Ritu Jha–
Piku Panda learns to make healthy food choices from his dad in a fun way. After an engaging chat, Piku and his dad prepare a delicious smoothie for the whole family. In the process, Piku learns about fruits, sounds, and numbers too. That is the synopsis of a bilingual children’s book, Yummy Smoothie, authored by Neha Bansal, a curious parent and a dedicated advocate for making a positive impact on her community. A techie during the day and an author at night, Neha writes to encourage cultural diversity and representation in children’s bilingual literature.
Originally from Siliguri in West Bengal, India, Bansal came to the US on work visa in 2011 and currently lives in Fremont, California with her husband and three-year-old who loves learning new languages.
“I wrote ‘Yummy Smoothie’, a Hindi-English picture book because I also wanted to create a bridge between cultures and languages. This book allows young readers to explore Hindi and English simultaneously, making language learning fun and accessible,” Bansal told indica. “I haven’t written a book before, but the curiosity to teach both Hindi and English led me to writing this.”
‘Yummy Smoothie’ is set to make its debut on Amazon on Friday, October 20. “I couldn’t be more excited! It means that readers can grab a physical copy and read to their young minds, introducing them to the magical world of bilingual stories,” she added.
Yummy Smoothie is a heartwarming book with engaging illustrations. The book is intended to give an enjoyable learning experience to children under the age of six, their parents, and educators.
On naming the character Piku Panda, Bansal said that before getting into the book she considered many animal characters and then chose Panda because her kid loves Pandas.
“Also, when I visited China, I hugged a Panda — it’s the best feeling ever! I chose the name Piku because it is easy to pronounce by kids with various accents,” said Bansal, who self-published the book to “retain creative control” and a “direct connection with readers.”
The book (both paperback and e-book) is currently released in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.
In India, readers can buy the e-book version on Amazon. Paperback will be available next year.
