Jasbinder Bilan author page

Jasbinder Bilan biography

Jasbinder Bilan writes children’s books, including middle-grade fiction and non-fiction. She studied for an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and works as a teacher. Her debut novel, Asha and the Spirit Bird, won the Costa Children’s Book Award and The Times Chickenhouse Fiction Prize.

Asha and the Spirit Bird was published by Chicken House in 2019 and is an adventure story for readers aged 9 to 11. The story follows Asha, who travels across the Himalayas to find her father after the money he sends home stops arriving.

Aarti and the Blue Gods was published by Chicken House in 2021 and is a mystery, adventure and fantasy story for readers aged 9 to 11. The book follows Aarti as she searches for the truth about her past and draws on links between Scottish and Indian mythologies.

Her other books include Naeli and the Secret Song, Puloma and the Bear, Anya’s Quest and Nush and the Stolen Emerald. Her debut non-fiction book, India, Incredible India, was shortlisted for The Week Junior Book Awards 2023.

Jasbinder Bilan teaching resources

• Jasbinder Bilan’s official events page gives school and library visit information, including assembly talks and creative writing workshops for Years 3-7, plus details of festival, bookshop and library appearances.
• Jasbinder Bilan’s Asha’s World page provides setting notes on the Himalayas, Mount Everest, temples and lamagaias, character introductions for Asha and Jeevan, and a three-part Asha & the Spirit Bird creative writing write-along.
• Chicken House Books’ Jasbinder Bilan schools page provides KS2 resources including teaching-notes PDFs for Tamarind & the Star of Ishta, Aarti & the Blue Gods and Nush and the Stolen Emerald, downloadable covers and extracts, a video of Jasbinder reading from Asha & the Spirit Bird, and a Tamarind & the Star of Ishta wordsearch PDF.
• Authorfy’s Jasbinder Bilan masterclass page provides author videos, downloadable resources and extracts linked to India, Incredible India and Asha & the Spirit Bird, including writing-challenge videos and readings.
• Oak National Academy’s Year 7 English unit includes lessons on extracts from Asha and the Spirit Bird, with downloadable slide decks, worksheet PDFs, starter quizzes, exit quizzes, lesson videos and analytical-writing tasks on character, light imagery, colour imagery, sensory language and sentence structures.
• Teachwire’s dialogue to advance action KS2 resource provides PDFs for Years 3-6 English based on Nush and the Stolen Emerald, including an extract, a dialogue poster, an exploring writers’ techniques worksheet, a working-wall display, a potential plan, contrasting character images and a planning sheet.