Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | When I Carried You in My Belly | 2017 | Thrity Umrigar | Buy |
| 2 | Binny’s Diwali | 2020 | Thrity Umrigar | Buy |
| 3 | Sugar in Milk | 2020 | Thrity Umrigar | Buy |
Thrity Umrigar’s picture books bring themes from her adult fiction, particularly immigration and cultural identity, to a younger audience. When I Carried You in My Belly (2017) was her first picture book, a lyrical story about the bond between mother and child. It marked a departure from her novels but showed the same warmth and attention to family relationships.
Binny’s Diwali (2020) follows a young Indian-American girl named Binny who is excited to share the Hindu festival of lights with her school class. The book introduces American children to Diwali traditions through Binny’s enthusiasm, covering everything from rangoli patterns to diyas and sweets. Sugar in Milk (2020), published the same year, uses a traditional Parsi parable to tell the story of a young girl who has just immigrated from India and feels out of place in her new home.
All three picture books reflect Umrigar’s interest in how people from different backgrounds can connect and understand each other. They are aimed at children ages 4-8 and work both as standalone stories and as conversation starters about cultural traditions and the immigrant experience. Umrigar, who is herself a Parsi immigrant from Mumbai, draws directly on her own heritage in these books.