Bandati is a boy who is familiar with many countries. There is his mother's country, his father's country, the country where he lives, the countries where he travels.

In Mixed Families, Bandati shares his discoveries when he goes to his maternal grand-parents' country, where things are so different from his paternal grand-parents' place. People speak another language, they don't eat the same food, they don't pray to the same gods. Bandati thinks it's funny! But sometimes a little annoying too...

In Friendship Stories, Bandati tells us about his special buddy from another country – a school mate and playdate partner, and how making friend with someone who is so different can be challenging and fun!

In Fun Activities, Bandati discovers that every country has its own forms of entertainment: sports, games, musical instruments, etc.

In Wild Animals Mysteries, Bandati understands that in different countries live different animals, and they have so many secrets to share with us!

To learn more and/or purchase directly: website

At the beginning of June, the books were printed, and I thought I’d celebrate with a launch event at Bagheera, a lovely place for children and a little paradise for book lovers.

On July 4^th, I found myself surrounded by around fifteen adults and twenty children talking about Bandati.

Once everyone had arrived, we sat for a reading session, a difficult exercise for me, who still can’t stand to hear my words out loud! And I had just spent an hour talking to many people with kids screaming everywhere, which had drained most of my energy. But the kids sat down, and suddenly there was silence, and I took the plunge! I managed to find a passage to read in Bandati - Fun Activities, and the little ones started interrupting me almost immediately. After the first reaction of irritation, I realised that my book was working: just as I’d meant, it was triggering conversations! And I actually really enjoyed these exchanges with the children.

Now, shall I tell you what happened next? After a couple of pages, I asked my audience if they wanted me to continue reading, and most of them said “yes”, except for one six-year-old girl, who had almost been talking to me non-stop since the beginning, as if she and I were alone in the room, and said “No, it’s boring!” I chose to ignore her, and carry on with the other ones. So she lay down and began to yawn ostentatiously. Ignoring her even more, I carried on. Realising that her antics weren’t working, she got up and walked away, much to my relief. Two minutes later, she was back, laughing her head off as Bandati rolled down a snowy slope on his bum! Was I finally out of the wood with her? Maybe, but right then, her three-year-old brother, who had thrown my playing cards on the floor along with all the boxes of crayons, started climbing all over me in the alcove where I was sitting. Then he started trampling all over my books. I moved away, and ended up wrapping the session.

I will remember that launch for quite some time! And hopefully more for the interaction I had with the kids than the challenges these two put me through…

Writing and illustrating a children’s book, it can’t be too difficult, can it? That’s what I told myself when I embarked on my Bandati adventure. A friend and I had been discussing that there is no book really to talk about mixed heritage with children like ours (with French and Indian parents). We started brainstorming, and a boy, half-elephant and half-monkey, immediately materialised in my brain and on a piece of paper – I had to draw it, because I was pretty sure the concept as it was – a boy “half-monkey half-elephant” – would otherwise sound very shocking! From then on, I continued exploring the story, thinking that I will find a professional to do the illustrations. Except that none of the people I contacted pictured Bandati the way I wanted him. And the few children I had shown my drawings to actually liked it. I just needed some more crayons, a good paper, and to learn how to use a drawing tablet!

By the time I was done with the book, both my husband and my son hated Bandati, resenting him for all the time he had taken from me! I had worked so hard on this project that, when I felt the book was finished and I couldn’t find a publisher, I decided to go till the bottom of things and got it self-published in June 2022. Selling it was another task, and one I was way less interested in...

Fast forward to mid-2023, on a plane from Delhi to Goa, I met the father of one of my son’s schoolmates. He had gone to the capital for work. Naturally, I inquired about the nature of his business, and you’ll never guess… He was a publisher! I wasted no time asking him if he would be open to publish the English version of S’aimer en Inde, la révolution du sexe et de l’amour, and even hugged him when he said yes. I immediately threw myself into the translation – another humongous task. When it was done and he’d read the manuscript, he told me “I’m ready to publish it, but are you? The topic is sensitive, and you might not be spared!” I agreed with him. I actually never meant it for Indian readers, but for foreign people interested in India. He added “In my opinion, you should turn it into fiction, maybe write a dozen short stories. And spice it up, will you?” Me? Fiction? It has always been a dream, but also an unthinkable exercise, since my imagination is as vivid as of a tadpole. To my objections, he only replied, “Yes, you can.”

And then, while I was working on this new project, he had a look at my website, and Bandati caught his eye. He loved it, and would really be happy to publish it, as long as I could make into a series. “8 books maybe?” The voices of my husband and son screamed in my head, and mine too. 8 books? Did he have any idea of the amount of work that was? I don’t copy-paste images, I don’t do digital illustrating, I don’t ask AI to draw for me… And writing in rhymes, it’s such a challenge, especially in English (I find it way easier in French). But he agreed to start with a set of 4 – which meant 3 new books – and now that a seed had been planted in my brain, I knew there was no escaping. Friends made some suggestions, and in May 2024, I wrote down ideas, started with the illustrations, and by February 2025, Bandati 2-3-4 were ready.