As you are all aware, Peerbagh’s Varta Storytelling Festival will take place this fall in the Ann Arbor District Library on October 13th. During this event, we are going to be announcing the winners of the best South-Asian children’s books from the past year. So, drumrolls please as we spotlight the best books from 2023-24 from desi writers and illustrators. We received a whooping 317 book nominations (THANK YOU!)

We are excited to note that our reading committee has been reading hundreds of books that were submitted to us by readers, authors, and publishers for our Reader’s Choice Honors. The reading committee was from four different countries with staff and students from the United States, Canada, India, and Pakistan. This is the listing of the nominees in different categories. Keep an eye out for the winners!

2024 Reader’s Choice Honors: Best South-Asian Children’s Books – Picture Books

Our nominees in the picture book category include:

• A song from where I live- Pin code 678574, Smrithi Devakumar, The Little Dipper Publishing
• Desert Queen, Jyoti Rajan Gopal and Svabhu Kohli, Levine Querido
• The Spice Box, Meera Sriram and Sandhya Prabhat, Penguin Random House
• Once Upon a Sari, Zenia Wadhwani and Avani Dwivedi, Penguin Random House

2024 Reader’s Choice Honors: Best South-Asian Chapter Book Nominees

Our nominees in the picture book category include:

• How to Reach Mars and Other (Im)possible Things, Menaka Raman and Rajiv Eipe, Puffin India
• Hello Trees: A Little Guide to Nature, Nina Chakrabarti, Laurence King Publishing
• Awesome Orange Birthday (The Party Diaries), Mitali Banerjee Ruths and Aaliya Jaleel, Scholastic

2024 Reader’s Choice Honors: Best South-Asian Middle Grade Book Nominees

• Call Me Adnan, Reem Faruqi, HarperCollins
• I am Kavi, Thushanthi Ponweera, Holiday House
• Amil and the After, Veera Hiranandani, Kokila Books
• Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate, Deeba Zargarpur, Labyrinth Road

2024 Reader’s Choice Honors: Best South-Asian Young Adult Book Nominees

• Stay with My Heart, Tashie Bhuiyan, Inkyard Press
• Unbecoming, Seema Yasmin, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
• This Book Won’t Burn, Samira Ahmed, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

We will be sharing these on social media and our newsletter (for more details). Have you read any of these books so far? Which ones are your favorites?