Last updated on November 17th, 2025 at 09:17 am
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Celebrate Children’s Day
November 14 is celebrated as Children’s Day in India, and every year it reminds me of something simple: childhood deserves to be enjoyed, protected, and nurtured.
For those of us raising kids outside India, this day also becomes a gentle nudge to bring a little bit of home into their world. And honestly, one of the easiest ways to do that is through stories.
Why I Love Using Books on Children’s Day
Books have a way of slipping culture into everyday life without feeling like a lesson. A single story can introduce kids to characters we grew up with, festivals we celebrated, and values that shaped our own childhood.
It’s a bridge — a small one, but a strong one — especially for families who want their kids to stay connected to their Indian roots.
Even ten minutes of reading can spark questions about who Krishna was, why Ganesha is called the remover of obstacles, or what makes the Panchatantra stories so clever. Those little conversations are where the connection happens.
Indian Stories Have a Special Kind of Magic
Indian stories come in so many flavours. There are the folktales full of quick wit, the moral stories that wrap life lessons in simple language, and the mythological adventures that feel larger than life.
There are also beautiful contemporary books written for today’s kids — stories that feel familiar yet rooted in India.
What I love most is how these books help children understand our festivals, our heroes, and even our humour. They don’t just entertain; they help kids build a sense of belonging to a culture that might feel far away.
Celebrate Children’s Day with Books
Picture Books About India
- India Treasure Quest (Tiny Travelers) – Steven Wolfe Pereira & Susie Jaramillo
- My Incredible India (My Amazing Adventures) – Jasbinder Bilan & Nina Chakrabarti
- Monsoon – Uma Krishnaswami & Jamel Akib
- Priya Dreams of Marigolds and Masala – Meenal Patel
ALSO READ >>> Picture Books About India – The Ultimate List
Folktales from India
- Grandma and the Great Gourd: A Bengali Folktale – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni & Susy Pilgrim Waters
- Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India – Gerald McDermott
- Seven Blind Mice – Ed Young
- The Rajah’s Rice: A Mathematical Folktale from India – David Barry & Donna Perrone
Books About Feelings / Emotional Development
- Ravi’s Roar (Big Bright Feelings) – Tom Percival
- The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh – Supriya Kelkar & Alea Marley
- The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name – Sandhya Parappukkaran & Michelle Pereira
- Many Things At Once – Veera Hiranandani & Nadia Alam
Books About Grandparents
- Hot Hot Roti for Dada-ji – Farhana Zia & Ken Min
- Masala Chai: Fast and Slow – Rajani LaRocca & Neha Rawat
- Bindu’s Bindis – Supriya Kelkar & Parvati Pillai
- My Dadima Wears a Sari – Kashmira Sheth & Yoshiko Jaeggi
ALSO READ >>> Indian Books That Celebrate Grandparents
Books About Siblings
- Tiger in My Soup – Kashmira Sheth & Jeffrey Ebbeler
- Ganesha’s Great Race – Sanjay Patel & Emily Haynes
- The Best Diwali Ever – Sonali Shah & Chhaya Prabhat
- Archie Celebrates Diwali – Mitali Banerjee Ruths & Parwinder Singh
ALSO READ >>> Books That Celebrate Raksha Bandhan and the Sibling Bond
Books About Food
- Anni Dreams of Biryani – Namita Moolani Mehra & Chaaya Prabhat
- Feast of Peas – Kashmira Sheth & Jeffrey Ebbeler
- The Runaway Dosa by Suma Subramaniam
- Thatha’s Pumpkin by Lalita Iyer
- Seven Samosas: Counting at the Market by Kabir Sehgal
Books About Girl Power
- Girls on Wheels – Srividhya Venkat & Kate Wadsworth
- Mina vs. the Monsoon – Rukhsanna Guidroz & Debasmita Dasgupta
- Mary Kom (Little People, Big Dreams) – Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara & Jen Khatun
Books About Following Dreams
- My Bollywood Dream – Avani Dwivedi
- Raaga’s Song: A Diwali Story – Navina Chhabria
- Fauja Singh Keeps Going – Simran Jeet Singh & Baljinder Kaur
Books About Everyday Heroes / Values
- Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi by Srividhya Venkat (4-8)
- Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story by Arun Gandhi (4-8)
Bedtime
- Goodnight Ganesha – Nadia Salomon, Poonam Mistry (Illustrator) – 4-7 years
- Mr. Muffins and the Himalayan Journey – Harriet Winslow, Poppy Brant (Illustrator) – 3-10 years
- Gandhi – A Biography in Rhyme – Ramya Julian
Partition / Historical / Independence Day
- The Moon from Dehradun: A Story of Partition – Shirin Shamsi, Tarun Lak (Illustrator) – 4-8 years
- Bhagat Singh – Illustrative Biography – Sonam Mantri – 3-9 years
READ MORE >>> Children’s Books on India’s Independence
Nature
- A Monster on My Trail – Silpa Kona, Diah Chakraborty – 4-8 years
- The Forest Keeper – The True Story of Jadav Payeng – Rina Singh, Ishita Jain – 5-9 years
- Over in the Mangroves – Jyoti Rajan Gopal, Dikshaa Pawaskar (Illustrator)
Funny / Silly / Lighthearted
- Kadooboo!: A Silly South Indian Folktale – Shruthi Rao, Darshika Varma – 4-7 years
- Jeet and Fudge series – Amandeep Kochar, Candy Rodó (Translator) – 5-7 years
STEM / Maths
- How to Reach Mars and Other (Im)possible Things – Menaka Raman, Rajiv Eipe (Illustrator) – 2-6 years
- 10 Gulab Jamuns: Counting with an Indian Sweet Treat – Sandhya Acharya & Vanessa Alexandre
- The Little Brain – Jyoti Mishra
You can grab these books from your local library or pick them up using the links I’ve added—whatever works for your family.
I hope that these stories find a cozy spot in your home and help your kids stay connected to India most naturally… through books they’ll want to read again and again.
