Parakeet Books

Home
Parakeet Books

Compelling. Stimulating. Inclusive. We make books that are truly with main characters tha

22/09/2025

📣 Kids' event 📣

We cordially invite you to our house as part of the Crystal Palace Artists’ Open House!

When
10am to 5pm
27, 28 September
4, 5 October

What
Come and browse our books, check out our illustrations and chat about publishing
IMPORTANT - we’ll do storytime and shaker making at 10am on 27, 28 Sept and 4, 5 Oct.
Just drop in with your little ones!

Who
We’re Sheju and Judy of Parakeet Books. We’re micropublishers of gorgeous, inclusive, joyful picture books.

Where
Silver Pine, Mowbray Road, SE19 2RN

14/09/2025

Come to our house!

Posted • .crystalpalace Artist feature - Parakeet Books

Parakeet Books, founded by Judy Skidmore and Sheju John, creates joyful, inclusive picture books where all children can see themselves. Beautifully illustrated stories full of adventure, difference, and everyday magic.

in insta

Crystal palace artist open house 2025
Date : 27/28th Sept & 4/5th Oct
Venue : Silver Pine, Mowbray Rd, SE19 2RN

06/09/2025

We're doing the artists open house at the end of the month. It's quite exciting. You can come to our house, have a nose around, I'll read some books to the little ones and maybe do a musical shaker workshop, and we'll give you a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Fancy it?

09/08/2025

Just a few hours left to nab a copy of this absolute stunner. And some other bargains.
Thanks so much to everyone who has supported us so far. It's tough out there at the moment! Lots of love ❤️

22/07/2025

A review of our new book, The Girl and the Robot.

Professor Helen Hastie says,

“Full of warmth and wonder, ‘The Girl and the Robot’ introduces Otto, an earnest little bot who shows what machines can help us do, and how they could learn about our emotions. And how working side by side, we might build a brighter world together.”
Professor Helen Hastie, Professor of Human-Robot Interaction, University of Edinburgh

The Girl and the Robot by Vaishak Belle and Loritta Chang is available to pre-order through our kickstarter for jut one more week. Lots of bargains available. The link is in our bio and stories.

Excellent illustrations by Bhumika Jangid bring the story to life ❤️

16/07/2025

Thank you!!
Thanks everyone who has pledged to get The Girl and the Robot. There's still time to join in just head to kickstarter.com and search for The Girl and the Robot or the link is in our bio and our stories. Yippee!

10/07/2025

Ever backed a book and got a bargain? Let me show you what you’ll get when you support The Girl and the Robot, by Vaishak Belle and Loritta Chan, on Kickstarter…
 £7 A digital copy, early and direct to your inbox Perfect if your bookshelf is full but your curiosity isn’t
 £10 The printed book Gorgeous, thoughtful, and landing in your hands before it hits the shops
 £15 Your name in the book Literally. You’ll be personally thanked inside the pages and get a note from the authors too
 £20 BARGAIN: 3-book bundle The Girl and the Robot Plus 2 more Parakeet Books Choose from: Crooked Witch Soup Don’t Climb on the Bullock Cart Eve’s New Brother Pattu’s Dosa Scout’s Bedtime

£17 The book and a beautiful poster Art by Bhumika Jangid, perfect for a kid’s room (or your study, no judgement)
 £50 Big robo-bundle Books, goodies, and surprises packed with love

£100
MEGA Robot bundle
More books and goodies AND the exclusive A to Z of AI by Vaishak and Loritta
 ❤️ Support a small publisher ❤️ Back a beautiful book ❤️ Grab a brilliant reward

Link in bio or search The Girl and the Robot on Kickstarter

02/07/2025

We had a really fun time chatting with school librarian Rick Clarke on his brilliant podcast at Harris Girls’ Academy Bromley. Me and Sheju were chuffed to be invited. We talked about our new book The Girl and the Robot, about London Parakeets, and why anyone and everyone should have a bash at writing a book - if they feel like it.
Thanks for having us, Rick. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon! To hear it, link in stories.

17/06/2025

Hooray! We're a !

16/06/2025

Our publishing pal and Strength in Stories sister, Kirstin also sells a few of our books along with her own gorgeous stories on her website. And look a pride month discount. Woohoo!

14/06/2025

Why we made The Girl and the Robot
When I first read The Girl and the Robot, it reminded me of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s touching, strange, and quietly powerful. It’s not a big, shouty book. It’s gentle. A bit odd. And that’s exactly what I liked about it.
It’s the story of a girl who meets a robot. A robot who loves numbers and perfect circles, who’s fascinated by the shape of a cookie and the beauty of equations. It’s sweet and sad and hopeful.
The story was written by Vaishak Belle and Loritta Chan, AI academics from Edinburgh University. The gorgeous illustrations are by Bhumika, whose work brings this strange little world to life with colour and warmth.
We’ve launched a Kickstarter to bring this story into the world. If you like gentle, oddball picture books, or just want to support small publishers doing something a bit different, we’d love your help.
You’ll find us at kickstarter.com if you search for The Girl and the Robot. Or the link is in our bio and in our stories

Let me know if you’d like a shorter version for Instagram or anything else tailored. You’re onto something really lovely here.

Address

Website

https://www.parakeetbooks.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Parakeet Books posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Country:

City:

Judy and Sheju of Parakeet Books

After children we realised there were few children’s books that featured people of colour or families that look like our family. So we write and make beautiful, loving, diverse stories featuring:

people of colour

girls as heroes

LGBT families