The Science for Smartypants series of books introduces scientific phenomena, with a generous dose of humor on the side, to readers in the age group of 5 to 8 years. 

Each of the four titles in the series revolves around particular concepts, namely Gravity, Photosynthesis, Evolution, and the Solar System. 

Dominantly rendered in tones of blue, green, cyan, and purple respectively, the books walk a child through the science behind the phenomena mentioned above. Scientific terms are printed in bold to gently set them apart from the rest of the text. Each spread also contains the narrator’s clever, snappy conversation with her cat, Smartypants (depicted in a lush orange), which is related to the facts discussed.

The wordplay in these asides infuse the books with levity, and help keep children engaged as the cat doesn’t actually speak at any point. Instead, the reader has to perform a bit of a cognitive leap and figure out the questions the cat may have posed, based on the narrator’s response.

Pia Alizé Hazarika’s quirky illustrations not only set the atmospherics, but visually delineate the Science facts from the narrator’s dialogue with Smartypants, using distinct fonts and text placements.

A spread from the Kindle edition of Gravity for Smartypants, Duckbill, 2022

Speaking about her creative approach during the 2022 Neev Literature Festival, the author Anushka Ravishankar, said that she wanted to move away from books being seen “merely as didactic vehicles of learning” and create a reading experience that is fun. “Can we help children learn in a way that tickles both their curiosity and also their funny bone?” she asked.

The author Anushka Ravishankar speaks about the books and more of her work at the 2022 Neev Literature Festival in Bangalore, India

She added that the character of Smartypants developed a distinctive personality as she wrote, and that certain idiosyncrasies amplified the humour. 

It emerges that the cat takes things very literally, has an ongoing obsession with food, is very vain, passionately curious, considers one’s feline self highly imaginative as well as a genius, and is rather flatulent (thereby opening up the room for a few fart jokes to be included).

“When I wrote these books I was not thinking of inculcating the scientific temperament in children or anything like that but I do hope that reading books about Science which are fun and enjoyable and entertaining will make children feel a bit curious about Science. And if they don’t and they only enjoy all the fart jokes and silliness, I think that’s all right, too,” Anushka noted.

Science for Smartypants series

Gravity for Smartypants
Photosynthesis for Smartypants
Evolution for Smartypants
The Solar System for Smartypants

Written by Anushka Ravishankar
Illustrated by Pia Alizé Hazarika
Duckbill, 2022
ISBNs: 9780143454106, 9780143454113, 9780143454120, 9780143454137

You can buy a title from the Science for Smartypants series here: Gravity, Photosynthesis, Evolution, The Solar System or find the titles in a library: Gravity, Photosynthesis, Evolution, The Solar System.*

*Book purchases made via our affiliate link may earn GLLI a small commission at no cost to you.

Karthika Gopalakrishnan is the Head of Reading at Neev Academy, Bangalore, and the Director of the Neev Literature Festival. In the past, she has worked as a children’s book writer, editor, and content curator at Multistory Learning which ran a reading program for schools across south India. Prior to this, Karthika was a full-time print journalist with two national dailies. Her Twitter handle is g_karthika.