India Unit Study Book List
Books provide a beautiful way to learn about diversity and cultivate empathy. They provide a way to step into the shoes of someone else and see your sameness and celebrate or ponder your differences. Here is a list of books that we enjoyed to help us learn more about life and culture in India. We found most of these at the library or on Youtube. I demarcated some with (**) that we are considereing purchasing for our own library though.
Life in India (or Visiting India)
Where Three Oceans Meet, by Rajani Larocca** - A story of 3 generations as a Mother and Daughter travel to visit Grandmother and other relations back in India
I’ll Go and Come Back, by Rajani LaRocca**, A Story of a Grandmother in India and Granddaughter in the US visiting each other in their respective homes and sharing their own cultures and bond
Same, Same, but Different, by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, A boy in the US has a penpal in India and they find out that there are some differences in the way they live, but they share a lot in common.
Living in India (Ready-to-Read), by Chloe Perkins, illustrated by Tom Woolley
P is for Poppadoms - An Indian Alphabet Book, by Kabir Sehgal & Surishtha Seghal, illustrated by Hazel Ito
Priya Dreams of Marigolds & Masala, by Meenal Patel, A girl comes home to her grandmother who shares stories and traditions from India.
A Gift for Amma - Market Day in India, Meera Sriram and Marion Cabassa. A girl walks through an Indian market and notices a rainbow of items.
The Wheels on the TukTuk, by Kabir Sehgal & Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Jess Golden
an Indian version of Wheels on the Bus, Great for early elementary
Dadaji’s Paintbrush, by Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Ruchi Mhasane
A Story of art, loss, grief, and revival
The Katha Chest, by Radhiah Chowdhury, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu
Monsoon, by Uma Krishnaswami, pictures by Jamel Akib
Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy, by Tara Dairman and Archana Sreenivasan
Celebrations
Holi Hai, by Chitra Soundar and Darshika Varma** - Explains the Hindu celebration of Holi, Walks through the main character’s disappointments and emotional regulation, and also includes instructions on how to make natural color gulal for a Holi celebration.
Thread of Love - by Kobir Sehgal & Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Zara Gonzalez Hoang -
Explains the Indian festival of Raksha Bandan where siblings (or cousins) celebrate each other by brothers giving sisters gifts and sisters giving brothers bracelets. Instructions for bracelet making are included at the end.
Sona and the Wedding Game, by Kashmira Sheth, Illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi
Archie Celebrates Diwali, by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, Illustrated by Parwinder Singh.
As Archie prepares to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali, she is nervous that her friends who she invited might think her traditions are weird. She is relieved to find that they are happy to join in the celebration with her as she shares stories and traditions.
Other Diwali Books we enjoyed were:
My Diwali Light, by Raakhee Mirchandani and Supriya Kelkar
Shubh Diwali!, by Chitra Soundar and Charlene Chua
It’s Diwali!, by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan
Happy Diwali!, by Sanyukta Mathur and Courtney Pippin-Mathur
Festival of Colors, by Kabir Sehgal & Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers, by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat
More books about Muslim Celebrations are listed below such as Eid or Ramadan
Foods
Kalamata’s Kitchen, by Sarah Thomas and Jo Kosmides Edwards**
Bilal Eats Daal, by Aisha Saeed and Anoosha Sved
Anni Dreams of Biryani, by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat
Hot, Hot Roti for Dadaji, by By F. Zia, art by Ken Min - Here is a link to a great read aloud version on YouTube
Clothes & Adornments
Bindu’s Bindis, by Supria Kelkar, illustrated by Parvati Pivai. **
This book models what a Bindi is as an accessory but also alludes to themes of cultural discrimination both for her visiting grandmother and sharing her heritage at her school.
