Get the set

Kahaniyan means stories.

Stories that help you pause and reflect.

Picture books for children aged 4 to 7, each one built around a single moment every small child meets: the urge you cannot stop, the race you lose, the mood you cannot explain.

Get the paperback set on Amazon Meet the three books

The first three books, out now as square full-colour paperbacks.

Nothing in these books is explained to the reader.

No character solves another character's problem, and nobody says the lesson out loud. The pause always comes from inside the child in the story, under a moon that is sometimes full, sometimes half, and sometimes hiding.

The first three books

Every book stands on its own, so you can start with whichever one sounds like your week. Best read together, at the end of the day.

Milo, a small brown monkey with a curled tail, in soft watercolour.

Book 1

Milo and the One More Spin

A gentle story about stopping when it's hard

Milo has discovered that if he turns around fast enough, the whole playground turns with him. His tail cannot keep up. It is the best thing he has ever found out. The others spin for a while and drift off to other things. Milo does not.

A note for grown-ups

This is a book for the child who cannot stop the fun thing by themselves yet, which is most of them, for a while. It does not tell them to stop. It shows them what stopping is actually like from the inside.

Bun-Bun, a cream rabbit with tall ears and rosy cheeks, in soft watercolour.

Book 2

Bun-Bun Wants to Be First

A gentle story about coming second

Bun-Bun likes to be first. Not at anything in particular. At everything. She races her own shadow, and she wins every race, because she is the only one competing. Then Milo suggests a real race, with a real friend. And Milo wins it.

A note for grown-ups

Losing without falling apart is not something a child can be told. It is something they live through once and then know. The wanting to win does not go anywhere. The falling apart does.

Leo, a fluffy cream puppy with soft brown ears, in soft watercolour.

Book 3

Leo and the Very Heavy Day

A gentle story about a heavy sort of day

One morning Leo wakes up and there is something heavy sitting on his chest. It was not there yesterday. It does not have a face, it does not want anything, and it will not move. So Leo tries everything a small dog can try.

A note for grown-ups

This is the book for the mood a child cannot explain and should not have to. A heavy, sad sort of day is a normal part of being small. It is not a problem to be solved by lunchtime, and it lifts on its own schedule.

All three, together.

The paperback set is on Amazon now.

Get the paperback set on Amazon

Five more stories on the way

Milo, Bun-Bun, Leo, Eli and Zara live in the same few streets, between a bakery and a bookshop, and they turn up in each other's books. Eli gets his own book next.

Eli, a small grey elephant, in soft watercolour.
Eli
Zara, a young giraffe, in soft watercolour.
Zara
  1. Eli and the Stuck WordsA gentle story about words that will not come out
  2. Milo and the Wobbly TowerA gentle story about trying again
  3. Bun-Bun and the Upside-Down DayA gentle story about when the plan changes
  4. Nobody Played with LeoA gentle story about being left out
  5. Everyone Came to the Rooftop GardenA gentle story about small kindnesses

Best read together, at the end of the day.

Start with the three that are out now, and the rest will follow.

Get the paperback set on Amazon