Presenting Books of 2009, a list of books published in India for children in the last 12 months! We’ve sorted them into three categories – Beginner, Middle and Advanced Readers. FYI, some titles may have translations in other Indian languages while there are some that have been translated into English. The publisher information is given in brackets next to the title. The list does not include new editions of previously published titles.
Keep logging in to see reviews of our picks from this list!
Beginner Readers (approximately ages 5 to 7)
Pchak Pchak by Padmini Mongia (Young Zubaan)
The Glum Peacock by Tabish Khair (Young Zubaan)
Mr Jeejeebhoy and the Birds by Anitha Balachandran (Young Zubaan)
On The Tip of A Pin Was … by Geetha Dharmarajan (Katha)
A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Alegmagna, Tr. by Mariette Robbes (Katha)
Fledolin, Upside Down by Antje Damm (Katha)
Do! by Ramesh Hengadi/Rasika Hengadi/ Shantaram Dhadpe/Kusum Dhadpe with Gita Wolf (Tara Books)
The Slant Book by Peter S. Newell (Tara Books)
ABC3D by Marion Bataille (Tara Books)
I Like Cats by Anushka Ravishankar/Various Artists (Tara Books)
Malipoo,Where are you? by Radhika Chadha (Tulika Books)
The Thumb Thumb series (Tulika Books)
What Did You See? by Nandini Nayar (Tulika Books)
Aana And Chena by Sowmya Rajendran (Tulika Books)
Upside Down by TR Rajesh (Tulika Books)
Pond by Alisha Thampy (Tulika Books)
Blackboard by Urmila Shastri (Tulika Books)
The A to Z Book by Aditi Deo (Scholastic)
Silly Dilly: Learn About Animals by Kuntie Ramdat Balkaran (Scholastic)
Middle Readers (approx. ages 7 to 9)
Anita the Beekeeper – Going to School (Random House India)
Going to School in India by Lisa Heydlauff (Random House Inda)
How the Kangaroo Got His Jump by Rudyard Kipling; retold by Heather Adams (Puffin India)
The Beginning of the Armadillos by Rudyard Kipling; retold by Vatsala Kaul (Puffin India)
The Crab that Played with the Sea by Rudyard Kiping; retold by Vatsala Kaul (Puffin India)
Gind: The Magical Adventures of a Vanara by Harini Gopalswami Srinivasan (Puffin India)
Where’s Hanuman? by Alister Taylor, illustrated by Christopher Woods and Ben McClintic (Puffin India)
The Bird with Golden Wings: Stories of Wit and Magic by Sudha Murty (Puffin India)
The Flight of the Mermaid by Gita Wolf/Sirish Rao/Bhajju Shyam (Tara Books)
My name is Amrita by Anjali Raghbeer (Tulika Books)
A Trail of Paint by Anjali Raghbeer (Tulika Books)
The Veena Player by Anjali Raghbeer (Tulika Books)
Barefoot Husain by Anjali Raghbeer (Tulika Books)
Ju’s Story by Paul Zacharia (Tulika Books)
Sabari’s Colours by Rinchin (Tulika Books)
Spider’s Web by Lata Mani (Tulika Books)
The Snow King’s Daughter by Sowmya Rajendran (Tulika Books)
Vyasa’s Mahabharata by Chitra Krishnan (Tulika Books)
The Fly-away Cradle by Sridala Swami (Pratham Books)
Cheenu’s Gift by Sridala Swami (Pratham Books)
Phani’s Funny Chappals by Sridala Swami (Pratham Books)
Samira Goes Shopping by Bharati Jagannathan (Pratham Books)
Samira’s Awful Lunch by Bharati Jagannathan (Pratham Books)
Yakkity Yak by Benita Sen (Pratham Books)
Asian Splendour by Hema Pande (Pratham Books)
The Fried Frog and other Funny Freaky Foodie Fiesty Poems by Sampurna Chatterji (Scholastic)
The Day it Rained Letters by Nury Vittachi (Hachette India)
Older Readers
The Timeless Land (part III of the Shadow in Eternity trilogy) by Payal Dhar (Young Zubaan)
The Beast with Nine Billion Feet by Anil Menon (Penguin)
The Adventures of the Missing Girl by Sunila Gupte (Random House India)
The Puffin Mahabharata by Namita Gokhale (Puffin India)
Nose Uncle by Jaspar Utley (Puffin India)
Gandhi Speaks: The Mahatma’s Words for Children by M.K. Gandhi (Puffin India)
Puffin Classics: The Adventures of Mowgli by Rudyard Kipling; introduced by Ruskin Bond (Puffin India)
Satyajit Ray’s The Feluda Mysteries: A Bagful of Mystery by Satyajit Ray (Text by Subhadra Sengupta, Illus by Tapas Guha) (Puffin India)
