Bird/Dog by Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan and Mrinalini Levin-Srinivasan
Niyogi Books, Rs 299, Pages: 160

When we have birds or dogs as pets, do we ever consider what they are thinking or feeling? They have thoughts, values, and emotions, too. They can be upset, sad, or happy. But we take them for granted.

Read Bird/Dog to discover how they think, feel, and worry. The bird dreams of freedom while caged. So does a dog on a leash. The bird imagines what a dog’s life is like, and vice versa.

Both are drawn into adventures that take them away from the lives they knew. They realize they also have wants, desires, and the need for friendship and love.

Published by Niyogi Books, Bird/Dog by Mrinalini Levin-Srinivasan and Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan takes you into a world you took for granted when you caged a bird or a dog.

Mrinalini, a student at Lanier Middle School in Houston, Texas, began by writing the book's gist on a scrap of paper. She found that the isolation during the pandemic helped her read for many hours every day.

She then shared it with her mother, Soobha Tharoor Srinivasan, an award-winning author. 

Both then created this conversation between the bird and the dog. Through a series of events, their relationship shifts from dread and fear to care and respect. 

Both get lost and then reunite with their loving families after experiencing loss. They realize how their lives have grown richer. 

The story is about a bird who wonders what it is like to have a home and a dog who wonders what freedom feels like away from his family, leading to an unexpected friendship and understanding between them. 

Both gain a better understanding of the world, and, after all, this discovery is the greatest adventure of all. They do what they want and learn what it means to belong.