Tara Books

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Tara Books Pushing the boundaries of the physical book in an age writing its obituary. We publish for children, young people and for the adult reader.

Get books, stationery & art prints with worldwide shipping on our website. Indian publishing collective: pushing the boundaries of the physical book in an age writing its obituary. We are based at Book Building in South Chennai. Book Building houses our publishing offices, as well as a bookshop, gallery space and children's reading corner.

18/09/2026

An artist speaks

Teju Behan's *Dreams* is a portrait of the artist as a working class woman.

Listen to her as she takes us through her life journey

Head to the link in our bio to get your copy of this amazing visual life narrative.





A virtual/analog card of appreciation for all old and new friends designyatra.com! Your heartfelt support was overwhelmi...
16/09/2026

A virtual/analog card of appreciation for all old and new friends designyatra.com! Your heartfelt support was overwhelming... hope to meet again.

Design Changes the Way Meaning is MadeGita Wolf, publisher at Tara Books, spoke about our journey in book design at the ...
12/09/2026

Design Changes the Way Meaning is Made

Gita Wolf, publisher at Tara Books, spoke about our journey in book design at the Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2026. She spoke of our experiments in printing, the book form, with other craft processes and typography.

For those who could not attend, here is a blogpost that she wrote on the subject.

*https://tarabooks.com/blog/design-changes-the-way-meaning-is-made/*

The link is in our bio as well.

For a tantalising preview, here is an extract from the blog:
..When you design something, you go about your task deliberately and intentionally. Design, by definition, is intention. It’s concerned with how to solve the problem of giving the best possible form to an object.... Book design arranges all the elements which make up a book – it is not merely decorative. It deals with book forms, layout of text and image, typography, cover decisions, material for production and printing techniques. Seen broadly, our design thinking fits into our overall belief in the physical book as a sensory object.





Tara at the Kyoorius Design Yatra 2026We were happy that there was quite a turnout for Gita Wolf's talk. Good to meet ou...
11/09/2026

Tara at the Kyoorius Design Yatra 2026

We were happy that there was quite a turnout for Gita Wolf's talk. Good to meet our readers, old and new.

And thanks to all who came up to our stand and bought books.

And guess what? This one proved to be a best-seller! Featuring Rathwa artist Bhaddu Hamir's work *Twins* is an activity book where you trace an animal's outline, flip the page and find that you have twinned it! The rest is upto you - there are clues for drawing, adding and writing!



Gita Wolf, publisher at Tara Books is at the Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2026. She will be speaking on Tara's design philosop...
08/09/2026

Gita Wolf, publisher at Tara Books is at the Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2026.

She will be speaking on Tara's design philosophy and practice - 6.45 pm on September 9.

Here is what the Kyoorius team says about Gita's work:

"In 1994, Gita Wolf showed a handmade screen-printed book at the Frankfurt Book Fair. A Canadian publisher ordered 8,000 copies on the spot. Thirty years later, Tara Books has won over 80 international awards, been stocked at MoMA, won the Bologna Ragazzi Award twice, and given a global platform to Warli, Gond and Bhil folk artists who would otherwise never have been seen within the pages of a book. Built entirely in Chennai, by hand. Proof that craft and commerce are not in conflict."

When in Singapore...Head to Little Saturday, a library, bookstore and creative space and therefore an ideal home for our...
04/09/2026

When in Singapore...

Head to Little Saturday, a library, bookstore and creative space and therefore an ideal home for our books.

Thanks@littlesaturdayroom for displaying our books with affection



Archive richesRummaging through our set of not-in-print books, we were struck by these gorgeous endsheets, silkscreenpri...
01/09/2026

Archive riches

Rummaging through our set of not-in-print books, we were struck by these gorgeous endsheets, silkscreenprinted on handmade paper:

- the first from Euripides' *The Bacchae*, co-published with the J Paul Getty Museum and illustrated by Indrapramit Roy, with text by Gita Wolf et al

- the second from *The Circle of Fate* (illustrated by
patachitra artist Radhashyam Raut, with text by Raja Mohanty) and a rereading of a haunting mythological tale of destiny and death.





28/08/2026

The Car Family - Book, prints and cards

Check out this much loved feline classic -
Collectible cats, all of them, are found within the pages of a book, housed in silkscreened prints and in cosy cards.

Get to them before others do - through the link in our bio.




FelinesFelines come in all shapes and sizes in our books—here are three examples, each by a contemporary artist: Pulak B...
25/08/2026

Felines

Felines come in all shapes and sizes in our books—here are three examples, each by a contemporary artist:

Pulak Biswas' lost tiger, featured in several editions of the classic, *Tiger on a Tree*.
Christiane Pieper who did this lovely set of jaguars for *Alphabets are Amazing Animals*
Matthew Frame's textured rendering of a tropical big cat, for *Speaking to an Elephant*

Watch this space for more felines!





Madras that is Chennai Our homage to this chattering and live-and-let-live city - the forgotten art of its distinctive c...
21/08/2026

Madras that is Chennai

Our homage to this chattering and live-and-let-live city - the forgotten art of its distinctive cinema billboards.

Published nearly 20 years ago, The 9 Emotions of Indian Cinema, documents in detail the making of film billboards by artist M P Dakshna and his team.

The swirling reds and oranges, the giant scaffolding on the streets and finally the upscaling of images to achieve this sculptural effect.




Address

Book Building, 9 CGE Housing Colony, Off Kuppam Beach Road, Thiruvanmiyur
Chennai
600041

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 7pm
Tuesday 10am - 7pm
Wednesday 10am - 7pm
Thursday 10am - 7pm
Friday 10am - 7pm
Saturday 10am - 7pm

Telephone

+91 44 42601033

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