“… if you long to understand the world, read a book. If you long to understand yourself, then write one.”
by Trudi Trueit in Scab for Treasurer? (Secrets of a Lab Rat)
My name is Darshana, I am a mom to two darling girls. I love searching for the latest funny, interesting, educational, laugh-out-loud children’s book or rediscovering a classic and would like to share that with you. I am also a proponent of the We Need Diverse Books campaign, as I do believe stories for kids should be both a “window” into the lives of other people and also a “mirror” in reflecting a child’s own experience.
I mainly review picture books and the occasional easy readers, chapter book, or middle-grade novel. Lately, I’ve also become more involved in raising awareness of South Asian stories and authors in children’s literature. There is a lot of great stuff being published from Hindu-inspired fantasy, contemporary multi-cultural stories, and historical fiction.
During the day I am a full time professional working in high-tech, but the rest of the time I am knee-deep in kidlit stuff. Critiquing my peers’ manuscripts, keeping up with the latest kidlit news, working on my own picture book stories, and of course reading/reviewing children’s books. Follow my ups/downs and thoughts in the “Diary” tab.
Here is some random fun information about me.
My First Favorites:
1) Favorite first song: Tide is High by Blondie
2) Favorite first books that I can remember: Richard Scarry. I still love “What Do People do All Day“. Yeah, so does my daughter.
3) Favorite first subject in school: Math (ironically English was my worst .. but I loved creative writing!)
4) Favorite first color: lavender
5) Favorite first foods: pizza and pav bhaji (kind of like a vegetarian sloppy joe)
Flowering Minds 