Nikhil and Jay: Off to India

Chitra Soundar is a well known and popular writer and storyteller for children. Born in Chennai, she has written over 40 books, including Pattan’s Pumpkin (illustrated by Frane Lessac) for Otter-Barry Books and the first two titles in the Nikhil and Jay series: Nikhil and Jay Save the Day and Nikhil and Jay: The Star Birthday. The Nikhil and Jay books are inspired by Chitra’s two nephews and their real experiences within their blended family. Chitra divides her time between south London and Chennai, India.Soofiya is a visual artist and illustrator. Soofiya’s work explores ideas around race, gender and bodies. Their illustration and design clients include Tate Britain, Mayor of London, Hachette, BBC, Nike and many more. They illustrated Nikhil and Jay Save the Day and Nikhil and Jay: The Star Birthday. They live close to the sea and like to spend weekends painting and taking care of their plants. You can see more of their work here: soofiya.com.

"This book can help children move from picture books to longer stories, helped by Soofiya’s lively and characterful illustrations. In this story, the boys have their first Chennai Christmas, with mango-leaf decorations, Indian sweets for Father Christmas, a basket of beautiful Indian wooden toys – and a special Christmas star as well as celebrating with family to see in the New Year the Indian way."