What do you think?
Rate this book
Maya
The electricity in Maya’s house has gone out again. Worse, she is afraid of the dark — and her fear has been even worse since her father died. Now it feels as if the darkness will never go away.
Maya’s mother distracts her with a legend about the banyan tree, which saved the world from the first monsoon by drinking up the floodwaters, and growing tall and strong. Later that night, unsettled by the noises around her, Maya revisits the story in her imagination. She ventures deep into the banyan tree, where she discovers not darkness but snakes slither, monkeys laugh, and elephants dance. Maya pushes her imagination even further to call up memories of her father, helping to soothe her fear and grief.
Elly MacKay mixes miniature-paper-theater art with spellbinding shadow puppetry to play with darkness and light, giving Maya ’s real, fantasy, and story-within-a-story worlds unique treatment—and making Maya’s world come alive on the page.
Maya’s mother distracts her with a legend about the banyan tree, which saved the world from the first monsoon by drinking up the floodwaters, and growing tall and strong. Later that night, unsettled by the noises around her, Maya revisits the story in her imagination. She ventures deep into the banyan tree, where she discovers not darkness but snakes slither, monkeys laugh, and elephants dance. Maya pushes her imagination even further to call up memories of her father, helping to soothe her fear and grief.
Elly MacKay mixes miniature-paper-theater art with spellbinding shadow puppetry to play with darkness and light, giving Maya ’s real, fantasy, and story-within-a-story worlds unique treatment—and making Maya’s world come alive on the page.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2016
365 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 1, 2017
Between the story and the illustrations, the imagination has many places to go. This book is great for getting students to work at deeper thinking, seeing little details, and questioning what they hear and/or see. A beautiful story, with whimsical illustrations.
February 27, 2016
A stunningly illustrated story of grief, fear, love, and hope told with subtlety and sensitivity.
December 13, 2018
Maya is a story of emotions
How does a child deal with trauma?
Maybe with the power of story?
That is just one of the takeaways from Maya, a children’s picture book, written by Mahak Jain with art by Elly MacKay.
And time for a disclaimer. Mahak Jain is a friend of mine.
This is tale of a little girl named Maya, who lives in the city with her mom. She is lonely and scared and wishes her dad was still alive. One night the power goes out yet again.
To calm her, Maya’s mom tells a story of a village in trouble, and how they survived. Maya uses this to slowly work through her own pain and fear and loss.
Mahak Jain deals with childhood trauma in a realistic way, with Maya’s fear being very visible and palpable. Her father’s death, which feels recent, causes anxieties that are further triggered by the power outage. Darkness and death do not mix well for some people, especially the young. By using the eternal power of story, Maya wields this tool with her mom’s guidance to start the journey of healing.
Maya is not the first children’s picture book, a genre I am by no means an expert on, to grapple with a heavier topic. The last one I read that covered deeper emotions was Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever. And with Maya, you have fear and loss on display, but also parental love, both present and past, that weave through the story. This is a delicate balancing act, and Mahak Jain does this masterfully.
Artist Elly MacKay creates wonderful images that help bring the vision forward. The differences between her cityscape scenes and storytime illustrations and wilderness tableaus are striking in some cases, and subtle in other cases. It is best to really absorb each page to fully enjoy Maya, as derails are slipped in that impact the story massively.
Maya is an universal story of emotions that young children can enjoy and learn from. This might be a great primer before the little ones see Disney Pixar Inside Out, which treads some of the same terrain.
How does a child deal with trauma?
Maybe with the power of story?
That is just one of the takeaways from Maya, a children’s picture book, written by Mahak Jain with art by Elly MacKay.
And time for a disclaimer. Mahak Jain is a friend of mine.
This is tale of a little girl named Maya, who lives in the city with her mom. She is lonely and scared and wishes her dad was still alive. One night the power goes out yet again.
To calm her, Maya’s mom tells a story of a village in trouble, and how they survived. Maya uses this to slowly work through her own pain and fear and loss.
Mahak Jain deals with childhood trauma in a realistic way, with Maya’s fear being very visible and palpable. Her father’s death, which feels recent, causes anxieties that are further triggered by the power outage. Darkness and death do not mix well for some people, especially the young. By using the eternal power of story, Maya wields this tool with her mom’s guidance to start the journey of healing.
