Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer turned children’s author who loves taking big ideas and making them accessible and exciting for young readers. Rashmi writes non-fiction picture books that ignite children’s curiosity, as well as fictional stories that crackle with imagination. An official World Book Day author for 2022, her journey into writing began in 2017/18, she was selected as one of 11 Penguin Random House mentees on the WriteNow programme for underrepresented voices in publishing. Her first picture book, Never Show a T-Rex a Book, illustrated by Diane Ewen, won the 2021 Society of Authors Queen’s Knickers Award and the Anna Dewdney Read-Together Award in the USA and was shortlisted for the Lollies 2022. The sequel was shortlisted for the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award 2021. Her non-fiction book, Good News, illustrated by Adam Hayes, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards in the Best Book with Facts category.
KEY AWARDS/ACCOLADES SUMMARY
Wins
- 2022 Books For Topics Book of the Year WINNER (Children’s Favourite) – Never Let a Diplodocus Draw
- 2022 Books For Topics Book of the Year WINNER (Best Class Read-Aloud) – Dadaji’s Paintbrush
- 2022 TVED (Tees Valley Education) Picture Book of the Year WINNER – Yes You Can, Cow
- 2022 Anna Dewdney Read-Together Award WINNER – Never Show a T-Rex a Book
- 2021 Society of Authors Queen’s Knickers Award WINNER – Never Show a T-Rex a Book
- 2021 North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award WINNER – How To Change The World
Shortlistings/longlistings
- 2023 Jhalak Prize SHORTLIST – Dadaji’s Paintbrush
- 2023 Inspire ELS Best Picture Book SHORTLIST – Yes You Can, Cow
- 2023 Whatever it Takes Leicester Schools’ Best Picture Book SHORTLIST – Yes You Can, Cow
- 2023 Derby Book Festival’s Children’s Picture Book Award LONGLIST – Yes You Can, Cow
- 2023 UKLA Book Awards LONGLIST – Yes You Can, Cow
- 2022 Teach Primary Book Awards SHORTLIST – Good News
- 2022 Cogan Primary Book Awards SHORTLIST – Yes You Can Cow
- 2022 Northgate Book Awards SHORTLIST – Yes You Can Cow
- 2022 Blue Peter Book Awards, Best Book with Facts SHORTLIST – Good News
- 2022 Lollies (Laugh-Out-Loud Book Award) SHORTLIST – Never Show a T-Rex a Book
- 2022 Woke Babies Picture Book of the Year SHORTLIST – Never Teach a Stegosaurus To Do Sums
- 2022 UKLA Book Awards LONGLIST – Dosh/Cash
- 2021 Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award SHORTLIST – Never Teach a Stegosaurus To Do Sums
Other accolades
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – Chicago Public Library Best Picture Books of 2022
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – featured in The Wall Street Journal
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – featured in The Indian Express
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – featured in The Guardian (best children’s books roundup)
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – STARRED review from Shelf Awareness
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – STARRED review from The School Library Journal
- Dadaji’s Paintbrush – Book of the Month (July 2022) at LoveReading4Kids
- Yes You Can, Cow – One to Watch in The Times/The Sunday Times (Best Children’s Books of 2022 So Far)
- Yes You Can, Cow – featured in The Scotsman
- Yes You Can, Cow – featured in The Daily Mail
- Yes You Can, Cow – a BookTrust Book of the Day
- Yes You Can, Cow – featured in the BookTrust Great Books Guide 2022 (Best 100 Books of 2022)
- Think Like a Boss – Book of the Week in The Bookseller, No1 in the children’s non-fiction charts
- Good News – Season Highlight in The Bookseller
- Good News – Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller
- Good News – SHORTLISTED for the Blue Peter Book Awards (Best Book with Facts)
- Good News – SHORTLISTED for the Teach Primary Book Awards (Information Books)
- Good News – in The Guardian’s list of the ‘50 hottest new books everyone should read’
- Good News – featured in the BookTrust Great Books Guide 2022 (Best 100 Books of 2022)
- Good News – featured in The Week Junior (5 books about current affairs)
- How To Be Extraordinary and Good News – in BookTrust and Cressida Cowell’s Life-Changing Libraries 1000 Books List
- Dosh (Cash) – A The Times/Sunday Times Best Children’s Book of 2020
- Dosh (Cash) – Selected for the BookTrust School Library pack 2022
- Dosh (Cash) – featured in The Week Junior (5 books about money matters)
- How To Change The World – selected for Empathy Lab’s 2021 Read for Empathy collection
- How To Change The World – one of BookTrust’s Best Children’s Books of 2021
- How To Change The World – Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller
- How To Change The World – featured in The Week Junior (5 books to make a difference)
- How To Be Extraordinary – a BookTrust Book of the Day
- Never Show a T-Rex a Book, How to be Extraordinary, Yes You Can Cow, and Dadaji’s Paintbrush – BookTrust Books of the Day