Satyajit Ray’s The Feluda Mysteries: Beware in the Graveyard by Satyajit Ray (Text by Subhadra Sengupta, Illus by Tapas Guha) (Puffin India)
Swapnalok Society: The Good News Reporter by Suchitra Krishnamoorthi (Puffin India)
The Magic Store of Nu Cham Vu by Shreekumar Varma (Puffin India)
Puffin Lives: Ashoka: The Great and Compassionate King by Subhadra Sen Gupta (Puffin India)
Puffin Lives: Rani Lakshmibai: The Valiant Queen of Jhansi by Deepa Agarwal (Puffin India)
Puffin Lives: Jawaharlal Nehru: The Jewel of India by Aditi De (Puffin India)
The Puffin Book of Spooky Ghost Stories (Introduced by Jerry Pinto) (Puffin India)
Puffin Classics: Malgudi Schooldays by R.K. Narayan; introduced by Shashi Deshpande (Puffin India)
Feluda Comics: Murder by the Sea by Satyajit Ray (Text by Subhadra Sengupta, Illus by Tapas Guha) (Puffin India)
Mission Moon: Exploring the Moon with Chandrayaan 1 by S.K. Das (Puffin India)
Cauvery by Oriole Henry and Clare Arni (Pratham Books)
The Enemy of my Enemy by Anshumani Rudra (Scholastic)
Banana Republic: The Enemy of my Enemy II by Anshumani Rudra (Scholastic)
Kunhayaan the Clever and the Kings of Malabar by V.P. Muhammed (Scholastic)
Harsha Vardhana by Devika Rangachari (Scholastic)
The Grasshopper’s Run by Siddhartha Sharma (Scholastic)
Children of the Enchanted Jungle by Timeri Murari (Scholastic)
Why We Are Where We Are: A Short History of the Universe by Swagata Deb and Supriya Seshadri (Scholastic)
Mission Moon by Biman Basu (Scholastic)
Monuments of India by Mrinalini Venkateswaran (Scholastic)
Amazing India by Amit and Anita Vaccharanjani (Scholastic)
The Mahatma and the Monkeys (Hachette India)
Friends Forever (Hachette India)
Taranauts – The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds by Roopa Pai (Hachette India)
Dorje’s Holiday to the Gyenso Khang by Aravinda Anantharaman (Lama Mani Books)
Dolma’s Holiday in the City by Aravinda Anantharaman (Lama Mani Books)
| Date & Time | Activity | What is it about? | Age Group |
| 11th January
11:00 AM |
Our own Calendar and the Truth about Tooth | A Parent and child session to make family calendar together , followed by a story telling session by Dr. Shailaja Prasad on the care of teeth. | 3 to 6 years |
| 12th January
11:30 AM |
Kite Flying at Agara Lake | Sankranthi is back, bringing with it the tradition of flying kites! Join Tony and Rajesh uncle for this funfest!! | All Ages |
| 16th January
10:15 AM |
E Charkha spins interest | Take a trip with Anupama aunty of NEEV to see and experience the e-charkha that not only produces yarn, but also generates electricity to light up a small LED – based ‘homelight’ while entertaining the charkha spinner with a radio. | 10 and above |
| 17th January
11:30 AM |
Origami Time | Origami, from ‘oru’ meaning ‘folding’, and ‘kami’ meaning ‘paper’, is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. Join Preeti aunty to learn how to make a fun frog and a caterpillar using the Origami technique without any cutting! | 5 to 7 years |
| 23rd January
11:00 AM |
Grandma’s Tales | Sankranthi… Pongal… traditional festivals that make for a lot of happy childhood memories- the perfect time to start off our ‘Grandma’s Tales’ – story time for the very young, by Grand Mothers! Coming up first with some sweet pongal are Padma and Shyamala ‘paatis. | 0 to 3 years |
| 24th January
11:00 AM |
What’s your Scrabble Score? | The bonding, the laughter, the rivalry, the SCORE! Rohan bhaiya will moderate this challenge to your word- building skills. | 7 and above |
| 30th January
11:00 AM |
Experimenting with Truth | Preeti aunty regales you with incidents from Bapuji’s life. | 5 to 7 years |
| 31st January
11:00 AM |
The Quest for the Lost Ring | Anish and Mamta help you enjoy the fantastic adventures of Tolkein’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, with a treasure hunt for ‘the ring’! | 7 and above |
Have you ever wondered how Nemo, Marlin and Dory celebrated Christmas underwater? If you were at Hippocampus, Koramangala on 20th December, 2009, you wouldn’t have escaped our sea- blue view of Christmas.
