Author: Menaka Raman
Illustrator: Annada Menon
Publisher: Puffin
About the book: A charmingly illustrated and colourful book to inculcate interest in STEM subjects for young readers.Join Vikram Sarabhai and his scientists as they try to launch a sounding rocket in Kerala, with a little help from young Mary!The year is 1963 and India is about to embark on an audacious adventure – launching its first ever rocket into space. After much searching, a team of scientists led by the visionary Dr Vikram Sarabhai zero in on Thumba, a tiny fishing village off the coast of Kerala as the place to launch the rocket and India’s dreams of space exploration. Mary is all of 10 years old and bored of life in sleepy Thumba. Nothing ever happens here but fishing. That is, of course, until Dr Sarabhai and team arrive!Topi Rockets from Thumba is an imagined account of the weeks and months leading up to the launch of India’s first ever rocket, told through the eyes of the inquisitive Mary.