Bilingual children's books
24 hand-picked books from the Bookbear catalogue tagged “bilingual”, with Indian authors first. Each one has an age range, a short description, a heads-up on any sensitive topics and a link to buy in India.
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Gajapati Kulapati
by Ashok Rajagopalan
Ages 4–6Indian author
The most adorable elephant catches a cold with wonderfully messy results. A beloved classic with repetitive sounds perfect for reading aloud.
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Out of the Way! Out of the Way!
Ages 4–7Indian author
A boy in India sees a baby tree growing by the path and protects it. The tree flourishes throughout his lifetime despite all the changes around it.
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Maharani the Cow
by Christy Sudhir
Ages 4–7Indian author
Maharani the cow sits cheerfully in the middle of busy streets, holding up traffic for hours on end. A gentle, wry, very Indian picture book.
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Jalebi Curls
Ages 4–6Indian author
A Raja who dreams of jalebis in his sleep is in for a bizarre adventure. Curl up with this delicious and silly read-aloud.
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Eecha Poocha
by Kala Sashikumar (retold)
Ages 4–7Indian author
A retelling of a Malayalam folk tale about a greedy cat and a fly. Poocha drinks up all the soup and swells like a balloon. What happens next?
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The Pleasant Rakshasa
by Sowmya Rajendran
Ages 4–7Indian author
Karimuga the friendly rakshasa decides to share his beauty with jealous fellow rakshasas. A conversation about sharing and inner beauty.
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Purple Jojo
by Sameera Zia Qureshi
Ages 3–5Indian author
A puppy wakes up with big purple patches on him! Children guess how Jojo got the purple stains in this charming bilingual story.
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Sunu-Sunu Snail
by Sandhya Rao
Ages 3–6Indian author
A little snail rushes home to tell his mother all about the sights, sounds, and noises of a storm. Sweet and sensory.
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Mallipoo, Where Are You?
by Radhika Chadha
Ages 3–6Indian author
Mallipoosundari the baby piglet goes missing! Her elephant friends try to find her in this warm, funny tale about caring for others.
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Das Din (Ten Days)
by Pridhee
Ages 4–6Indian author
A delightful lift-the-flap and pull-tab bilingual board book in Hindi and English. Children learn to count to ten through playful interactive pages.
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Gol Mol Bol
by Pridhee (music by Ramya Shankar)
Ages 4–6Indian author
A collection of classic Hindi nursery rhymes brought to life with charming illustrations and a downloadable music track. Warm and sing-along.
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The Night the Moon Went Missing
by Various
Ages 4–7Indian author
The moon goes missing and everyone searches for it in this charming multilingual story. Free to read on StoryWeaver in English, Hindi, Tamil and more.
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Tales of Birbal (Amar Chitra Katha)
Ages 5–9Indian author
Birbal's legendary wit against all challengers — in Amar Chitra Katha's iconic comic format, one of India's most beloved children's comics for over 60 years.
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Krishna (Amar Chitra Katha)
Ages 6–9Indian author
The iconic retelling of Lord Krishna's life — from his miraculous birth to his role in the Mahabharata — in vivid, memorable Amar Chitra Katha comic panels.
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Amma Tell Me About Diwali!
Ages 4–7Indian author
The story of Diwali — Ram and Sita's return, the triumph of light over darkness — told in joyful rhyme with vibrant illustrations. Part of Bhakti Mathur's beloved 22-book Amma Tell Me series on Indian mythology and festivals.
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Kahaani Rangeeli
by Pridhee Anu Sehgal
Ages 1–4Indian author
An interactive touch-and-feel board book pairing simple Hindi words and colours for toddlers, from the makers of Kahaani Chamkeeli.
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Nila Nila (Tamil)
by T4Tales
Ages 1–4Indian author
A Tamil-English interactive board book for toddlers, bringing T4Tales' bilingual reading experience to a new Indian language.
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Gutargoo
Ages 1–4Indian author
A sensory board book of everyday sounds and words for babies and toddlers just starting to talk.
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Chuglubugloo
by T4Tales
Ages 1–4Indian author
A playful interactive board book of silly sounds and words designed for very young children.
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The Rabbit in the Moon
by Indrani Krishnaier
Ages 3–7Indian author
When a herd of elephants tramples through the jungle, do the little rabbits run away? No — they come up with a clever plan involving the moon. A retelling of a classic Jataka-style tale, published in bilingual editions. Illustrated by Harsha Nagaraju.
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The Musical Donkey (Paadum Kazhuthai)
by Niveditha Subramaniam
Ages 2–5Indian author
A donkey who loves to sing — even if nobody else loves hearing him! A cheerful, funny board-style picture book for the youngest readers, available in bilingual editions including English–Tamil (Paadum Kazhuthai).
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Abuela
by Arthur Dorros
Ages 4–7
Rosalba and her grandmother soar over New York City in a magical daydream. A bilingual English-Spanish picture book celebrating Latina family and imagination.
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My First Book of Mandarin Chinese Words
by Faye-Lynn Wu
Ages 3–6
An illustrated bilingual introduction to Mandarin Chinese — words grouped by theme (colours, animals, family, food) with each entry in English, Chinese characters, and Pinyin. Perfect for early Mandarin learners.
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Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match
by Monica Brown
Ages 5–8📱 eBook only in India
Marisol McDonald is Peruvian and Scottish American, and nothing about her matches — and that's exactly how she likes it. A joyful bilingual celebration of mixed heritage.
