Kavitha Mandana has been writing and illustrating for kids, for the last 23 years. Her books have been published by Puffin (Penguin Random House), Karadi Tales, Red Turtle (Rupa Publications), Speaking Tiger, Pratham and Wisdom Tree.
Her stories, illustrations and cartoons have appeared in the Deccan Herald’s kid supplement, Open Sesame, in the School Edition, and on many digital platforms.
She writes across genres

• YOUNG ADULT NOVELS
‘No 9 on the Shade Card’ about a girl chasing her dreams of winning a sports scholarship, while her family worries about safety and obsesses about her getting tanned.
‘Trapped’ about teen twins Anandita and Arjun, growing up with a secret, the ghost of their ‘triplet’ brother who died at childbirth

• HISTORICAL FICTION
‘The Teenage Diary of Abbakka’ a fictional imagining of one year in the life of Princess Abbakka, from Ullal – who belonged to a long line of warrior queens who defeated the Portuguese repeatedly
‘Tenali Raman’ a novel about young Sulekha missing school to accompany her mom, who’s a photographer, to Hampi for a few months. There she discovers not just stories about Tenali Raman, but also the historical facts about life when the Vijayanagar Empire was at its peak, under King Krishnadevaraya.

• HISTORICAL NON-FICTION
‘Akbar, the Mighty Emperor’ about the dangerous times Akbar lived through as a child, almost not making it to the Mughal throne, and other interesting details
‘The Emperor who Vanish’. Strange Facts from Indian History. A collection of strange, funny and interesting historical facts from across India.

• PICTURE BOOKS
‘A Pair of Twins’ about a young girl growing up at the Mysore palace elephant stables, dreaming about becoming a mahout and leading the Jambu Savari during Dasara. This title was ranked among the Top 10 Titles for Girls by the American Library Association in 2015.
Other titles include ‘Maths at the Mela’, ‘Tomato Chutney’, ‘Bando, the Dog Who Led a Double Life’, ‘TheDictionaryofSmell.com’, etc.