Adventure & Mystery

Trouble In The Forbidden Forest

A gang of robbers is cutting and stealing sandalwood trees from the forest near Arun’s house. Worse, the guardian of the forest, fierce King Yaksha, seems to have lost his powers and can’t stop them. Something must be done… and quickly. A thrilling sequel to The Forbidden Forest that sees young Arun come to the rescue with a smart plan!

The Forbidden Forest

There are strange stories about the big forest at the edge of Arun’s house, and he has been told never to go there. But of course he MUST! So he slips away one day. It is like another world there, strange and beautiful. All is well until he breaks a “rule”… and has to face the fierce King Yaksha, spirit guardian of the forest, who gives him a very unusual punishment.

Beyond The Blue River

In this novel that is part adventure, part mystery and completely captivating, B. Vinayan takes the genre of fantasy to a new realm of resonance. Through lucid prose and magical moments, he transforms the story of a perfectly mundane mechanical creature into a metaphor for human existence. Every time GRACE – City Auto For Hire No. SD 013422 hears the Blue River tune, she gets a funny feeling. Sometimes she feels the tune even before it is hummed. What is the Blue River? Why does it affect her so deeply? What lies beyond it? One day Grace revs up her engine and sets out to find out. Along the way she encounters several new worlds, creatures, ways of life and even systems of language and communication. It is a journey replete with experiences that range from the fun to the funny to the philosophical, and answers that lead to more questions.

B.Vinayan’s imaginative story brings a fresh approach by its warmth and humour and its effortless weaving of philosophy and childlike wonderment… The original and engaging ideas of the ‘language of the spheres’ which allows everyone to understand everyone, the possibilities of transformation of selves, and travel between worlds, sets Vinayan apart from other writers. – Mariam Karim Ahlawat

Parthiban’s Dream

The Chola ruler King Parthiban has a dream . . . he wants to make his empire the most powerful in the region. However, before he can do this, he is killed in battle. His son, Prince Vikraman, is a child at the time, but he carries his father’s dream in his heart. He grows up in the shadow of the burgeoning power of the mighty Pallava ruler, Chakravarti Narasimha Varman, also known as Mamalla Pallavan, after whom Mamallapuram is named. How will Vikraman fulfil his father’s wishes?

Suddenly, a mysterious Shivanadiyar, follower of Lord Shiva, begins to enter his life at the most opportune and unexpected moments to help him out of trouble. Who is this man? Why does he help Vikraman? Does Vikraman finally succeed in his quest? And what’s so special about this story that made a 15 year-old sit down and translate it at one shot? Nirupama Raghavan’s joyous translation and considered abridgment of Parthiban Kanavu carries forward twists and turns of the story with magic and lightness.

Andamans Boy

Tired of life in Mumbai with his Chacha and Chachi, Arif runs away – far, far away. He hops onto a train going to Chennai. From there he smuggles himself onto a boat going to . . . the Andaman islands! Rich with adventure and humour, full of the wonders of nature, the book is also filled with details about the unique, misunderstood world of the Jarawa, a tribe in the Andamans whose very survival is being threatened, especially by the forces of so-called development. Nature drawings by Indraneil Das are beautifully offset by soft pencil sketches of the adventure by Ashok Rajagopalan.

Author Zai Whitaker talks about a Skype session with a school in Mumbai!

That Summer at Kalagarh

Gitanjali is furious with her cousins — Ajay, Ajit and Aveek —who call her ‘Hathni’, she-elephant, to tease her. But the nickname sticks, and curiously enough seems to set the tone for their holiday in the jungles of Kalagarh. A dangerous face-off, cries of distress at night, an eerie ride through the jungle . . . turn out to be elephant encounters of a very strange kind! And at the hub of it all is Gitanjali, who seems to share an unusual bond with the big, gentle creatures.

This is Ranjit Lal is at his best. His naturalist’s eye gets full play in the lush setting of the Kumaon Hills, Corbett country, as he spins a spine-tingling tale that is taut with mystery and tinged with his trademark humour.

