Rashmi Sirdeshpande author page

Rashmi Sirdeshpande biography

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a British Indian children’s author of fiction and non-fiction. She trained and worked as a lawyer before becoming a children’s writer. Her writing for young readers includes non-fiction picture books designed to spark curiosity and fictional stories built around imaginative ideas.

In 2018, Sirdeshpande was selected for Penguin Random House’s WriteNow mentoring programme. Her picture book Never Show A T-Rex A Book!, illustrated by Diane Ewen, was published by Puffin on 6 August 2020. The book won the Queen’s Knickers Award and was shortlisted for the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2022.

Her books for primary-age readers include How to be Extraordinary, How to Change the World, Good News: Why The World is Not as Bad as You Think and Amazing Asia. Good News, illustrated by Adam Hayes, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards in the Best Book with Facts category.

Sirdeshpande has also written picture books including Dadaji’s Paintbrush, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane, and Yes You Can, Cow!, illustrated by Rikin Parekh. Dadaji’s Paintbrush was published in 2022 and is a picture book about love, art and death set in India.

During that residency, she focused on using factual books to interest young readers and wrote about how non-fiction books can support curiosity, shared reading and empathy.

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