A unique biography that explores and celebrates the life of a poet as a curious boy.
Right from his childhood, Rabindranath Tagore, also known as Robi, was attracted to nature. He found his poetic inspiration amidst the glassy waters of the pond, the leafy trees in his garden and the endless blue sky.
But when Inspiration went missing one fine morning, Robi searched and searched all around the house. How would he write his poems again?
Thatha has asked Shyam to keep an eye on Passepartout, a rescued tortoise. But now Passepartout has disappeared. Where can Shyam and Kannamma find him?
About the Hook Book Series
In a world where children’s books often feel cut from the same cloth, Hook Books stand out as a vibrant blend of imagination, humour, and heart. Crafted as a bridge between picture books and early chapter books, this series delivers stories that spark joy and wonder, while remaining rooted in age-appropriate learning.
Hook Books keep the fun going with:
From fantasy tales to those that touch on more advanced ideas, Hook Books ensure that young readers are always in for a treat, no matter their reading level. Even better, these books take children on journeys through different parts of India, giving them a taste of the rich diversity of our world through local flavours, landscapes, and cultures. Whether the story takes place in bustling cities or quiet villages, Hook Books make every setting feel like home.
It’s bedtime! Time to settle down, get cosy and read stories-with a touch of knowledge and oodles of fun. Meet some quirky characters who love to know about . . . well everything! Join them as they explore the world, and discover fun things along the way, as you drift off into the Sleepytime world.
Curious Curie is very curious with a scientific bent of mind. She loves to know how things work. Along with her dog Hubble, she has some fantastic adventures. Curie is special because she can talk to plants and animals too. Come along on exciting adventures with the funny duo and discover something fascinating and new about the world around you.
Talented players, hard-working coaches-the U-13 Maulsari Eagles is a team that has what it takes. Yet, challenges of all kinds hold them back from realizing their true potential. Prithvi, the midfielder, must wrestle against his father’s resistance; while Kadambini, the winger, battles gender bias; even as Siraj, the head coach, leads a fight against the mammoth system, plagued by blatant corruption and rampant age fraud.
The Eagles have a fighting chance, but they also have much to lose. From survival to self-worth, from pride to glory, there’s much at stake in this battle against the odds. Can their crusade herald a new era in Indian football? Can they strike their way through to their goal?
In time for FIFA world cup, The District Cup is a perfect read for sports lovers!
Meet the troublesome mouse who carries the gigantic Ganesha; a humble fish who saves
the world from a devastating flood; the vulture-king Jatayu who dies while attempting to rescue Sita, and many more.
There are animals and birds who lead a quest, forge a friendship, avenge a wrong or save the world
like a superhero. Let’s delve into their adventurous world and celebrate their heroism and valour!
The stories in this sumptuously illustrated gift edition showcase the diversity and wealth of our rich folklore while sharing the timeless wisdom imbued in them.
A unique biography that explores and celebrates the life of a popstar as a feisty little girl
Right from her childhood, Usha Uthup knew that music was her true calling.
She picked up songs from the radio and sang with her big, booming voice.
But when rejected during the audition for her school choir, Usha wondered if her big voice was any good. All she wanted was to sing. Does she find a way?
Slow is Beautiful is an invitation to embark on a journey through mindfulness and cut through the clutter and noise of the world around you. Under the guidance of artist and visual designer Ahlawat Gunjan, you’ll learn to see, observe, reflect, and practise using artistic techniques developed through years of training to re-kindle a lost instinct. This beautiful collector’s edition prepares you to welcome a new artistic vision into your lives by building a relationship with form, colour, and composition in a uniquely accessible way.
Each of the sixty easy-to-use prompts in this book is an essential step highlighted by vibrant ink and watercolour paintings inspired from nature, created and curated by the artist himself to motivate readers to draw, erase, paint, experiment, create and, most importantly, embrace their mistakes.
The Sthory of Two Wimmin Kalyani and Dakshayani traces luminous paths of female friendship in the rural worlds of north Malabar, through the lives of two rural women, Kalyani and Dakshayani. Rebelling against the patriarchy in school at the age of six (‘Rot in ‘ell, yuh sonofabitch’, yells Dakshayani at the school master who lifted her skirt to pinch her thigh, and walks out of school, with Kalyani following in solidarity), the two friends take on life and love. Women have no native place, they learn-but they have each other. Rajashree’s cleverly crafted narrator pauses and plays the scenes of their struggles, pains and laughter, drawing strength from them for her own battle against the mind-police. The bittersweet longing for one’s place of birth, the dialects of Malayalam, animals, spirits-all come alive in Rajashree’s beautifully crafted tale, enabled by Devika’s magnificent and careful translation.
ENGLISH
Many of the poems in English are set in New York City around the events of September 11, 2001. In the faux prologue poem ‘About the Author’, the narrator finds himself ‘on Sixth, watching ruin, with / a handful of rain and a prophecy’: a citizen of no country except the republic that gives the book its title, the Republic of English. Here, English is more than a language. It is a river of the world.
‘Thayil’s poems refract his vibrant, unique and far-flung life experiences through the prism of his tremendous lyric intellect. The result is a fantastic realism that will haunt me forever. Thayil’s English first spices a transcendent command of diverse registers of literary and colloquial speech with certain sprung local talk, but then melts all that into an infinitely focused and inventive, personal and emotional idiolect, delivered in one of the most unforgettable voices of our time. He is a master of the knockout lyric punchline. Some of these poems made me cry, which is rare.’ – PHILIP NIKOLAYEV
APOCALYPSO
Jeet Thayil’s first full-length collection, Apocalypso, is a gritty, intense exploration of love and its secular limits. Song-like rhythms offer Biblical imagery and a lyric view of the wild side. Detached, tough, and vulnerable at the same time, the raw, intimate poems in this collection point towards the work that would follow. They examine and lay bare the mystery of love–its heartbreak and exaltation, and its redemptive, enduring power.
Everybody betrays everybody, you said
somebody said.
‘Thayil’s poems light up a corner of the dirty world, imbuing it with a near-holy radiance. The beautiful uncompromising poems in this selection are an achievement.’ – ADIL JUSSAWALLA
School taught us specific subjects, like maths and history.
But we weren’t taught:
How to sell
Or how to build relationships
Or how to negotiate
Or how to take care of our mental health
Or how to network
Or how to deal with personal finance
These most important situations we face as adults were never discussed with us when we were students. We weren’t taught these skills in school, and this makes all the success stories we hear about seem out of reach; it makes us feel dumb. We aren’t dumb, we just don’t know how to work the system.
Your school taught you how to run in the race; it didn’t teach you how to win. And that’s what this book is for. To help you win the race. Packed with useful advice gleaned from his own journey as an entrepreneur and content creator, this book by Raj Shamani is a must-read.
