Every month we put together a curated post of interesting books recommended by our members.
Amardeep shared the following conversation with her 5 yo in the FB group.
A few days ago, my conversation with my 5 yr old went like this
Neil: I’m really sad we don’t have a pet dog.
Me: I know it makes you sad not having a dog around. Do you think a dog would be happy in a house with no space for him to run?
Neil: Haan, we should keep a dinosaur.
Me: What?! How did you go from dog to dinosaur?
Neil: Mom, anyway I’m pretending to keep a pet, might as well keep an imaginary one! I’m keeping a Triceratops today!
Needless to say, he is very fond of dinosaurs. When I came across this fact book I knew it was perfect for him. The title of the book is enough to catch everyone’s attention – Dinosaurs Live On!: and other fun facts (Did You Know?) You wonder. The book is filled with tons of child friendly dinosaur facts, and wonderful illustrations. My favourite was how simply the book explains the creation of fossils. Neil loved the book so much, we ended up buying two more in the series!
Dinosaurs Live On!: and other fun facts (Did You Know?)
Rainbows never end and other fun facts
Saturn could sail and other fun facts
Hippos Can’t Swim: and other fun facts (Did You Know?)
CHICKENS DONT FLY
There are many books in this DID YOU KNOW SERIES BY HANNAH ELIOT.
THE LIGHTS THAT DANCE IN THE NIGHT by Yuval Zommer. In Amardeep’s words: We are big fans of Yuval Zommer’s illustrations. His books, whether the encyclopedias or the story books, mesmerise you with the illustrations. This one is our recent favourite – The lights that dance in the night. It is a beautiful book about the northern lights and how they bring joy to all the creatures living in the polar regions. Neil loved seeing how the different colours mixed together, and tried to recreate it with M&M’s.” She has shared some of the lovely inside pages here in the kbc fb group.
A Thing Called Snow is another book by the same author.
Fizzy and Bandit: A Bloomsbury Young Reader: White Book Band (Bloomsbury Young Readers). Bloomsbury Young Readers books come in different reading levels and are perfect for early independent readers. Amardeep has discovered these recently for Neil.
5 Wilder Creature Adventures (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading) . Amardeep has this and Neil has started reading them by himself one chapter at a time.
There are other Wild Kratts books in the series which you can find here. These Step into Reading books come in different levels and are designed for early independent readers. There are many kinds of books on different topics that you can find under Step into Reading.
Little World: A push-and-pull adventure series – interactive board books for toddlers (10 pages)
Big ideas for little philosophers series – board books of 20 pages
Dress Up with Ted by Sophy Henn (10 pages) for 2-5 years
Totally Awesome Search and Find (Activity Book) Shaifali highly recommends this book. In her words, “Recommend it for age group- 2 to 4 years. I have got this for R’s 3rd birthday and we still love it. BUY NOWW!!!!!”
Jungle Jamboree Punidha has this and has shared her review and inside pages in the fb group.
Ned and the Great Garden Hamster Race: a story about kindness by Kim Hillyard (Punidha has other books by Kim Hillyard as well). She has shared a review and inside pages in the fb group here. Excerpts:
Learnings from this book:
1. Winning the race doesn’t matter, Winning hearts matters a lot!
2. Always help others when they need instead of ignoring for winning and achieving your goal.
3. No matter how big or small, scary or fairy a person is, just participate and give your best and it’s ok if you cannot win. This story conveys the message: to be kind.
Flora and Nora Hunt for Treasure by Kim Hillyard gets ordered often.
Storm Goliath: 1 (Dealing with Feeling)
Grumpy Monkey for 3-7 years. Jennifer has shared inside pages and a wonderful review in the fb group here. Quoting her:
“It’s a wonderful day to be grumpy!”
Jim Panzee* wakes up in a foul mood and his friends try to cheer him up, because they really can’t get how anyone could be grumpy when it’s such a wonderful day outside. They go on to question why Jim is all hunched and bunched and frowning, and poor Jim grins – a broad cheery smile on the outside while he is still in a terrible, terrible mood inside. But nothing helps! Then comes the never ending advice from well meaning friends – suggesting he try jumping, hopping, a bath, playing, swinging, hugging, napping and dancing. Jim leaves in a huff, and sits alone feeling sorry having shouted at his friends & for himself, eventually realising that he is going to be okay, but for now he is going to be grumpy.
In a world where we are constantly asked to put on a smile or a happy face, “Grumpy Monkey” teaches us that it’s ok to feel all the big feelings, and isn’t that a precious message to be passed on to the lils considering how they are asked to mask their big feelings all the time.
There are other books in the Grumpy Monkey Says No!: Decode Your Dream Signs and Symbols and Transform Your Life for toddlers (24 pages) – a book to help when your child’s favourite word is NO!
