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Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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DESERT GIRL, MONSOON BOY

Archana Sreenivasan Tara Dairman

Extreme weather affects two children's lives in very different ways and shows how the power of nature can bring us together.
One girl. One boy. Their lives couldn't be more different.

While she turns her shoulder to sandstorms and blistering winds, he cuffs his pants when heavy rains begin to fall.

As the weather becomes more severe, their families and animals must flee to safety--and their destination shows that they might be more alike than they seem.

The journeys of these two children experiencing weather extremes in India highlight the power of nature and the resilience of the the human spirit.

Tara Dairman is the author of the middle-grade novels All Four Stars, The Stars of Summer, Stars So Sweet, and The Great Hibernation. She holds a BA in creative writing from Dartmouth College and has traveled to more than ninety countries. Tara continually draws inspiration for her writing from the landscapes she moves through and people she meets; she currently lives in an RV with her family, adventuring around the United States and beyond.

Archana Sreenivasan is the illustrator of Rapunzel by Chloe Perkins, Diwali by Hannah Eliot, and many upcoming picture books. Her illustrations have also appeared in numerous magazines and comics. She studied animation film design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and participated in a summer residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she studied illustration. She finds the natural world and people watching most inspiring and is endlessly fascinated by cats. Archana lives in Bangalore, India.
Available products
Book

Published 2020-05-12 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Book

Published 2020-05-12 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Comments

In this beautifully rendered study of contrasts and commonalities, Dairman imagines a girl and boy from two different biomes in India. . . This book not only examines climate change through the eyes of communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on the weather, but also provides a starting point for conversations on gendered roles as well as about migration as a form of survival and how our lives are interconnected

A beautiful and important book about climate change featuring those who are most affected by it. Dairman draws inspiration from the Rabari people, an Indigenous tribe of nomadic herders and shepherds that live in northwest India... [and] Bangalore-based Sreenivasan's extensive research is evident in her saturated, detailed illustrations. Text and illustrations work beautifully in concert.

This story was inspired by the lifestyles of the Rabari people who live in northwestern India. Their lives, as we see in this very simple yet poignant book, are intimately connected to the environment. Young readers will find the jaunty rhyme of the narrative fun to follow.

DESERT GIRL, MONSOON BOY is one of Kirkus Best Children's Books of 2020

Digitally painted spreads by Sreenivasan (Diwali) feature angular graphic forms and jewel-toned hues. The colors intensify as the weather worsens: the light from the desert sandstorm turns everything orange, and the blues and greens of monsoon country deepen. While introducing the diversity of the Indian subcontinent through thoughtful juxtaposition, this collaboration also confronts the threats that extreme weather poses to various ways of life.