The 4 hour long carnival was filled with games like Sand Bowling, Basket the ball, how many Parle-G’s can you eat in a minute and of course Fish for a Wish or a dish- the host’s challenge to all!
Yummy food – the able fuel to have loads of fun, included Fruit Chat, Golgappas, Pasta, Pav Bhaji, Mint Julep, Hot Chocolate….. the list (I am afraid) is endless! The Lady in Boots along with her partners in crime ensured the glamour quotient was on an all time high with Hair Braiding and Tattoo using Mehendi.
Do I hear a “so what is so special about this carnival?” . All the stalls were designed, manned and managed by the kiddy members of Hippocampus who left no stone unturned in . The Grand finale was Carol Singing and a musical Mime by Rohan and his merry gang of friends. Everybody was Elvis for the day when they sang carols, danced for the guitars tune and cheered hard for the mime. None of the kids or parents had the time to be tired and directed all energies towards having a gala time.
On this merry and energetic note, this is Hoo signing off! 
JUST BOOKS – WHITEFIELD
Theme – First Indian festival! Pongal and Shankaranthi! Celebrating all that’s related to the harvest festivals!
Activity – Pongal greeting cards making
9th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity -Elaborate pot painting and decoration
10th Jan 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First month! Lets get creative when we make resolutions, planning the year or start writing in our new journal .
Activity – Make New Year magnets
16th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – ‘pocket my year’ – pocket calendar design
17th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – Celebrating the first patriotic day of the year!
Activity – Make a Patriotic pinwheel
23rd January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Make your own patriotic fun cartoon
24th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First borns! – Happy birthday to famous authors born in this month – A.A Milne and J.R.R Tolkien
Activity – Winnie the Pooh special – Make Honey snacks
30th January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Lord of the rings book cover design – contest
31st January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
JUST BOOKS – JP NAGAR
Theme – First Indian festival! Pongal and Shankaranthi! Celebrating all that’s related to the harvest festivals!
Activity – Cow masks making
9th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Kite making
10th Jan 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First month! Lets get creative when we make resolutions, planning the year or start writing in our new journal .
Activity – New Year CD coasters
16th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – ‘plan my year’ – calendar design
17th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – Celebrating the first patriotic day of the year!
Activity – Make a Patriotic pinwheel
23rd January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – parade a plane -paper plane making
24th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First borns! – Happy birthday to famous authors born in this month – A.A Milne and J.R.R Tolkien
Activity – Winnie the pooh or Eeyore the donkey sock puppets
30th January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Lord of the rings book cover design – contest
31st January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
JUST BOOKS – SARJAPUR ROAD
Theme – First Indian festival! Pongal and Shankaranthi! Celebrating all that’s related to the harvest festivals!
Activity – Cow masks making
9th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Elaborate pot painting and decoration
10th Jan 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First month! Lets get creative when we make resolutions, planning the year or start writing in our new journal .
Activity – New Year CD coasters
16th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – ‘Dear Diary’ – journal cover making
17th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – Celebrating the first patriotic day of the year!
Activity – Make a Patriotic pinwheel
23rd January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Make your own patriotic fun cartoon
24th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First borns! – Happy birthday to famous authors born in this month – A.A Milne and J.R.R Tolkien
Activity – Winnie the pooh special – bear beanie making
30th January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Lord of the rings book cover design – contest
31st January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
JUST BOOKS – INDIRA NAGAR
Theme – First Indian festival! Pongal and Shankaranthi! Celebrating all that’s related to the harvest festivals!
Activity – Paper flower and garland making
9th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Rangoli
10th Jan 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – First month! Lets get creative when we make resolutions, planning the year or start writing in our new journal .
Activity – New Year Magnets
16th Jan 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – ‘Dear Diary’ – journal cover making
17th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme – Celebrating the first patriotic day of the year!
Activity – Make a patriotic wind sock
23rd January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Patriotic craft
24th January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
Theme - First borns! – Happy birthday to famous authors born in this month – A.A Milne and J.R.R Tolkien
Activity – Winnie the Pooh special – Make Honey snacks
30th January 2010
Age group – 4 to 7 years
Activity – Lord of the rings book cover design – contest
31st January 2010
Age group – 8 + years