Advaita The Writer

When Advaita leaves Delhi for boarding school in Dehradun, she is lonely and unhappy. Even if Dunham Girls’ School is supposed to be the best in Asia. Even if, as her father had promised, it has a fabulous library. But the library soon becomes her haven, losing herself in books a shield against her deepening homesickness. Then one day she hears that the writer Ruskin Bond, whose books she devours, stays less than an hour away. Could it be true that the famous author is a real, living person, breathing the same Uttarakhand air as herself? Could she, Advaita, also become a writer? Advaita emerges out of her cocoon into a world fresh with ideas and inspiring possibilities. Unfolding gently and sensitively with the pace of Advaita’s changing emotions, this is a story about the love of books, the power of the imagination, of literary heroes, and of the birth of dreams.

Advaita the Writer is many stories rolled into one… A story of separation, of belonging, of space, of identity, of dreams, of inspiration… What keeps this delightfully unpredictable world of Advaita aloft is Spillman’s narrative. It flows like a happy river, meandering through difficult emotions and exciting metaphors with equal ease, as it runs its preordained course. Throughout the book, Spillman gently pushes the boundaries of language, never once compromising on the intelligence of the reader or taking it for granted. It’s a delicate balance that is rarely achieved in books for young readers. The illustrations by Menon too are spot on, hovering, almost respectfully, behind Advaita’s story. Read this book to be touched by not just the magic of Ruskin Bond, but also that of Spillman’s through lovely, whimsical Advaita. – Young India Books

No Fear, Jiyaa

The five most venomous snake species can all be found in Australia’s Outback — and that’s where Jiyaa is headed on her first school camp since moving to Perth from Mumbai. Mom is NOT happy. Jiyaa is super-thrilled (though she’s trying to act cool). Getting along with Olivia Robbins for two days isn’t going to be easy, but she’s quite sure that her biggest challenge will be Facebook deprivation! How wrong can she be! In No Fear, Jiyaa! Ken Spillman sends a bunch of pre-teen girls into the Outback. As their excitement, troubles and insecurities play out, what we get is a fresh and funny story about friendship, courage and growing up.

No Fear Jiyaa reads with the same flare and drama characteristic in children’s chatter – hyperbolic and exclamatory. – The Book Review

Shrinking Vanita

Three days to go before a killer asteroid will end life on Earth! Everyone is in a panic. Everyone, that is, but Vanita, who has things to do. Such as saving the planet.  She has a plan drawn up to the minutest detail. All pure science. With just a little help from fridge magnets, a little puppy – and a special ‘shrinking’ gift that she has. Manjula Padmanabhan’s cartoonist’s eye for people and their little eccentricities conflates with a supergirl story to give us this spectacular  science fiction for young readers. A side splittingly hilarious book from a master storyteller with her  tongue firmly in cheek and a straight face!

The Boy And Dragon Stories And Other Tales

A dragon has to be punished by a boy. But neither knows how to go about it, and they become friends instead. Together they chase whirlwinds, combat giants in cyberspace, listen to the stories of pebbles by the sea… Sweeping through spans of fantasy, reality and time, the author of the popular Aditi Adventures gives us a set of stories that once again takes children on a ride through magic realism. And with confused dragons, cricket playing giants, mirror books and little girls who don’t see why they should cry, they once again say as much between the lines as through the light, lively text. Dramatic yet contemplative illustrations evoke the intriguing mix of strength-gentleness that pervades the stories.

This slim, almost gentle looking book is packed with little and big thoughts that set you – thinking ! A Boy and A Dragon and you may immediately think cliched couple, what’s new and what now.. but this is Suniti Namjoshi and she urges you to think things like what is the worth of crying and how similar are we to pebbles ? Bah ! What is all this fantasy you may ask but I think the power lies in fantabulous fantasy of this kind. Every 2 -3 page story made dreamy and whimsical by Krishna Bala Shenoi has a teachable thought. I loved this little book, I am imagining myself reading one story at a time to a whole bunch of YESNO boys and girls, discussing BADHATS and talking trees and allowing a book like this to be a MIRRORBOOK. – Bookworm Trust

Aditi Adventures – The One-Eyed Monkey

An enchanting modern fairytale involving an unlikely foursome. A monkey sets out to explore the world, joined by a curious ant and an elephant trying hard to be aggressive. They come across a princess with a mission and rally around to help her. Armed with a cloak of invisibility, a sword of courage and a ball of magic clay, the friends journey to the den of a fierce dragon who must be tamed. Poor dragon! UK-based feminist writer Suniti Namjoshi has published several books and collections of poetry. There is fun and adventure in this ‘fairytale’, which stands adventure on its head as it twists and turns its humorous way.

