A girl explores her love of dancing and her cultural identity in a lively picture book with echoes of the real-life collaboration between Bharatanatyam icon Rukmini Devi Arundale and ballerina Anna Pavlova.

Paro comes from a dancing family. At home, she dances Bharatanatyam with her mom, and now she’s excited to learn ballet. But what if she can’t dance like the other kids in her class? Ballerinas move like fairies, while Bharatanatyam dancers seem like queens. Paro can’t be both...can she? Anu Chouhan’s vibrant, energetic illustrations emphasize themes of creative flexibility and navigating the intersections of different cultural identities.

Mahak Jain is a writer and editor based in Toronto, Ontario. She is enrolled in the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph, where she is working on a novel. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Room Magazine and The New Quarterly, and her first book for children is forthcoming from Owlkids Books in 2016. She was previously the Managing Editor at Owlkids and at Lobster Press, and continues to provide editorial services on a freelance basis. Maya is Mahak's first picture book.

Mahak Jain's profile page

ANU CHOUHAN is a Punjabi-Canadian illustrator and video game artist. Anu recently illustrated the graphic novel adaptation of the New York Times bestselling book Aru Shah and the End of Time, and is working on her picture book debut. Her art has been featured by the CBC, the BBC, Harper’s Bazaar, Bride India, The Times of India, and The Times of London. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Learn more at anumation.ca.

Anu Chouhan's profile page