The Jai Jais Book Series – REVIEW

Religion and culture was always an important part of my upbringing so it is not really a surprise that it is an equally important part of my children’s upbringing especially because it will be one of the few, if not only tie that they have to their ancestral land. I love searching for unique learning materials curated for children of South-Asian descent however the options are fairly limited and I definitely do not find everything that I am looking for. I am so grateful and thrilled when I receive children’s books specifically written for us, from companies that I necessarily haven’t had the chance to notice yet. A couple months ago I received two of the Jai Jais’ books: Krishna and Ganesh. Although Akshaya and Udayan have been enjoying reading these books for the past two months or so, I have only gotten around to writing and sharing my review now.

The Jai Jais is a UK based children’s publishing company that is committed to writing books which help introduce the primary Hindu Gods to young children. The series, which currently consists of Krishna, Ganesh, and Lakshmi, will expand to include some of the other popular Hindu deities and we absolutely cannot wait! The Jai Jais series of books are geared towards children aged 18 months- 4 years, however I think a children a little bit older like Akshaya and Udayan, can enjoy them too. I wouldn’t necessarily buy these books for a 18 month old not because of the content but because they are paperback and not board books, allowing little ones the opportunity to easily tear the beautiful pages. My older children, however really appreciate the illustrations and that they could read the books themselves.

The Jai Jai Series is written by Sunita Shah who is not only a UK-based author but also a pediatric speech and language therapist. These books are approximately 16 pages long but the text is simple, the font is large, and the stories are fairly short but to the point, making these books an excellent choice for pre-schoolers and kindergarteners. The illustrations by British artist James Balance, are super cute and colourful. I feel children’s books really need captivating images to capture the interest of little ones and to encourage their imaginations to grow and flourish. Baby Vishnu was really intrigued by the colourful pages but we kept him far away in fear of him getting too exited and ripping the pages in the process haha.

Between the time I received the two books and now, The Jai Jais released their third book, Lakshmi. Akshaya and Udayan are quite excited to add Lakshmi by The Jai Jais to their collection of South-Asian books.

To learn more about The Jai Jais and order your copies of the three books, click here.

To keep up with The Jai Jais, check them out on Instagram here.