Grumpy Monkey Are We There Yet? (24 pages) to help toddlers learn about waiting
Grumpy Monkey Don’t Be Scared (32 pages) about being scared in the dark while collecting treats on Halloween!
The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield for 3-7 years (48 pages)
MY BUTTERFLY BOUQUET by Nicola Davies. All other books by the author can be found here.
The Hair Washing Zorba: 1 (Storyscapes Book) for 2- 6 yos who are not fond of getting their hair washed!
Hugh Shampoo – another book for shampoo dramas!
The Girl with the Birds Nest Hair (Bloomsbury Paperbacks). What happens when you refuse to brush your hair – a nightmare!
Don’t You Dare Brush My Hair by Rosie Greening. Asha has this book!
All Through the Night: People Who Work While We Sleep for 3-5 years (32 pages). Kanika Sharma highly recommends this book and has shared inside pages here in the fb group. Quoting her:
All Through the Night covers the people who work at night like paramedics, news reporters , security people. The book has a line which says babies don’t learn to sleep for ages, new mums and dads have to work hard at night too
SKULLABONES ISLAND books for pirate fans!
The Jungle Book (for all age groups)
The Jungle Book: Read it Yourself with Ladybird (Level3)
Mowgli stories for all ages
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (864 pages)
Be Good Stories by Dreamland for 4-6 years. Quoting Sweta: “I have a set of 4 books : Yours Patiently, Yours Politely, Yours Sportingly and Yours Kindly. The books depict each concept as in the title by a set of 3-4 stories. They are day to day life stories of any school going individual. Each books explains the concept very nicely for instance how kindness can help one in need and having all these virtues make us all loving and awesome humans 
. I had purchased them to add moral values in my then 5 year old. He is able to relate to few of them as he is going to school and std 1 onwards a lot of things do start happening . It is easy to read by kids who have a basic knowledge of reading but not just phonetic knowledge :)”
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. To quote Payal,
This has to be one of the prettiest books we own and carries a very important message of wanting to make the world more beautiful!
Rajveer might be a little too young to grasp all of it but he does enjoy reading about her adventures, the illustrations and especially the beautiful Lupines! But I’ll be honest I am more floored by its prettiness than he is at this stage which may change with more readings
I’d recommend all kids and grown ups should read this one since it talks about living a full life and leaving behind a legacy!! If your child loves flowers and nature, think they’d love this beautiful book!
Pedro the Puerto Rican Parrot: 1 (Together We Can Change the World) Achu has this one and to quote her:
Who doesn’t like a book which serves as a great conversation starter!! That’s what happens every time we read this book by Beverly Jatwani and illustrated by Sunita Chawdhary. This book is about a boy named Dominic and how he comes across a loud and noisy parrot, how he wants to take him as pet, how LOVE can change anything in this world. It’s currently Avi’s favourite book and while we were reading, we also learnt about few other endangered species, more about Puerto Rican Parrots and their habitats and that’s that’s how we started our lovely weekend.
There are other books by the same author in the Together We Can Change the World series.
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
Norman the Slug with a Silly Shell by Sue Hendra. Sue Hendra’s books are legendary and get ordered very often!
Trees: A lift-the-flap eco book (Ladybird Eco Books) board book of 12 pages. Ankita gifted this one to Raminder for Secret Santa. There are other books in the LADYBIRD ECO BOOKS series.
What If a Stranger Approaches You? (Danger Zone) for 5-7 years
The Messy Book Prachi has this one.
Doughnuts for a Dragon (George’s Amazing Adventures)
LITTLE GODDESS GIRLS SERIES FOR 5-8 YEARS (96 pages) Quoting Sharadhi,
These are one such quick read that Stavya(age 7) finishes as quickly as we get it… She reads it fast and really gets into the character, also summarises the book with excitement…
Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, Artemis are a few of the many Greek goddesses that this book contains… It is very difficult to find kids adaptations of Greek mythology. This is a fun way to introduce these characters who are on a big adventure on magical Mount Olympus.. Happy to find books that she loves..
Prachi also got a few books from the MILES KELLY CURIOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT series which also comes in a boxset of 10 which works out more economical.
THERE’S A RANG-TAN IN MY BEDROOM – Punidha has shared the inside pages in the fb group here. Excerpts from her review: “A little girl saw a Rang-Tan in her bedroom and she didn’t know what to do and she didn’t like Rang-tan’s behaviour at all. So she decided to send him out but before Rang-Tan leaves, she wanted to know the reason why he was there. So, the Rang-Tan started telling that there are humans who destroy his rainforest for the production of palm oil, shampoo and he didn’t know what to do so he came here. Then, the girl came to know what has to be done to help the Rang-tan. To know more about Rang-Tan, please read this amazing book, a book for everyone 
.”
