As a child in Goa, Daddy used to jump in a well, to water the bananas. Years later, the bananas are gone. But the pump is there, the well is there, Daddy is there … SPLASH!
Catagory: Literature & Fiction
Hey Diddle Diddle (Hook Books)
A horse may be able to jump over the moon. Can a cow do it? Hey diddle diddle.
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:
- Short, digestible bits of text (perfect for budding readers)
- Bright colour illustrations that pull kids into the story
- Themes that speak to the everyday lives of children—plus a sprinkle of whimsy!
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.
Gopal’s Gully
It did feel strange to see her lying cold and silent and then being carried away . . . But at the back of my mind was this growing anticipation-Sanjiv Maama was taking me to Mumbai!
When Gopal’s mother dies, his uncle brings him to Mumbai to get a job because he has few prospects as a Dalit boy in a UP village.
Gopal is cast into the unfamiliar world of Squatters Colony, where he has no family or friends. He gets his first job at the bicycle shop owned by the sage Chacha and rapidly makes friends with the strange and diverse people who live in the community-Chacha’s friendly daughter-in-law, the neighbourhood thug Raja, the three-legged Tiger and beautiful Ayesha.
And he learns that when disaster strikes and lives fall apart, he too has a family in the gully.
Zarin Virji’s gripping debut describes the raw rollicking life of Mumbai’s small neighbourhoods with vigour and zest.
The library of hOles
Get all 25 books in the first ever library of hOles.
Recognizable by the hOle at the top corner of each book, these chapter books are aimed at kids learning to read independently. They are full of fun stories, gorgeous illustrations and hOles!
Buy 24 and get 1 hOle free!
The hOle books are early chapter books for children transitioning from picture books to longer books. The stories are contemporary, Indian and with protagonists who are the age of the potential readers, facing dilemmas and challenges which the readers would be familiar with.
Over the years, the hOle books have been shortlisted for or won every major book award in India and a couple internationally.
Grains of Stardust
Offering a unique expression of thought reflecting feeling more than meaning, Grains of Stardust is a synesthetic stream of consciousness that does not distinguish between journey and destination, but meanders unchecked upon the river of human emotion.
‘Read my poetry out loud
Breathe it in
and taste the letters pour out.
A delicious sound.
Do you hear the colours take form?
Feel the pages move you
as you float in space
make some space
Open your mind
and get inside
and see all that
shimmering
marmalade liquid.
Grains of stardust‘
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
Artist, musician, man of science, Upendrakishore Roychoudhury was a man of many parts. But it is for his writing for children that he is best remembered.
This book is a selection of the best of his stories and the most fascinating of his characters: Goopy and Bagha, dedicated but unsuccessful musicians who are cast out of their homes because their music drives their families and neighbours crazy; Tuntuni, the little bird; the clever fox; Majantali Sarkar, the cat; the intrepid Granny Hunchback; and many others.
Swagata Deb’s vibrant translation brings Upendrakishore’s unique magic to a wider audience.
Puffin Classics: Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Other Stories
A spectacular selection of the best of stories by Upendrakishore Roychoudhuri, and the most fascinating of his characters. Meet Goopy and Bagha, dedicated but unsuccessful musicians who are cast out of their homes because their music drives their families and neighbours crazy; Tuntuni, the little bird; the clever fox; Majantali Sarkar, the cat; the intrepid Granny Hunchback; and many others. Swagata Deb’s vibrant translation brings Upendrakishore’s unique magic to a wider audience, giving a new lease of life to these evergreen tales.
The Clockwala’s Clues (hOle books)
Jasmine and Sheba want to spend the holidays finding homes for stray puppies. But to do so, they have to first solve a series of puzzles set by Sheba’s father, Clockwala Uncle. Can they do this in time?
Nyagrodha
As their train puffs away into the distance, three runaway children, Lily, Vicky and Aman, are led by Makhmal Khan the monkey into the shimmering world of the forest. . . Deep within its shadows, beyond the last cloud on the horizon, stands Nyagrodha, the ancient banyan. Within its magical labyrinth the children encounter monarchs and mice, dreamers and scholars, paupers and fortune-seekers, braggarts and burglars, foppish fish and bloodsucking bugs, gory battles and incredible flying machines. But none of these can distract them from the dangers that threaten Simha, the fierce young king and his friend Jeev, the musical bull. For the story of their tangled lives is very like the childrens’ own. Will Aman, Vicky and Lily find their way back home through the maze of stories? Or will treachery destroy the friendship between Simha and Jeev, and leave the forest wounded and bleeding forever. ‘This is an upside-down story,’ Hanumanta the Langoor warns the children. ‘A story that will turn you inside out. Will you hear it unafraid?’
Shakuntala and Other Stories from Ancient India
Six unforgettable stories of love and bravery, treachery and injustice, from ancient Indian literature. Classical Sanskrit and Tamil writing teem with myriad characters, and here we meet some truly memorable ones.
This collection of six plays, poems and epics retold for children includes ‘Shakuntala’, a heartrending story of the love between the beautiful Shakuntala and King Dushyanta; ‘The Little Clay Cart’, where the evil designs of the king and his family are foiled by the righteous Charudatta and Vasantasena; ‘The Story of an Anklet’, about Kannagi, who wreaks a terrible revenge for the wrong done to her; ‘Manimekalai’, the extraordinary account of a woman’s search for her true calling; ‘The Last Trial of Sita’, in which the playwright gives a whole new ending to the Ramayana, and ‘The Broken Thigh’, about the final, desperate combat between Duryodhana and Bheema on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Accompanied by descriptions of the authors’ lives and the time when the stories were written, these lively retellings are an ideal introduction to some of the best-known stories from the Indian classics.