Maya is not the first children’s picture book, a genre I am by no means an expert on, to grapple with a heavier topic. The last one I read that covered deeper emotions was Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever. And with Maya, you have fear and loss on display, but also parental love, both present and past, that weave through the story. This is a delicate balancing act, and Mahak Jain does this masterfully.
Artist Elly MacKay creates wonderful images that help bring the vision forward. The differences between her cityscape scenes and storytime illustrations and wilderness tableaus are striking in some cases, and subtle in other cases. It is best to really absorb each page to fully enjoy Maya, as derails are slipped in that impact the story massively.
Maya is an universal story of emotions that young children can enjoy and learn from. This might be a great primer before the little ones see Disney Pixar Inside Out, which treads some of the same terrain.
October 15, 2017
This book is about a young girl who is scared of the dark. One day her power goes out and she has a very bad fear ever since her father died. He mother came to sooth her and talked about the legend of the banyan tree. This tree once saved many of lives, there once was a big flood that came into the town. The tree soaked up everything and saved the town. Going back to the little girl, she starts to hear noises and starts to picture the tree and what it could of to sooth her, she soon looks very deep and sees her dad in her mind.
October 4, 2017
This is a good book with beautiful pictures. My children enjoyed it and we discussed how Maya lived in India and it was so far away. The only complaint that I have was that I felt it didn't transition well from her imagining and real life. It left my kids a little confused. Maybe my kids were a little too young to understand what exactly was happening. Otherwise, a beautiful story that I would recommend reading.
Read
May 24, 2021Set in the backdrop of South Asia, the book features a mother telling her daughter, Maya, a story about the annual monsoon that arrives with the power to destroy as well as to nurture. The girl misses her father's stories and the sense of security when he was around, but learns to overcome her fear of darkness. In her imagination, a tiger, a peacock and monkeys keep her in company, and she feels the presence of her father. Bedtime stories always bring her courage, hope, and love.
April 24, 2023
“Maya” by Mahak Jain was a pretty sad book although it was a good read I do not know if i would use it in my future classroom unless given to select students. The reason I would only recommend this book to specific students is because it discusses childhood trauma. Although this book may trigger some students it may also help some children see that they are not alone. Overall I thought this book was well written and richly illustrated.
December 6, 2024
Maya by Mahak Jain is a fun book for kids. It is about a little girl named Maya who is read a story about animals in a banyan tree before bed by her mother. When she goes to sleep, she imagines she is among the animals in the banyan tree. Little Maya thought the animals were out to get her, but they were just going about their lives. I gave this book four stars because I felt it was short. I would have liked to see more of Maya's dream. Overall, though, young children will adore this book.
February 24, 2017
Elly MacKay's paper theater art is the primary reason I picked up this book. It's absolutely stunning.
The power goes out in a small village. A girl's fear of the dark and the noise is lessened by the comfort of her mother's words, telling her of the story of the first banyan tree. It's a sweet story of loss and overcoming one's fear.
The power goes out in a small village. A girl's fear of the dark and the noise is lessened by the comfort of her mother's words, telling her of the story of the first banyan tree. It's a sweet story of loss and overcoming one's fear.
November 17, 2020
This book is a great story of grief and overcoming fear. It could be very motivating for students because the illustrations are unique. It is important that children get a variety of stories with different emotions so they can be better aware of their emotions. This story could be good to introduce emotional awareness in the classroom.
December 9, 2023
This was another very cute book to show great diversity and heritage to children. The illustrations in this book were very colorful and unique. In the story, it was very unique and had a very deep yet cute storyline. This is also a good book to read if a child has unfortunately lost a parent because they can connect with the main character in that way.
February 22, 2017
"Maya" is a lovely book about a girl who has difficulty sleeping in a city blackout. She is missing her father terribly and is afraid of the sounds of the night. Her Mother tells her a story and through her sleeplessness she finds the true meaning of the story.
June 7, 2019
A beautiful story told almost like a folktale. Mahak Jain's debut picture book combines memory, folklore, and grief. Set in India, Maya is creative and the story of the tree that grows during the monsoon rains becomes something less of fear and more of wonder and comfort.
October 22, 2020
I liked this book and found the story of the first banyan tree interesting. It was a bit text-heavy for the girls but I’d like to revisit it in a year or two, maybe paired with a nonfiction about monsoons.