Fortunately, Unfortunately by Michael Foreman. Swarna has this.
Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen gifted by Divya to Punidha for Christmas! We all are huge Nadia Shireen fans!! Since we have a lot of Pirate fans, Billy and the Pirates gets ordered very often!
NARWHALICORN AND JELLY: Funniest children’s graphic novel of 2021 for readers aged 5+: Book 7 (64 pages). There is an entire series called A Narwal and Jelly Book.
Trouble At School by Chris Higgins, illustrated by award winning Emily MacKenzie for 5 years+ (160 pages)
The Book of Me by Adam Frost for 6+ (160 pages). Amardeep has ordered this.
RSPB Wild Facts About Nature (160 pages) for 5 years+ . Achira has this. Excerpts from her review in the fb group where she has shared inside pages:
Wild facts about nature is full of wild whacky facts. Some very unique fun facts we loved:
-A brown bear is as fast as a horse over a short distance.
-There is a poo museum near Pianvenza in Italy and another on Isle of Wight, UK! Some people pay to see poo!
– A lazy scorpionfish is like a piece of sea coral, but it has a very big mouth! So be careful if you are a little fish
-Female sloths give birth while hanging from trees. Supermoms huh!
And many more! We absolutely love the page on sneaky disguises, babies and lesser known spiders.
TERI GET WELL SOON BOOKS by Benita Sen (24 pages) for 4-7 years.
Teri-Get Well Soon-Fever
Teri-Get Well Soon-Allergies
Teri-Get Well Soon- Injuries
Teri-Get Well Soon-Stomach Problems
Amardeep highly recommends them (fever and injuries). She has shared some inside pages in the fb group. Excerpts from her post:
These two books help explain these things very well. The books explain how the child, the doctor, the parents and the medicines are all “team mates” in the fight against the germs. They also explain other important things – tell your parents if you have any pain anywhere (it could be a clue), be honest with the doctor, why you need to rest when you are ill and much much more.
On one of the pages, it explains how you must check the medicines for the expiry date before eating – so Neil has been doing that before he eats his medicines, and that has made being sick a little bit more fun!
Our kbc members are huge fans of Benita Sen’s books!
Mindfulness with Moksha by Ira Trivedi (104 pages) Achira highly recommends this for developing concentration.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Dragonfly Books) 3-7 years (40 pages). Amardeep has ordered this.
A PICTURE FOR HAROLD’S ROOM (I Can Read Level 1) for 4-8 years. Amardeep has this one and Neil started reading it by himself as soon as it arrived!
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage To Be Who You Are for 4-8 years (32 pages). Priyanka has shared an amazing review and inside pages in the fb group. Excerpts:
Author: Maria Dismondy, Illustrator: Kim Shaw
Lucy loves her breakfast with Bread and Ketchup, which is unlike her friend Harriet. Her grandpa, whom she fondly calls Papa Gino, makes her understand that its okay to have different choices and tastes.
How beautifully Lucy says ‘ Yes Papa, Even if we are different from others on the outside, we all have a heart with feelings inside’.
Her feelings are hurt when one of her classmates Ralph teases her on multiple occasions. She choses however to not reciprocate her behaviour as Ralph’s but is however uncertain how she could probably share her feelings about Ralph to someone, to Papa Gino.. Papa Gino senses at bedtime that something is worrying his little granddaughter and he just reconnects with her with the kindest of words of encouragement, so she knows that mistakes can be repaired.
The next day, Ralph lands himself in a problem and Lucy witnesses it! What would happen next? Would Lucy chose to ignore the person who has been so unkind and even a bully? Would Papa Gino’s words reflect in her for her to make a different choice? Would Ralph out of all people understand Lucy and get his food for thought?
This wonderful book combines Authenticity and Kindness in a beautiful way.
Every month Mona Sharma makes it a point to hunt down books for both of her daughters (5 and 9 yo) using a magical filter which gets her the best deals! She is our deal queen or khoji as Achira calls her. She kindly shares a list of books she orders in our fb group to help other parents! Sharing some of them:
Scratch and Sniff: A Bloomsbury Reader (Bloomsbury Readers) – 48 pages
FANCY NANCY THE SHOW MUST GO ON (i can read) – 32 pages
Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes
There are lots of books in the FANCY NANCY series – some for 4-8 years; chapter books for 6-10 years
FRIENDBOTS BLINK & BLOCK 32 pages (i can read comics)
Corduroy Makes a Cake (Step into Reading)
Olobob Top: The Amazing World of Olobob Top (24 pages)
Will And Squill: 15 Year Anniversary Edition (32 pages)
A SUPERPOWER LIKE MINE (32 pages) – Amardeep has shared her review and inside pages here. Excerpts from her review:
Sometimes you read a book that blows you away, and makes you jump in joy that such great books exist. Neil goes to an inclusive school – his class has a child with special needs, and one on the wheelchair. While we have tried answering his questions honestly, I wanted a book that showed that every child is not only unique but has their own strengths. And this book does just that.
