Here’s a selection of three inspiring reads for your children – Mini P.

Wonder Kids: 100 Children Who Grew Up to Be Champions of Change
by Anu Kumar
Publisher: Hachette India | Price: Rs.174

Who is Thandiwe Chama? She is a young girl who grew up in Zambia where the HIV/AIDS epidemic has caused hundreds of deaths, including some of her teachers. The fallout was a severe shortage of teachers, forcing many schools to shut down. Thandiwe’s school also closed down when she was eight years old. But determined to study, she led a group of 60 children to find another school. Her determination paid off and the children were accepted into another school. Since then Thandiwe has emerged as a champion of education. Read about Thandiwe’s extraordinary life as well as the lives of 100 brave and courageous people — inventors, leaders, writers, environmentalists, reformers, athletes and artists — who started small but made a big difference in the world.

From Anne Frank to Malala, Marco Polo to Muhammad Yunus, Jesse Owens to Thandiwe Chama, and Charles Darwin to Coco Chanel, Wonder Kids provides glimpses into their childhood and how they bravely fought against the odds to succeed. For instance, fashion designer Coco Chanel was born in 1883 in France, and raised in an orphanage where she was taught to sew. She overcame poverty to launch her first garments store in 1910 and went on to launch the famous Chanel suit and little black dress. Wonder Kids is a great inspirational book for children of all ages.

Where the River Runs Gold
by Sita Brahmachari
Publisher: Orion Children’s Books | Price: Rs.319

The bees have long disappeared, forcing children to work their parents’ farms, pollinating crops so the nation could eat. This is where Shifa and her brother, Themba, live — in Kairos City with their father, Nabil. A handful of people live in luxury, while millions like them live in crowded compounds, surviving on meagre rations supplied by Freedom Fields, an organisation which runs the new government.

But Nabil remembers the time before the ruthless Freedom Fields took over, and he knows that the soul needs to be nourished as much as the body. Therefore despite the risk, he teaches his children how to grow flowers on a secret piece of land hidden beside the train tracks.

The farm Shifa and Themba are sent to work is hard and cruel. Shifa comes up with a plan to escape. But their only guide is a map drawn from the ramblings of a stranger. UK-based author Sita Brahmachari weaves an absorbing tale of love, hope and adventure for children.

Mouse Attack: The amazing adventures of Arvee the Mouse
by Magnolia
Publisher: Hachette India Children’s Books | Price: Rs.227

Arvee is an intelligent and scholarly mouse. But he is forced to leave his laboratory to live as a house pet. His new home, Paradise Villa, is charming and comfortable, but boring. But there Arvee meets other house mice. They tell him about Pasha, a huge, scary rat who, along with his goons, has taken over Paradise Villa, terrorising all mice. There’s also Alphonso the cat to outsmart.

How do Arvee and gang fight back? Well, he puts on his thinking cap and goes to battle. An engrossing tale of adventure for children above seven years of age.