by Darshana Khiani & Abhilasha Khatri
Thank you Tara for having us on the blog. We are so excited to tell you about our new book and reveal the cover!
You asked how this book was formed. Before I answer, you should know I’m the type of person who needs a pending critique meeting or a class assignment to be motivated to write a new draft. First drafts are torturous! It should be no surprise that MONGOOSE’S HOLI PARTY started from a contest.
Many of you may have heard of Susanna Hill’s writing contests throughout the year. In 2014, she had a spring writing contest and it had to be a fractured fairytale. Back then there weren’t many light-hearted, funny South Asian stories. I decided to cross “The Little Red Hen” story with a group of animals in the Indian jungle who wanted to throw a Holi Party.
Holi is a Hindu holiday celebrating Spring. It’s about friends, family, friendship, and forgiveness. It’s a time for new beginnings. I had so much fun brainstorming this mash-up—trying to figure out which elements to keep while weaving Indian culture. My favorite aspect of the story was creating colorful personalit-driven excuses for Mongoose’s not-so-helpful friends. I am fortunate Abilasha signed on to illustrate. Her charming sweet style is perfect for making these playful characters come alive.
Here are a few words from Abhilasha:
Some picture books are simply a joy to work on—and MONGOOSE’S HOLI PARTY was one of those projects that had me smiling from the very beginning. I had so much fun bringing the animal characters to life, giving each their own personality, and capturing the joyful chaos of Holi through colour, movement, food and little details for children to discover. I was also incredibly lucky to work with an awesome team who gave me the creative freedom to explore, experiment and truly enjoy the process. It was such a lovely experience illustrating this heartwarming story about friendship, showing up for each other, and the joy of celebrating together!
MONGOOSE’S HOLI PARTY releases February 23, 2027 from Beaming Books!
Darshana Khiani is an author, engineer, and advocate for South Asian children’s literature. She is infinitely curious about the world and enjoys sharing her findings with young readers. If she can make a child laugh even better. Her debut picture book, How to Wear a Sari (Versify), was an Amazon Editors’ Pick. She enjoys hiking, solving jigsaw puzzles, and traveling. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Abhilasha Khatri is a Children’s Book Illustrator based in Nashik, near Mumbai, India. She has illustrated several picture books and chapter books and is best known for the “My Festival Series” books, published by Eternal Tree Books and the Divya chapter book series published by Capstone Publishing. When she isn’t drawing, Abhilasha enjoys watching movies and architectural documentaries, tending to her garden, and exploring new places with her husband and daughter.
The first book in this series, BUG ON THE RUG, developed after a bout of writer’s block, a self-inflicted writing challenge, and a late-night phone call with my little brother, whom I call BUG. The second book, BEAR AT THE FAIR, flowed easily after a family trip to the nearby annual county fair. Truthfully, I never planned to write more stories in this animal world. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I’ve found chasing ideas counterintuitive to the creative process. Instead, I have to sort of allow things to form organically. If it comes, it comes, and if not. Well then, there you go. But life, as it often does, had other plans.
Both BUG and BEAR were drafted before the pandemic and released after its peak. During those years, I often struggled with inspiration. Finding a silver lining when things are tough isn’t always easy and it’s something I thought about a lot. While I was stuck in the muck of my bubble at home, I spent many hours scrolling online. Then one day, I happened upon a beautiful image of a family traveling in their camper van…and then another picture…and another. I watched online as others explored the world with little more than a vehicle and roadmap, and I found it to be such a freeing idea. I especially loved the thought of traveling with friends, except my inner child turned the mental imagery into a van full of animals with a feathered duck at the wheel! Turns out, it was an image I just couldn’t let go of.
Sophia Gholz is a children’s book author, music lover, magic seeker, and avid reader. She enjoys writing fiction with humor and heart. When writing nonfiction, she pulls on her love of science and her strong family background in ecology. Previously, Sophia worked as an advertising copywriter and made a career managing visual artists in New York City. Sophia is the author of The Boy Who Grew a Forest, a NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book and Florida State Book Award gold medalist. This is Your World: The Story of Bob Ross, Bug on the Rug, ARLO and more. When she’s not writing from her home base in Florida, you can find Sophia reading, visiting schools or exploring the great outdoors with her family. For more, visit 
Susan Batori is a Hungarian illustrator, graphic designer and a character design addict. She studied graphic design at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary. As an art director at DDB Advertising Agency, Susan designed many print ads, websites, posters, and packages. That’s how she discovered drawing hilarious characters was much more fun. She also loves creating new digital textures, reading, watching great movies, drinking coffee, walking in a forest or pampering herself with a good salted caramel ice cream. Since 2012, Susan has been working as a freelance children’s book illustrator. For more, visit 
Ammi-Joan Paquette represents a wide range of children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, and a select list of authors writing for adults. Her clients’ books include New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, winners and finalists for the National Book Award, the Carnegie medal, the Kirkus Prize, the LA Times Book Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Printz Award, the Pura Belpre Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Walter Award, Ireland’s Great Reads Award, and many more. She represented Jeanne Ryan’s NYT bestselling YA novel Nerve, which was made into a major motion picture starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco; and Michelle Ray’s Falling for Hamlet, which was made into the TV series “The Royals,” starring Elizabeth Hurley.
Sean McCarthy founded his own full-service literary agency in 2013 after working at Overlook Press and Sheldon Fogelman Agency, and represents authors and illustrators across all age ranges in children’s publishing. His clients include Hyewon Yum, Heather Ayris Burnell, Dana Wulfekotte, Ariel Bernstein, Margaret Chiu Greanias, and Junghwa Park, among others. Sean graduated from Macalester College with a degree in English-Creative Writing, and is grateful that he no longer has to spend his winters in Minnesota. He currently lives in Westchester County with his wife and two pet rabbits (who aren’t much help when it comes to reading manuscripts, though they are excellent at shredding them).
Stephen Fraser has been a literary agent with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency for 21 years, after working for more than twenty-five years at seven major publishers including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Scholastic. His clients have won the Newbery Honor, both the Edgar and PEN awards, and received multiple starred reviews.
Kathleen represents NYT bestselling and award-winning authors for picture books, chapter books, middle grade, YA, and adult novels. When it comes to novels, Kathleen loves both contemporary and fantasy as well as the spooky and unexpected. She loves multi-generational stories, matrilineal magic, and is always happy to see high-concept contemporary romance. She also enjoys darker suspenseful reads and loves atmospheric settings that feel like a character.
Ginger Harris-Dontzin, with her business partner Liza Fleissig, opened the Liza Royce Associates (LRA) in early 2011. A cross-platform company providing development and strategic career management for clients in all media, their goal is to represent clients in every stage of their careers, from the most established to those honing their craft. Both former partners in NYC based litigation law firms, Liza and Ginger bring a combined 50 years of negotiating experience to the field. This background, along with connections rooted in film, television, and publishing, allow them to focus and build on a referral-based clientele, providing bespoke services on a multi-dimensional level.
I love the quality of quiet found in nature. I must have thought and spoken those very words a thousand times, over the years, without every stopping to notice the story possibilities nestled inside of them. But then, a couple of years ago, I finally did. On that day, I started digging, and that meant asking questions.
New York Times bestselling author 
Johanna Peyton is a proudly neurodivergent author who writes with playfulness and poignancy. She holds a BBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management and an MPH in Health Promotion and Behavioral Science. When she isn’t writing, Johanna works as a literacy and dyslexia advocate with local nonprofits. She lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, their three kids, and their dog, cat, horse, and bees! To learn more about Johanna and her work, visit 
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 