The main character in this book is on a wheelchair, but the story is not about her disability. She talks to her dad about each of her friends and what she finds special about them – being kind, brave, smart, helpful, funny. The book is very inclusive in terms of the diversity it portrays, including mentioning a child that has two mommies.
The Rulebreakers’ Club: The Dog Who Wanted More 112 pages
The Rulebreakers’ Club: The Ghost Who Wasn’t There
Flipped: Mystery Stories / Sci-Fi Stories
Dark Shadows: Yes, Another Misadventure (Volume 4) (The Chicken Squad) . There are other books in The Chicken Squad series for 7-10 years
Neha and the Nose (96 pages)
Magic Puppy: Classroom Princess 128 pages for 7 years+. There is a MAGIC PUPPY series as well as a MAGIC KITTEN series (6-8 years).
Kitten the Dog 144 pages
Diary of a Cricket God by Shamini Flint for 6-8 years (100 pages). Achira has this series!
Diary of a Soccer Star
Diary Of A Taekwondo Master
The Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip 140 pages
Jukebox: A New Graphic Novel From The Author Of Pashmina! by Nidhi Chanani (224 pages). Asha and Mona both have this book. Quoting Mona:
Two teens trying to tune the jukebox and time travelling until they finally figure out the correct playlist. Must have for music and science lovers. Also has bisexuality explained in purest form. I read the reviews on Amazon so I was expecting queries from my 9yo. She came to me asking what is bee and I told the correct pronunciation is bai. I asked her to show me the pages so that I can explain it in the context but it was self explanatory and gave me an age appropriate starting point
. But the book is more of a suspense thriller. It has only 2 sentences about bisexuality and just 2 pages on the entire conversation. That I feel is good enough for a children’s book.
Nickelodeon Avatar Books for Kids – Set of 2 Books – The Lost Scrolls (Fire & Water)
Brahams Hair by Maneka Gandhi (175 pages)
Hocus Pocus: A Tale Of Magnificent Magicians And Their Amazing Feats (304 pages)
Space – Astronomy: Knowledge Encyclopedia For Children (32 pages) by Wonder House
Astronomy (Beginners) 32 pages for 4-7 years
Simply Astronomy (DK Simply) (160 pages)
Fundamentals of Astronomy – A Guide for Olympiads
NG Kids — ULTIMATE EXPLORER FIELD GUIDES NIGHT SKY: (128 pages)
Astronomy: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides) – 272 pages
Becoming an Astronomer: A Friendly Guide to Pursue Astronomy as a Career (136 pages)
We the Children of India: The Preamble to our Constitution by Leila Seth. Highly recommended by Tanvi.
The Constitution of India for Children by Subhadra Sen Gupta for 11 years+
USBORNE Politics for Beginners
USBORNE Physics for Beginners by- Rachel Firth, Munna Lacey and Darran Stobbart, Illustrated by- Wl Primo Ramon. Achira has shared a review and inside pictures in the kbc fb group and recommends the book for 8 years+. Excerpts:
“A typical Usborne book to introduce the concepts of physics to kids in the simplest of language with stunning illustrations.
While me and my husband loved reading this, somehow Divit didn’t take to it. I always know and follow one thing- a book never goes waste. I thought may be I got it too soon when they have not started the concepts in school. But I was sure that he will pick this up soon. And today he did! Since they are doing basics of force, push n pull, he found this very engaging.
Have you ever wondered why all the planets are round and not any other shape? Why it is hard to steer a fully loaded shopping trolley? Thought provoking questions to create the interest and love for physics is what makes the book unique!”
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHICAL CREATURES
ACADEMIC BOOKS/QUESTION PAPERS RECOMMENDED BY EXPERTS
Rachna Sagar together with ICSE question bank CLASS 10
Rachna Sagar ICSE Class 10 Geography Solved Question Bank & Practice Papers (Chapterwise & Topicwise) Exam 2022-23
Rachna Sagar ICSE Class 10 History & Civics Solved Question Bank & Practice Papers (Chapterwise & Topicwise) Exam 2022-23
Rachna Sagar ICSE Class 9&10 Hindi Solved Question Bank & Practice Papers (Chapterwise & Topicwise) Exam 2022-23
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