A superhero grandmother, copycat ninjas, a disastrous food festival

New Delhi, May 10

Guess what's cooking in Gadbadland? Lies, mystery, trouble and laughs as a superhero grandmother faces her greatest foe yet in Lavanya Karthik's "Ninja Nani And The Freaky Food Festival" (Duckbill).

It's time for the annual festival and a special guest is expected to arrive in Gadbadnagar, but has a certain President gone too far? Has Nani finally met her match in the meanest, scariest and awfullest demon ever to crawl out of the Dark Forest? Will the Mayor's moustache ever run for office?

That's not all. There's Haunted Falooda, Giant Dogs and something about goats -- all evoking headlines like "There are aliens among us... and they need lunch" signed C.C. Chitinis of Dada-Dadi Times, and "May the spices be ever in your favour" by Chef Dalmakhani of Karela Quarterly.

In book 4 in the bestselling 'Ninja Nani' series, the story is told in a comic book format interspersed with the author's zany illustrations.

As a child, Lavanya Karthik spent all her time writing stories in her school notebooks and drawing the pictures to go with them. She is now a slightly older child, still making up stories and drawing pictures.

You can find her wandering about the bylanes of Mumbai, nibbling on chocolate, chatting with street dogs and looking for her next book idea. She is the author of several books, including "Neel on Wheels", "A Walk with Thambi" and "The Lion's Feast", and is the creator of the 'Ninja Nani' series. IANS