Children’s Books about India

A large collection of stories for kids about India that highlight India’s culture, India’s mythology and even the flavorful food of India! These beautiful picture books will help your child learn and appreciate what makes India so special.

Let’s get ready to go on an adventure to India through this hand-picked collection of children’s books!

My husband is from India and we are always looking for books for our children to learn about India. We select books that discuss the land, landmarks, social life, festivals, language, religion, folktales, and events clothing.

Anything that we can use to encourage our children to learn about their culture since we can’t visit there all the time. Of course, nothing can replace an actual visit to spend time in the daily life of a culture, especially in India.

Here are a few photos of our everyday experiences when we brought our daughter for the first time a few years ago for my sister-in-law’s wedding. She enjoyed a rickshaw ride, playing with the front gate, and even learning to sweep with an Indian broom. 

We were lucky enough to go on a little trip to my husband’s old private school.

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Books about India for Kids 

Here are some of the books that we’ve been enjoying in our house about India.

Informational Books about India

Starting with the facts about India is a good place to begin this learning adventure with your child. Take a moment and find on your map where the country of India is located and its 1.38 billion citizens.

• T is for Taj Mahal: An India Alphabet
• India (A True Book: Geography
• India ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of India
• A Kid’s Guide to India

• I Is for India (World Alphabets)
• Illustrated Atlas of India: A Visual Guide to the Land, Its People and Culture

Books About Daily Life in India

The next types of books to explore are the daily activities that happen in India.

• Going to School in India
• Monsoon Afternoon
• Monsoon
• A Gift for Amma: Market Day in India

Books for Learning about Clothing from India

One special thing that your child may notice is that fashion can look different when you’re connecting with families from India. Take this time to learn about Saris and Lenghas and even the Bindi’s the women from India will where at times.

• Mama’s Sari
• My Dadima Wears a Sari
• Bindu’s Bindis
• A Sari for Ammi

Stories from India for Kids

There are so many stories and folktales that have come from India since it’s beginning of civilations, many years ago. You may even spend some time exploring how old India is.

• Be the Change
• Indian Children’s Favorite Stories
• I am Gandhi

• Stories from India
• Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India
• Finders Keepers?: A Bus Trip in India

• Maya and Leela Present: Dances of India
• Shubh Raatri Dost/Good Night Friend
• The Drum: A Folktale from India

Books about Food in India

The food that can be found in Indian kitchens and restaurants is full of flavor and aroma. It’s personally one of my favorite types of food. Here’s a peek at a few of our favorite Indian recipes to make with kids.

• Bilal Cooks Daal 
• 10 Gulab Jamuns by Sandhya Acharya (Listen to the Read Aloud)
• P Is for Poppadoms!: An Indian Alphabet Book by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal (Listen to Read Aloud)

• What Should I Make?
• Chaat and Sweets (Listen to the Read Aloud)
• ” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>Hot Hot Roti for Dada-Ji

Books about Indian Culture for Kids

One thing that can be fun to explore when learning about other countries is the culture that can be seen in the everyday lives of its citizens. These stories highlight all the special things in Indian culture from the eyes of a child.

• The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal (Listen to Read Aloud)
• Good Night India (Good Night Our World) by Nitya Khemka
• Mina vs. the Monsoon
  

• Finding Om
• Thread of Love by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal (Listen to Read Aloud)
• Always Anjali

• Pashmina
• Priya Dreams of Marigolds & Masala
• The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story

• Tiny Travelers India Treasure Quest 
• Same, Same But Different
• Rapunzel (Once Upon a World)

• Maya
• Indra Nooyi: A Kid’s Book About Trusting Your Decisions (Mini Movers and Shakers)
• Rangoli: Discovering the Art of Indian Decoration

Mother Goose Goes to India

Rock by Rock: The Fantastical Garden of Nek Chand

Ritu Weds Chandni

Hindi Books for Kids

There are many languages spoken in India. The Indian constitution recognizes 22 major languages of India. Just around half of those living in India speak in Hindi.

Hindi is the fourth most spoken language in the world after Mandarin, Spanish, and English.

• My First Hindi Book: Learn Colors, Counting, And Animals In Hindi
• My First Book of Hindi Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Hindi Language and Indian Culture
• The Toddler’s Handbook

• A is for Anaar: My First Hindi Alphabet Book
• My First Hindi Words! (There are more in this series too!)
• Bindi Baby Animals (Hindi): A Beginner Language Book for Hindi Children (There a whole series of these books)

Diwali Books for Kids

One of the most popular festivals in India is Diwali. Here’s are a few of our favorite books about this festival of lights.

We’ve shared our favorite Diwali books for kids here in this article.

• Diwali (Celebrate the World)
• Binny’s Diwali
• Shubh Diwali!

Holi Books for Kids

Explore and learn about the festival of colors as Hindu families welcome spring.

These are our favorite Holi books for kids.

• Festival of Colors
• Celebrate Holi With Me! 
• Let’s Celebrate Holi! (Maya & Neel’s India Adventure Series)
• Amma Tell Me About Holi!

Books about Hindu Gods

As you explore more about India, you’ll discover that about 95% of the world’s Hindus live in India. Nearly 80% of India’s Population. Here are a few kid friendly books about Hindu Gods and Hindu festivals.

• Hanuman and the Orange Sun
• Ganesh and the Little Mouse
• Padmini is Powerful

• My Divine Friends
• Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth
• Meet My Hindu Gods Cultural Kids Book

• My First Book Of Hindu Gods and Goddesses
• Classic Tales from India: How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head and Other Stories
• Elephant Prince: The Story of Ganesh
• The Little Book of Hindu Deities: From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cow

What are the best children’s books about India? 

The collection of choices of books about India has grown quite a bit over the years. This updated list highlights to top picks of children’s picture books all about India.

Which book about India will you read first?

Activities about India For Kids

This past month I had the chance to go into my daughter’s classroom and teach about India.  This experience is something I highly recommend to anyone who’s family background is from another country.  It was so much fun to share with the students and also helps them to discover something special about each other. 

As I talked about India with the students I also shared personal photos of our family visiting the sites and landmarks we were sharing in the book. It seemed to bring everything to life for the kids. I know many of them even went home to share with their families what they had learned. 

I also created an India Printable for them each time I visited so that they could share the new words and places they had learned about. Plus it’s a great way for parents to follow up at home.

Want more: Explore our Let’s Learn about India Series

Explore Indian Recipes, Landmarks, Clothing, Animals, Hindi, Music, Arts, Festivals!