To Celebrate The Children’s Booker Prize, Here Are 5 Indian Ones Every Adult Should Read

In a significant move for literature and young readers everywhere, the Children’s Booker Prize has just been announced by the Booker Prize Foundation. The prize, equivalent to its prestigious adult counterpart, is aimed at fiction for children aged eight to twelve, and will open for submissions in 2026 with its first winner anticipated in 2027. Uniquely, the judging panel will include child readers alongside adults, and at least 30,000 copies of shortlisted and winning titles will be gifted to children — an intervention intended not only to honour great storytelling, but to nurture a future generation of lifelong readers.

For Indian readers and writers, this announcement arrives at a moment of reckoning: children’s literature in India is increasingly engaging with big themes like gender identity, caste, climate, migration, and doing so with sincerity. The launch of this prize invites us to view children’s books as powerful texts that adults can read, reflect on and learn from. Here are five homegrown Indian children’s books that adults should read too. Each offers something vital beyond the age range for which they were written.

Set in a small town, this graphic novel follows Rumi, a young girl exploring her gender identity, and her unexpected friendship with a ghost. Their bond becomes a quiet reflection on loneliness, acceptance, and the courage to be yourself. Basu’s work captures that in-between world of adolescence where identity feels like both a question and a story still being written. For adults, it’s a reminder of how gender and friendship can both be forms of liberation.

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Based on the true story of Jamlo, a 12-year-old migrant worker who died walking home during India’s 2020 lockdown, this picture book turns tragedy into empathy. Mishra writes with restraint, never simplifying the pain but never letting it overpower the humanity either. Reading it as an adult forces you to reckon with how easily society looks away from its most vulnerable, and how storytelling can bridge that gap.

Get a copy here.

Gulab, the daughter of a manual scavenger, learns early that the world sees her differently. Kolwankar’s book takes on caste prejudice with clarity and care, making space for children to ask questions adults too often avoid. For grown readers, it’s a powerful, uncomfortable reminder that caste is not history, it’s inheritance, and confronting it starts with listening.

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A wedding story about two women, Ritu and Chandni, told through the eyes of a little girl who refuses to let anyone spoil the celebration. This picture book normalises queer love without making it didactic. It’s bright, funny, and full of heart. Adults might find themselves learning, just like the children who read it, that acceptance begins with joy rather than explanation.

Get a copy here.

When a smog cloud named Bhura descends over Mumbai, four friends set out to save the city. Vachharajani’s mix of humour and environmental urgency makes climate change feel immediate but not hopeless. Adults reading it will find that it captures what most news headlines don’t — the idea that change starts small — with curiosity, teamwork, and imagination.

Get a copy here.

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