Aditi Adventures – The Thames Dragon

There’s an urgent call for help from London, and Aditi
and her friends — the One-eyed monkey, Elephant and
Ant — fly off on the back of their new friend, the Dragon.
There they discover that the River Thames is being slowly
poisoned… and the River Dragon who lives in it is dying.
Something has to be done quickly. And what they do
lands them on primetime television news!

Aditi Adventures – The Marine Sage

Aditi and her friends are on a mission for the Island
Sage. So they fly on dragon-back to her sister who lives
deep down under the sea off Australia, on the Great
Barrier Reef. But the Elephant has a mission of her own
— to find her name that was swallowed by a fish.
Action enters new-age with a Thought Submarine and a
laser beam show by the dragons!

Aditi Adventures – The Techno Sage

Goldie the dragon is missing! Following a clue, Aditi and
her friends fly to Italy on Opal, their other dragon
friend. The search leads to encounters with the Sybil of
Cumae who knows everything, a magic mirror that can
trap, and the tantrum-throwing, lava-spewing,
earthquake-causing Vesuvian Giant.

Aditi Adventures – Meeting Grendel

Looking for a Deep Rose that may make Aditi’s grandmother
feel better, the adventurers go to the coast of Devon in
England. There they meet the little boy Grendel who lives
under the sea, prowls around at night scaring others, can’t
remember anything and doesn’t care about it.
Re-casting ‘monster’ characters from the Beowulf story, the
author wonders if what we see depends on how we see it.

Aditi Adventures – The Vesuvian Giant

An official visit to Prague takes a strange turn. The naughty granddaughter of Princess Libusha casts a spell on Monkeyji, and the only one who can help is Shemeek – the snow white horse who sleeps behind a rock at Wysherad, dreaming of the world. But to reach Shemeek, Aditi and her friends must first deal with rude Sir Sparrow, and get past Old Fiery Blue, the good-hearted dragon intent on a good fight. A popular legend is woven into this unusual adventure in the Czech Republic. There is action and drama, but by the end of it there are also questions: Who finally wins? And can a problem be a solution? With her usual light touch, the author subtly infuses the ordinary and everyday with new depth in the eighth book in the series.

Aditi Adventures – The Budapest Changeling

Siril the Ant finds himself bobbing on the River Danube
in Budapest, Hungary. He has been brought there by a
strange little creature who keeps changing form and
wants to help him become great.
As the adventurers try to discover who this changeling
really is, Beautiful is captured underwater by an Old
Woman Who Lives in a Shoe.

Aditi Adventures – Finding Shemeek

On a visit to Prague, the naughty granddaughter of
Princess Libusha casts a spell on Monkeyji. And the
only one who can help is Shemeek, the sleeping
white horse of Wysherad. But to reach him Aditi and
her gang must first deal with a rude sparrow and a
dragon who wants to fight. A popular Czech legend
is woven into this unusual adventure.

Aditi Adventures – The City Of Lions

    Gardy isn’t sure if he is the lost lion cub prince who will save the ‘City of Lions’, Singapore. But he rushes there with his friends, all the same. They find that the city is indeed under threat — from its very own haughty, crotchety, bickering guardians, Sir Leon and the Old Woman under the Sea.

    Aditi Adventures – The Word Eater

    Danger! That’s what the digital butterflies seem to spell out. There is a little boy, Otto, who has been snatching up words and making them disappear.
    Armed with Siril and Gardy’s own word-hoards and Monkeyji’s mind power, the adventurers go to Hong Kong — the city of dragons — to stop Otto and his platoon of crows from destroying the city.

    Aditi Adventures – The Spaceflower

    A space adventure! One of Jupiter’s moons is going off orbit and calls out to Siril. So, with some help from the scientific genius of the Techno Sage, Aditi
    and friends build a spaceship, fix on anti-gravity pads, and zoom off to see what they can do to correct its path. A gripping sci-fi fantasy with some unusual insights.

    Aditi Adventures – The Cyberspace Runaway

    Holiday plans for the adventurers go off track when a runaway computer programme, the naughty Mistress i, decides to hide with them. Hot on her
    heels is the scientist who created her, who threatens to put them in jail for kidnapping. And in the middle of all the commotion, Beautiful the Elephant is determined to become rational and logical.