←The Catalogue

Big Beetle Books · No. 06

Khane Mein Kya Hai?

A funny, fast-paced Hindi story where curiosity leads to chaos, and a surprising lesson

4.8, parents & classrooms

Loud, joyful reading sessions

High engagement, even from reluctant readers

Real conversations about trying new food

Rs. 349.00Rs. 399.00 12% offNo GST on books

See other books →

Nandita can sign this one for your child by name. Add it in the cart.

What changes this week.

Swipe →

Children predicting patterns, "what will he try next?"

Four small shifts this book sets in motion.

Outcomes

Focus.

Repetition with small variation keeps attention locked, each new food is the same joke, told a little differently.

Emotional grounding.

Humour creates a safe, low-pressure space to read, laugh, and talk about food without any pressure to finish the plate.

Curiosity.

"Aage kya khaayega?" drives the whole story, page after page, without needing to be told to pay attention.

Imagination.

Children invent their own bird voices and sound effects long after the book is closed.

Before this book

Passive reading, quick to get bored of a story once it's been heard once.

Before

After a few readings

Laughing, predicting, and actively engaged: often reciting the funniest line before you do.

After

Written in simple, fun Hindi that's enjoyable to read aloud·Built on repetition-based storytelling, गुटरगु, चीं चीं, कुहू कुहू, चटर चटर·Encourages trying new food and understanding consequence·Affordable, desi, and rooted in Indian culture

A note for the reader

How to read this book.

№ 1

Read aloud with the sound words, गुटरगु, चीं चीं, कुहू कुहू.

№ 2

Pause and ask: "Aage kya khaayega?"

№ 3

Let your child join in with sounds and reactions.

№ 4

Talk about the ending, what happened when he overdid it.

From parents & young readers

Notes that have arrived in the post.

A letter from a parent

खाने में क्या है? is now a running family joke. My daughter reads the Hindi to her dadi on video calls.

Ritu A.Mother of a six-year-old, Mumbai

A letter from a parent

The drive, the hunger, the question every parent hears a hundred times, so true to life. We read it in both languages.

Harish & Lata M.Parents of two, Ahmedabad

From a teacher

A warm bilingual story my class relates to instantly. Everyone has asked 'what's for lunch?' in the back of a car.

Sneha B.Primary teacher, Surat

What it quietly builds.

Reinforcement

Focus

Sustained engagement through pattern.

Emotional awareness

Humour and consequence, processed together.

Imagination

Role-play, bird voices, sound effects.

Curiosity

Exploration and cause-and-effect thinking.

On reading it again

Children anticipate faster each time, and laugh louder. The joy shifts from surprise, to participation, to performance.

Is this book for my child?

Three ages, three different books.

1–2 The sound age.

Sounds, humour, and repetition: the pigeon's noises are the whole joke, and that's enough.

2–3 The predicting age.

Prediction and participation take over, they'll call out the next food before the page turns.

3–4 The picky-eater age.

Old enough to see themselves in a fussy pigeon, and to laugh about it instead of arguing about it.

Not moral-heavy. Not instructional.

Most food-and-behaviour books, and this one.

Typical "try new food" books

Deliver a tidy lesson by the last page

Make trying new things feel like homework

Get quieter with every re-read, not louder

Rely on a moral, not on the story itself