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Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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LAXMI'S MOOCH

Shelly Anand Nabi H. Ali

A joyful, body-positive picture book about a young girl's journey to accept her body hair and celebrate her heritage after being teased about her mustache.
Laxmi never paid much attention to the tiny hairs above her lip. But one day while playing farm animals at recess, her friends point out that her whiskers would make her the perfect cat. She starts to notice body hair all over--on her arms, legs, and even between her eyebrows.

With her parents' help, Laxmi learns that hair isn't just for heads, but that it grows everywhere, regardless of gender. Featuring affirming text by Shelly Anand and exuberant, endearing illustrations by Nabi H. Ali, Laxmi's Mooch is a celebration of our bodies and our body hair, in whichever way they grow.

A debut #ownvoices writer, Shelly Anand is a human and civil rights attorney in Atlanta fighting for immigrants and workers, especially those from marginalized communities. She received her BA from Wellesley College and her JD from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. She lives with her husband and two small children.
Nabi H. Ali is a Tamil American illustrator who enjoys creating diverse works that showcase an array of cultures and people. He illustrates digitally, but he also has a secret love of inks, color pencil, and acrylic paints. His hobbies include drawing (of course), doll collecting, reading, learning about South Asian mythology and folklore, and researching history.
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Book

Published 2021-03-02 by Kokila

Comments

Shelf Awareness (53k UVPM) ran their review of LAXMI'S MOOCH, writing "Readers invited to watch Laxmi grow may also gain some confidence to celebrate their own bodies no matter what they look like--or where their hair may grow." Read more...

Author Jasmine Guillory chose LAXMI'S MOOCH as one of her spring book recommendations, calling it a "positive story about seeing your own differences and being excited about them!" Read more...

In this episode we talk about biracial bachhas, Georgia, gol gappe, assimilation and nazaar. We talk about a lot of other things too! Read more...

LAXMI'S MOOCH is a 2022 ALA Notable Children's Books (excluding the ALA award winners), which identifies "the best of the best in children's books"!

Here Wee Read included LAXMI'S MOOCH in their list of Diverse Children's Books: "A joyful, body-positive picture book about a young Indian American girl's journey to accept her body hair and celebrate her heritage after being teased about her mustache...." Read more...

Popsugar (14M UVPM) highlighted LAXMI'S MOOCH as one of 63 Picture, Middle-Grade, and YA Books Coming Out in 2021 to Add to Your Kid's TBR List Read more...

Khabar (12k UVPM), an outlet covering the Indian community of metro Atlanta, included LAXMI'S MOOCH in their Book Matters section Read more...

Anand's story is simple and purposeful, but it's a much-needed purpose, sweetly delivering a message of body positivity around a common insecurity that is rarely addressed.

LAXMI'S MOOCH is a Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2021 AV Club's Best Picture Books of 2021

Laxmi's journey is both accessible and authentic, and it is a true pleasure to watch her not only embrace her own body, but also teach her classmates how to embrace theirs as well... Fabulous, funny body positivity.

Women's Day (3M UVPM) included LAXMI'S MOOCH in the editor's 'Yay List' for the March 2021 issue: " A joyful, body-positive picture book about a young Indian American gril's journey to self-acceptance."

Readers of all ages will appreciate the message of self-love presented within Laxmi's story, which takes on body positivity for a relatively young audience in an uplifting way.

Essayist and novelist Soniah Kamal chose LAXMI'S MOOCH as one of her Most Anticipated books for 2021, in a piece for The News International (8.2M UVPM) Read more...

Use this...for an exploration of hair and respect.

Parents (6.8M UVPM) included LAXMI'S MOOCH in their round-up of 15 Asian American Children's Books to Read As a Family Right Now: "...vibrant and joyful picture book..." Read more...

Glamour (7.1 UVPM) featured LAXMI'S MOOCH in their piece "A New Children's Book Explores Body Hair, One of the Final Frontiers of Self-Acceptance" which discusses the book, the body hair movement, and historical attitudes toward body hair. Read more...

LAXMI'S MOOCH was included in Publishers Weekly's (879k UVPM) feature on New and Forthcoming Titles on Women, Girls and Empowerment: "A body-positive picture book about an Indian-American girl's journey to accept her body hair and celebrate her heritage after being teased about her mustache" Read more...

Author's Essay: "Teaching Your Kids Body Positivity? Learn to Practice It Yourself" Read more...

A joyful affirmative picture book with a winning first-person point of view.

Bookriot's (2.9M UVPM) "All the Books!" called LAXMI'S MOOCH one of their Most Anticipated Books of 2021 and also included it in their release round-up as well as the Book Riot Kids newsletter! Read more...