Khyrunnisa A.

Khyrunnisa A.
Khyrunnisa A; Creator & author of the Butterfingers' series.
Khyrunnisa A; Creator & author of the Butterfingers' series.
BornTrivandrum, Kerala, India
NationalityIndian
EducationUniversity of Kerala
GenreChildren's literature, Realistic fiction, Humour

Khyrunnisa A. is an Indian author of children's fiction, speaker, academic and columnist who also writes for adults. She created the comic book character 'Butterfingers'.[1] The character first appeared in the Indian children's magazine Tinkle. Thirteen-year-old Amar Kishen, aka Butterfingers, now features in the eponymous Butterfingers series of novels and short story collections published by Puffin, the children's imprint of Penguin Random House India.

She has written two books for adults Tongue in Cheek: The Funny Side of Life (2019), published by Westland,[2] and Chuckle Merry Spin: Us in the U.S, also published by Westland, in September 2022. It is a humorous travelogue based on her trip to the U.S. in 2018.

Her book of animal stories for young readers titled The Lizard of Oz and Other Stories, published by Scholastic, appeared in 2019.[2] Another book of animal stories, The Crocodile Who Ate Butter Chicken For Breakfast and Other Stories, was published by Red Panda, the children's imprint of Westland, on 17 August 2020. Shashi Tharoor had this to say about the book, 'Khyrunnisa's oeuvre now has some unique and lovely animal stories giving it the resonance of a Panchatantra for the contemporary world.'  

In February 2021, Baby and Dubdub, a warm and funny novella about the relationship between a boy, a dog and a baby, was published by Talking Cub, the children's imprint of Speaking Tiger.[3] The Couch Potato Who Said Ouch and Other Funny Stories, a fun collection of twenty stories, was published by Red Panda, (Westland Books) in January 2024. Around the same time, Ka Kha Ga, a picture book, was published by DC Books. It was illustrated by Monami Roy.

Khyrunnisa's first three children's novels Howzzat Butterfingers! (2010),[4] Goal, Butterfingers! (2012) and Clean Bowled, Butterfingers! (2015), were followed by three collections of short stories, The Misadventures of Butterfingers (2016), Run, It's Butterfingers Again! (2017) and Of Course It’s Butterfingers! (2018).[5] Smash It, Butterfingers! a rollicking badminton-based novel and the seventh in the Butterfingers series, came out in July 2021. All the Butterfingers books were launched by Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament.

In 2022, the Malayalam translation of her first novel, Howzzat Butterfingers!, was published by Mathrubhumi Books under the title, Itha Butterfingers! The book was translated by Kaikasi V.S.[6] In 2024, the Malayalam translation of Tongue in Cheek: the Funny Side of Life was published by Mathrubhumi Books under the title Kulchayum Phulkayum... Pinne Nyanum . It was translated by K.T. Rajagopalan.

In May 2023, The World of Butterfingers: Adventure in Texas and Other Stories, a hilarious hundred page comic featuring Butterfingers and  illustrated by Abhijeet Kini, was published by Puffin ( Penguin Random House).[7]

A book of her prize-winning stories, Lost in Ooty and Other Adventure Stories, was brought out by Unisun Publications in 2010. Some of her stories for children and for adults have appeared in anthologies published by Puffin, Children's Book Trust, Talking Cub, Red Panda and Unisun Publications. She writes stories regularly for the children's magazine, Dimdima, a Bhavan's publication.

Butterfingers, Khyrunnisa's entry for the Annual All India Tinkle Short story competition for adult writers of children's fiction in 1996, won her the second prize.[8] She went on to win the first prize at the competition for the next seven consecutive years – from 1997 to 2003. In 2007, she won the prestigious Unisun Children's Fiction Award. She also has five Children's Book Trust prizes to her credit.

Smash it, Butterfingers! was short-listed for Sahitya Akademi's Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2024 (English).[9] It was long-listed for the JK Paper and Times of India Auther Awards 2022[10] in the Children's Literature category and also featured in Times of India's top ten books for children 2021.[11]

  1. ^ "Khyrunnisa A – Penguin India". Penguin India. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b Nagarajan, Saraswathy (26 July 2019). "Author Khyrunnisa A has two different books ready for release". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Baby and Dubdub seaking tiger – Google Search". google.com. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  4. ^ "All about Butterfingers". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (5 December 2018). "Butterfingers is back in action". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  6. ^ "'ഹൗസ്സാറ്റ് ബട്ടർഫിംഗേഴ്സി'ന്റെ മലയാള പരിഭാഷ പുറത്തിറങ്ങി". Mathrubhumi. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Why did Butterfingers character created by Khyrunissa A go to Texas in a new comic book". The Hindu. 26 May 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Packing a punch". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Press Release - Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2024" (PDF). 15 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Women AutHer Awards 2022 Longlist announced – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  11. ^ "10 Noteworthy children's books of 2021 by Indian authors". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 30 March 2022.