Fifteen Ganesh Chaturthi adventures, from folding the first modak to the drums of visarjan. Pick a story, add a few details, and the illustrated book starts right away.
Every story is painted in this soft, hand-drawn watercolour look, with your child in festive Ganesh Chaturthi dress.
Ganesh ChaturthiIt is the morning of Ganesh Chaturthi and the whole house smells of jaggery and coconut. Your child helps fold the very first modak of the year, pinching the little pleats one by one. It comes out lopsided, but when it is placed in front of Ganpati Bappa, Your child is sure the elephant-headed friend smiles a little wider.
Lesson: What you make with love is always good enough
Ganesh ChaturthiMushak, Ganesha's tiny mouse, has lost his way in the festival crowd. Your child spots two twitching whiskers under a marigold basket and carries him gently through the drums and dancers back to Bappa's side. Ganesha thanks Your child with a wink and a sweet.
Lesson: Even the smallest friend deserves a helping hand
Ganesh ChaturthiGanesha tells Your child the story of the day he and his brother Kartikeya were asked to race around the whole world. While Kartikeya flew off on his peacock, clever Ganesha simply walked around his parents, because they were his whole world. Your child tries it too, walking a slow circle around Mummy and Papa.
Lesson: The people who love you are your whole world
Ganesh ChaturthiEveryone at the pandal wants to talk, but nobody wants to listen. Your child notices Ganesha's big ears and asks why they are so large. "So I can listen twice as much as I speak," says Bappa. Your child spends the afternoon listening to Dadi's stories and discovers how much there is to hear.
Lesson: Big ears, small mouth: listen more than you speak
Ganesh ChaturthiA plate of twenty-one modaks is set out for Bappa, but every time Your child looks away, one is missing. Following a trail of crumbs, Your child finds Mushak the mouse with sticky whiskers. Instead of scolding, Your child shares one properly, and the two become festival friends.
Lesson: Sharing sweetens everything
Ganesh ChaturthiThis year the family decides to make their own eco-friendly Ganesha from river clay. Your child shapes the round tummy, the curling trunk and one small tusk. The idol is wobbly and wonderful, and when it is time to say goodbye it melts back gently into the water, ready to become earth again.
Lesson: Caring for the earth is a way of caring for everyone
Ganesh ChaturthiGanesha tells Your child how his pen broke while writing a very long story, so he snapped off his own tusk and kept writing rather than stop. Your child, who has just broken a favourite crayon, decides to finish the drawing anyway, and it becomes the best one yet.
Lesson: Finish what you start, even when things break
Ganesh ChaturthiLong ago the Moon laughed at Ganesha for tumbling off his mouse. Your child hears the story and remembers laughing when a friend fell at school. The next day Your child says sorry, and that night the Moon seems to nod kindly through the window.
Lesson: Never laugh at someone who has fallen; help them up
Ganesh ChaturthiThe neighbourhood pandal is not ready and the festival starts tonight. Your child organises the children: some hang marigolds, some sweep, some carry lamps. When the drums begin, the pandal glows, and Ganesha's idol has a paper crown made by Your child.
Lesson: Many small hands make a big celebration
Ganesh ChaturthiNani says Ganesha loves simple durva grass more than gold. Your child searches the garden for the softest three-bladed blades, gets muddy knees, and offers a tiny bundle. Bappa, the story says, treasures it above every shiny gift on the table.
Lesson: Simple gifts given with care mean the most
Ganesh ChaturthiOn the last day, the streets fill with drums and colour as Ganesha is carried to the water. Your child feels sad to say goodbye, but Bappa whispers that he goes so he can come back next year. Your child dances all the way to the river shouting "Ganpati Bappa Morya!"
Lesson: Goodbyes are easier when you know love comes back
Ganesh ChaturthiYour child is scared of the big slide at the park. Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, does not carry Your child up; he just walks alongside, one step at a time, until the top does not look so far. The slide turns out to be the most fun thing in the park.
Lesson: Obstacles shrink when you take them one step at a time
Ganesh ChaturthiIt is the first day of a new class and Your child does not know anyone. Remembering that Ganesha is the god of new beginnings, Your child says one brave hello. By lunchtime there are three new friends, and by home time Your child cannot wait for tomorrow.
Lesson: Every new beginning starts with one brave hello
Ganesh ChaturthiThe evening aarti is about to begin and the big brass lamp will not light in the wind. Your child cups small hands around the flame while Papa strikes the match again, and together they keep it glowing. The whole family sings, and Your child holds the light steady through every verse.
Lesson: Patience and a little shelter keep the light going
Ganesh ChaturthiYour child asks why Ganesha has such a round tummy. "It holds every story in the world," says Bappa, "the happy ones and the sad ones, without spilling any." Your child decides to keep a story tummy too, and listens to everyone's tales at the festival without teasing.
Lesson: Hold other people's stories gently
Ganesh ChaturthiIt is Ganesh Chaturthi, and Your child is right in the middle of the celebration. The home pandal glows with marigolds and brass lamps, a plate of freshly folded modaks waits on a banana leaf, and a tiny grey mouse seems to follow Your child everywhere. As the dhol drums begin and neighbours arrive, Your child finds a small but important way to help, and on the last evening walks with the whole street to the water to say goodbye until next year.
Lesson: Patience, kindness and new beginnings make every obstacle smaller.
Celebrated on 14 September 2026