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.
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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)