Sowmya Rajendran

Career Rajendran's writing challenges, among other diverse issues, the stereotypical notions of beauty. Her book, The Pleasant Rakshasha, recounts the tale of Karimuga, a demon who is both pleasant and beautiful. The Boy Who Asked Why depicts the story of a young B. R. Ambedkar while Wings to Fly depicts para-athlete Malathi Holla. The Weightlifting Princess (2019) depicts a princess who is passionate about weightlifting. Suddenly Cow is a funny story about a cow that appears suddenly.

Mayil Will Not Be Quiet has its 12-year-old protagonist, Mayil Ganesan, explore some issues like gender stereotyping and is written in the diary format. This book went on to win her the 2015 Bal Sahitya Puraskar awarded by the Sahitya Akademi.

Girls to the Rescue is an alternate retelling of conventional fairy tales. In this version of The Frog Prince, the princess chooses to not marry the frog chosen as her spouse by her family. This story was chosen for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Class VI textbook. Further, this book's version of Cinderella has the largest feet in the kingdom and does not immediately agree to prince's marriage proposal and instead invites him for dinner. Rajendran's first book was The Underwater Friends, which was later published as a series of picture books. It was written while she was still pursuing her master's degree in Gender Studies. As a child, Rajendran enjoyed reading Enid Blyton, Alfred Hitchcock, Premchand, RK Narayan, Agatha Christie and children's magazines like Tinkle, Chandamama, Gokulam and Champak.

Works The Underwater Friends The Pleasant Rakshasha The Boy Who Asked Why Wings to Fly Girls to the Rescue Suddenly Cow Mayil Will Not Be Quiet (2011) Mostly Madly Mayil (2013) This is Me, Mayil (2019) The Lesson (2015) The Weightlifting Princess (2019)