Lavanya Karthik’s delightfully narrated and illustrated biography of Janaki Ammal, a path-breaking woman scientist in colonial India, inspires young readers. Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal was one of India’s first female scientists, but before she broke glass ceilings, she was just a little girl in Kerala’s seaside town of Thalassery. The short, illustrated biography by Lavanya Karthik charmingly captures her story, looking for a dream world away from her hometown with rigid rules.The book is Janaki’s journey from being a seed to a blossoming forest. The storytelling is captivating even though the …
Deepak Dalal’s latest from Andaman Adventure series uncovers and solves mysteries on Barren Island amidst thrilling twists and volcanic wonders. With an idea to introduce a unique island that has something not seen anywhere else in India—an active volcano—children’s author Deepak Dalal continues his Andaman Adventure series with Barren Island. The book takes teenaged adventurers Vikram and Aditya, protagonists of several Dalal books, to Barren Island in the Andaman as they attempt to find answers to questions raised in the first book of this series, Andaman Adventure—The Jarawa. In this …
Harvesting wild honey has been the main occupation of the Cholanayakan and Kattunayakan tribes of Wayanad, in Kerala, for centuries. But the recent drought and delayed summer rain have affected the harvesting of wild honey. The number of beehives has come down drastically, by over 50 per cent from 2023. Honeybees make hives every year on the same big trees. The right amount of rain, according to the season, is crucial for honey production. But unseasonal rain is posing a huge threat to it, affecting the tribes that depend on honey collection for their survival...
The triple planetary crisis refers to three interconnected environmental crises that pose a threat to humanity—climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. We need to address this crisis by adapting to nature-based solutions that can leverage the inherent resilience of our ecosystem. One such solution is the conservation of mangroves. Mangroves are the kind of trees that are found in intertidal zones, between high tide and low tide, in tropical and subtropical regions...
Set to introduce young readers to a terrain that is largely believed to be elusive and mysterious, Andaman Adventure—The Jarawa is a work of fiction by children’s author Deepak Dalal, known for his conservation-themed books and particularly his Vikram-Aditya series. The Jarawa, the first of a two part story set in the Andaman, also focuses on the young, adventure-loving duo Vikram and Aditya as they navigate a dangerous situation across the islands...
In spite of all the brickbats and rebukes, a tabloid matures into a magazine as it finds its 'beginners' audience and speaks through quirky cartoons. ********************************************************************************* Gobar Times (GT) already had a successful 10-year run before I got on-board. It was always resplendent in a spectacular tabloid avatar, grabbing eyeballs everywhere. But as if this was not intimidating enough, here we were staging the arrival of a new GT. It’s looks? A standard news magazine format. Were we taking a risk?...
Deep dive into the jungles undersea and gather some fascinating facts about the wonder world of seaweeds along India’s coastline.
The Mission and the Mangoes is a work of fiction that sets its premise around a dystopic, water-starved Earth where unrestrained mining, drilling and the exhaustion of earth’s resources is rendering the planet unlivable. The young author of the book, 12-year-old Hena Parveen, tries to marry a futuristic setting where technological advancements such as humanoid robots and regular space exploration are a reality, with the Earth’s ecosystem that is hurtling towards an inevitable collapse. Interestingly, all this does not take place in a far-fetched future...
