Rumours in Australia!

While Little Vinayak went to California to meet blogger mom Katy Fries, The Rumour did some travelling of its own as well! 

First, this book went to Korea with a beautiful Korean translation by Book House Publishers. 

And now, The Rumour has gone on a book swap to Australia! Sandhya of Saffron Tree sends The Rumour to Catherine in Australia, and Catherine blogs about the book on her blog here. 

Catherine writes: 

The illustrations also show lots of details of Indian village life, especially the way the people dress and carry out their daily jobs. We loved getting this wonderful book from Sandhya and her daughter and the story made us smile.  My eldest son, who is a budding fisherman, appreciated the way the rumour got more and more elaborate as the tale was retold (just the way that fish get bigger as you tell people about your fishing trip).

Thanks, Catherine! Read the entire post on Catherine's blog!

And shhh! Here's a secret.... The Rumour will soon be out as an audiobook from Karadi Tales narrated by thespian and film actor, Konkona Sen Sharma! We'll keep you posted on this!

Little Vinayak in California

Have you ever heard of a book swap? Here's how it works: you send me a book that you think I'll like and I send you a book that I think you'll like - and then we talk about both the books! Pretty simple, right? Well, here's a very interesting international book swap that happened with one of our very own Karadi Tales titles!

In a delightful book-swap, ArtNavy in Chennai sent Little Vinayak to Katy Fries in California... and Katy Fries blogs about the book here. 

She writes:

Artnavy sent us Little Vinayak, by Shobha Viswanath and illustrated by Shilpa Ranade. As a special bonus, the book contained a wonderful CD audiobook read by Vidya Balan and with music by 3 Brothers & A Violin. Little Vinayak is the story of a small elephant who is frustrated because he constantly trips over his trunk. His friends and other  jungle inhabitants try to help him fix his problem until a wise old elephant, Tembo, teaches him how to walk and swing his trunk so it doesn't get in his way. It's a book that is about learning to be comfortable in your own skin, a message I think we all (yes, even adults!) need to be reminded of once in awhile.

Thanks, Katy!

Do read the entire post on Katy's blog.

Tiger Conservation

Recently, we worked on creating a book on the Royal Bengal Tiger. Author Anshumani Ruddra wrote a beautiful story about a Bengal tiger who escapes from the Sundarbans into Tibet and is taken in by a kindly group of monks. But this tiger is particularly unusual because he has only two stripes on his body. One morning, when a third stripe appears on his body, the monks investigate... and they're shocked by what they find. This is the story of Dorje's Stripes.

Illustrated beautifully and vividly in striking water colours by Korean artists, Gwangjo and Jung-a Park, Dorje's Stripes is not just a beautiful story - it is a real work of art.

We showed the book to some conservationists, and here's what they had to say about this gorgeous book:

Shekar Dattatri, wildlife and conservation filmmaker, who recently made the film 'The Truth About Tigers', writes:


Dorje’s Stripes is a moving tale that touches the heart. The exquisite watercolour illustrations complement the text, creating a work of art that is a joy to see and read. At a time when wild tigers are disappearing due to human greed and callousness, this small book reminds us of our humanity - and our responsibility towards the magnificent creatures that share our planet.

Valmik Thapar, natural historian and conservationist and one of India's foremost tiger experts, writes:


Dorje's Stripes is lovely. It is great for children to absorb both the tragedy of the tiger and a glimpse of hope... beautiful illustrations and an enchanting story - a must read for all!

We also received extremely positive response on this book from the international market at Frankfurt this year. And by spring 2011, this beautiful book will be available in the USA, Canada, the Philippines and some parts of Latin America through Kane/Miller Book Publishers.


The book will also be available soon in Indonesia through Kid Classic Publishers as an Indonesian-English bilingual edition. We'll keep you posted on this edition.

We're hoping for this book to travel soon to all parts of the world, because we believe it is important for all children to learn about and understand the value of one of the most beautiful creatures in our planet.

This book will soon be available from us in India. Watch out for it!

No Distractions!

Someone recently sent us this video of a child watching ‘Eid is Here’ from Karadi Rhymes on his father’s phone. His mother refuses to believe that the hyperactive child can sit without being distracted. So she keeps trying to distract him. But the boy’s attention never wavers from the video and the rhyme. 

It’s absolutely adorable! Do watch!