How to Wear a Sari, by Darshana Khiani, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
My Paati’s Saris, by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Art Twink, A Bengali boy follows his grandmother through her days and finds comfort in her beautiful Saris
My Dadima Wears a Sari, written by Kashmira Sheth, illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi
A Garden in My Hands, by Meera Sriram, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat
A Sari for Ammi, by Mama Nainy, Pictures by Sandhya Prabhat
Traditional Stories
A Bucket of Blessings, by Kabir Sehgal & Surishtha Sehal, illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong
Grandma and the Great Gourd, retold by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, illustrated by Susy Pilgrim Waters
One Grain of Rice - a mathematical folk tale, by Demi
The Very Hungry Lion, text by Gita Wolf, Art by Indrapramit Roy
Alone in the Forest, by Bhajju Shyam, Gita Wolf, and Andrea Anastasio
Tree Matters, by Gangu Bai, Text by Gita Wolf and V. Geetha
Paint everything in the World, by Harsingh Hamir and Gita Wolf
Gobble You Up!, Sunita and Gita Wolf
Severn Golden Rings - A Tale of Music and Math, by Rajani LaRocca, Illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan
Once a Mouse, by Marcia Brown
Wildlife
Tigers:
Heart of a Tiger, by Marsha Diane Arnold, illustrated by Jamichael Henterly
I’m the scariest Thing in the Jungle, written and Illustrated by David G. Derrick, Jr. **
Very cute illustrations, also highlights other Indian animals
Little Tigers, by Jo Weaver
Asian Elephants:
Mela and the Elephant, by Dow Phumiruk, illustrated by Ziyue Chen
Shorter for pre-school and early elementary audience, set in Thailand
Bandola: the Great Elephant Rescue, by William Grill
longer for older elementary, set in Myanmar with travel to East India
*Disclaimer/spoiler - The Hero of the story ends up getting killed by poachers at the end of the story
Asiatic Lions:
The Lion Queens of India, by Jan Reynolds
An introduction to the endangered asiatic lions and the women rangers who care for them.
Asiatic Lions vs. Bengal Tiger (Animal Battles), by Kieren Downs
Mongoose and Cobra:
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, by Rudyard Kipling, Adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
One-Horned Rhino:
My Travels with Clara, by Mary Homes, illustrated by Jon Cannell
There is also:
Clara: The (Mostly) True Story of the Rhinoceros who Dazzled Kings, Inspired Artists, and Won the Hearts of Everyone… While She Ate Her Way Up and Down a Continent, by Emily McCully (However, I didn’t read this one)
Historical Events
Monuments of India (DK) **
Ashoka the Fierce- How an Angry Prince Became India’s Emperor of Peace, by Carolyn Kanjuro, illustrated by Sonali Zohra **
Grandfather Gandhi, by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus, illustrated by Evan Turk **
Be the Change - A Grandfather Gandhi Story, by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus, illustrated by Evan Turk
Gandhi, by Demi
World Religions in India
There were even more titles that we did not get to, but these were a selection of some of the books that helped us understand more about religious figures, holidays, or traditions from a selection of some of India’s major religions.
Hinduism
Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth, by Sanjay Patel
Manu’s Ark - India’s Tale of the Great Flood, by Emma V Moore
Ramayana - Divine Loophole, by Sanjay Patel
The Story of Divaali, retold by Jatinder Verma, illustrated by Nilesh Mistry
Buddhism
Becoming Buddha - the Story of Siddhartha, by Whitney Stewart & Sally Rippin (Foreword by Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama)
Under the Bodhi Tree, by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Kailey Whitman
Buddha, by Demi
Beautiful illustrations, the story is very dense so for an older elementary audience
Addy’s Cup of Sugar - Based on a Buddhist Story of Healing, A Stillwater Tale by Jon J Muth
Ashoka the Fierce - How an Angry Prince Became India’s Emperor of Peace, by Carolyn Kanjuro, illustrated by Sonali Zohra
Islamic
Moon’s Ramadan, by Natasha Khan Kazi **
The Moon watches as people observe Ramadan around the world
Mabel’s New Pants - An Eid Tale, retold by Fawzia Gilani-Williams
In My Mosque, by M. O. Yuksel, illustrated by Hatem Aly
Amira’s Picture Day, by Reem Faruqi, illustrated by Fahmida Azim
Sikh
Hair Twins, by Raakhee Mirchandani
The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh, by Supriya Kelkar, illustrated by Alea Marley
Fauja Singh Keeps Going, by Simran Jeet Singh,
A good read aloud and intererview with the author at this link.
Guru Nanak - First of the Sikhs, by Demi
Story Collections
Indian Tales - A Barefoot Collection, by Shenaaz Nandi & Christopher Corr
A Collection of stories from around different regions of India
The Elephant’s Friend And other tales from Ancient India,
Chapter books
(These were mostly older books that we may come back to when the girls get older, but for now we just read the two by Uma Krishnaswami, but the others sounded so interesting, I decided to include these too
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, by Uma Krishnawami
Pashmina, by Nidhi Chanani (A graphic novel that touches themes such as Indian immigration to the US, unfair treatment of women, Factory labor, Hindu worship, and parent-child relationships.)
Ahimsa
Paneer Pie