A few months ago a cousin of mine asked me about the US market for South Asian children’s literature, and about books featuring American characters of South Asian descent.

She was asking from a trio of perspectives: as the aunt of a Pakistani-American niece and nephew, as someone whose work with immigrants in the Boston area had put her in contact with the local South Asian community, and as a writer with an idea for a children’s story about a member of that community.

I didn’t have much to offer her at the time, but that’s changed, thanks to Pooja Makhijani‘s “annotated bibliography of South Asia and the South Asian diaspora in children’s literature.” When I e-mailed a link to my cousin, her reply was immediate: “Thanks a million!!!!!!!!”

And thanks to Pooja, for putting this together. For my six-year-old resident tiger aficionado, I’ll be bringing home one of her recommended picture books, Tiger on a Tree, when I go to the library tomorrow.