Electric Birds of Pothakudi - Hardcover

by Karthika Naïr (Author), Joëlle Jolivet (Illustrator)

Inspired by a true story about a family of birds nesting in a village's streetlamp, this poetic picture book is a moving exploration of community, solidarity, ecology, and the preservation of wildlife

Selected for USBBY's Outstanding International Books List, 2026!

Karuppu Raja dearly loves his small village of Pothakudi. He takes great pride in being responsible for its only source of light, switching the circuit breaker on every night to power the streetlamps. But one evening, he discovers a bird's nest buried deep inside the box. He's faced with a terrible dilemma: to turn the switch on and destroy the nest or to leave the village in darkness until the fledgelings are born.

Author Biography

Karthika Naïr is a poet, playwright, fabulist, and dance scenarist. Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata, her reworking of the foundational South Asian epic in multiple voices, won the 2015 Tata Literature Live Award for Book of the Year (India). Joëlle Jolivet is an outstanding Illustrator who works mostly in linocut. She knows how to style without losing sight of the original object and is passionate about detail. Her books have been published internationally.