find out.

3. The Chhau Champ by Vibha Batra, Illustrations by Priya Kuriyan (Penguin, pp. 76, Rs 225): The Chhau Champ is a story about a girl called Shubha, who wants to learn Chhau. But it’s her brother, Shayon, who is taught Chhau by her father, a Chhau ustad. But he wants to just play for the national football team and is scared to dance on stage. When Shayon suddenly leaves, Shubha follows him and forces him to teach her Chhau at his friend Bhombol’s house, threatening him that he would be scolded by their father for playing football while he should be practising Chhau. When he leaves home to join the popular soccer team in the city, Shubha takes his spot in the Chhau show without her father figuring it out.

4. How The Bamboo Got Its Bounty by Sudha Murty, illustrations by Pari Satakar (Penguin, pp. 40, Rs 199): The new book by Sudha Murty depicts a jungle where different varieties of plant life — from the smallest shrub to the tallest tree — live in peace and harmony. There is a forest queen who sends her messenger, Mr. Wind, to tell the entire forest about her arrival. All the trees are excited to greet the forest queen; they decide that the most useful trees would greet her: The neem tree, the mango tree, the coconut tree, the teak tree and the banyan tree. On her tour, the queen tells them that one tree would get rewarded. As she walks around, she sees the bamboo tree. She smiles and moves on. At the end of her tour, she decides to pick bamboo as it was useful to human life in many ways.    

5. When Fairyland Lost Its Magic by Bijal Vachharajani, illustrations by Rajiv Eipe (HarperCollins India, pp. 120, Rs 499): The worlds of the characters we know and love are turned upside down in this book: their names, behaviours are changed; Cinderella, (S)No(w) White, Sleeping Beauty and the Big Bad Wolf. In Fairyland, the corals are whiter than snow, cursed apples are nowhere to be found, and the Big Bad Wolf can't even scare anyone because there are no trees left. Fairyland is facing a climate crisis worse than any evil wizard's spell, and the residents, led by princesses and a wolf, must find a solution before their ‘Happily Ever After’ turns into ‘Happily Never After.’

6. Starry Starry Night by Nandita Basu, Illustrations by Nandita Basu (Penguin, pp. 162, Rs 299): Starry Starry Night is a tale of grief, loss and separation. After Kunal's mom dies, he goes to a boarding school in the mountains. He stays with his dad's cousin, Tara, who teaches music at the school. Tara found solace in teaching music after her friend died, but she feels Death's presence around. Tara and Kunal live together, both dealing with their own losses, but they find comfort in each other without talking much about it. It's a story that shows us how friendship, art, and music can help heal and bring light into our lives.

7. City Of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, illustrations By Sandhya Prabhat (Penguin, pp. 375, Rs 450): This story has a girl named Chompa, who learns writing magic from her mother. One day, Chompa’s mother is taken from her and she ventures out to trace her; she travels from Dacca to London, where she finds her mother. They go back to the life they used to live. Unfortunately, her mother dies in a fire accident. Now, Champa has to live in London and use her finger magic to turn a palace to silver before she can fully roam the streets of London. Meanwhile, her father is using magic for no good reason. Will Chompa, and her magical friends, manage to escape?

 

8. Mahi: The Elephant Who Flew Over the Blue Mountains by Anand Neelakantan, illustrations by Doodle Nerve, (HarperCollins, pp. 216, Rs 399): It is the story of a young elephant called Mahi. He wants to fly to find his father, former chief of the herd, who disappeared a year ago. But as he learns to ‘fly,’ he falls off a cliff. Mahi is banished from the herd in Anastan and gets captured by Humans who train him. He soon escapes, while the other elephants demolish the whole place. He escapes and reaches the temple and brings his father to the hot air balloon; they both fly and reach Anastan. Meanwhile, in Anastan, Chief Ila and Kariman are alive but not in good shape so they rest until Trumpo comes to kill them all. Luckily, Mahi comes by that time and pushes Trumpo, their vice president, off the cliff.

9. Misadventures of a Diamond Thief by Lubaina Bandukwala, illustration by Zainab Tambawalla (Penguin, pp. 164, Rs 250): It talks about a TTTD (Time Travelling Thieving Djinns) Called Sahabzada Hawa Singh Rafu Chakkar, Rafu for short. He wants to abandon the family heritage of stealing wonderful jewels to cook the same level of delicious food. But Nathulal (Pasha Janabe Saariq), the King of Thieving Djinns, gives Rafu an assignment to steal the Shah-i-noor and bring it back within two weeks. Rafu realises that the diamond is his ticket to getting a restaurant. So, he sneaks into Hyderabad and meets Nawab Jawab. He gets hired and his job is to provide answers so his master doesn’t lose face. Rafu struggles and finally steals the Shah-i -noor. But it is fake. However, Begum Saheb gives him the real Shah-i-noor. She tells him that he needed it more. Unfortunately, Sawalludin (a policeman) spots him and chases him. Will Rafu be caught?

10. The Golden Tiger Mountain by Nicholas Hoffland and Ravi Kapoor, illustrations by Tanaya Vyas (HarperCollins, pp. 196 Rs 499): It is a loving tale of a girl called Rinzing, who travels up the Golden Tiger Lake in search of a legendary old orange tree, which is said to cure all illnesses for Pala Dawa, so he can be healthy again. As they progress, they meet the nine demons and the giant snake, giving them flowers and tsampa and walnuts. Soon after reaching a pine forest, it turns dark. As they take shelter in a rock cave, they cover their ears with a Yak blanket so they don’t hear the screams of the dead. In the morning, Pala gives Rinzing nearly all of his clothes so she can be safe from the cold as they cross the colder-than-ice lake. They cross the Golden Tiger Lake and find an orange tree, with golden butterflies covering every inch of it. They wait the night and head down the mountain in the morning to the valley after crossing the frozen lake. After meeting the Snake and the cave of nine demons, they finally reach the bottom of the lake.