April 29, 2024
A uniquely haunting and beautiful piece of work. All the various pages show strikingly dark shadings, with bits of light and vibrant colors that catch the reader’s eyes. While a simple story of a mom and daughter, it’s incredible how they show a dreamlike adventure about longing for a parent again.
April 1, 2025
I like the way the paper cutouts are sometimes blurry because of the camera effect. So you can't quite see what's in the background. Like how kids are scared of things they've never seen before, because they don't know what to expect. It fits the theme very well.
July 23, 2017
Didn't even read the story... but the illustrations are great! They look like hand-painted paper dolls that have been photographed.
July 24, 2017
Elly Mackay's illustrations are amazing.
August 1, 2017
Very richly illustrated in multiple styles between dreaming, waking, and story.
October 31, 2018
Peacefully handles the difficulties of a child remembering a lost parent and frightening sounds that turn out to be something charming.
December 3, 2019
I can't get enough if Elly MacKay's illustrations!
February 28, 2017
Elly Mackay's illustrations (particularly of the peacock) are beautiful and dreamy. Maya's father is not with her or her mother when the monsoon begins, so it is up to Maya's mother to calm Maya's fears. The story initially helps, but then Maya reads too much into it and must, eventually, calm herself and face her fears (overcome them) to be able to rest.
February 10, 2017
A young girl and her mother have a long night with no power after a big storm and use their imaginations to help them get through it. Preschool and up for topic and length.
July 7, 2016
"Papa used to tell stories, too. He said that a story was like a bird. It flew you to places you had never heard of, and the places always changed you." - Maya, by Mahak Jain.
Last night I read this book to both my 7 year old daughter and 10 year old son. Before bed, they left the story quietly imagining the stalking tigers in their own minds, clinging with their fears of unknown noises creaking into our new apartment, and wavering shadows in the corners and tipping boxes tumbling from open closets. As Maya is used to her father easing her fears and now finding she needs to find solace within herself, my children must imagine the true light inside an illusionary darkness. Our life is different from Maya's, but the fears that keep the darkness and creatures on the prowl are very real for any person - and this story teaches us that our perspective is whether we choose to believe in the fear, or in the power of light.
Last night I read this book to both my 7 year old daughter and 10 year old son. Before bed, they left the story quietly imagining the stalking tigers in their own minds, clinging with their fears of unknown noises creaking into our new apartment, and wavering shadows in the corners and tipping boxes tumbling from open closets. As Maya is used to her father easing her fears and now finding she needs to find solace within herself, my children must imagine the true light inside an illusionary darkness. Our life is different from Maya's, but the fears that keep the darkness and creatures on the prowl are very real for any person - and this story teaches us that our perspective is whether we choose to believe in the fear, or in the power of light.
May 2, 2016
Through colorful illustrations, you are taken on a mystical journey of a magical banyan tree where one can overcome there fears, learn to cope with loss and learn to love in a different way. "Maya" is a beautiful story that entangles loss, fear and love into one memorizing voyage. The author takes you along for the ride and shows their readers that you can defeat anything, regardless of how big or small you are and that things don't always seem as they appear.
May 21, 2016
This was a sweet book - it would be good for any child grieving the loss of a parent, but it's not so narrowly focused that I feel like it's *only* about that. It's also about being afraid even when you're with someone who loves you, and finding hope in unexpected places.
I was a little turned off by the illustrations at first, but they grew on me. Especially when Mumma is telling the story, the silhouette style was very effective.
I was a little turned off by the illustrations at first, but they grew on me. Especially when Mumma is telling the story, the silhouette style was very effective.
September 6, 2016
A book that is well thought-out and crafted – no matter how small or short it is – is a pleasure to spend time with and carefully ponder. To appreciate the fine details that encourage a reader to loose themselves in a plot of a story seem almost enlightening to anyone’s mind. And there is plenty to ponder over in the detailed efforts of Mahak Jain and Elly MacKay in Maya.
http://tinyurl.com/jzj93dq
http://tinyurl.com/jzj93dq
November 26, 2025
Why I read this: The author and illustrator came to our library branch to present.
Summary: A lot of people said that the book was really dark. To a certain extent it was. The first 2/3rds of the book are a little bit dark, but the last 1/3rd is enlightening (in story and illustration) as the main character learns to see the world in a new light. It's possible that people have already made up their minds by the time that they get to the last 1/3rd, but I like the resolution there.
Summary: A lot of people said that the book was really dark. To a certain extent it was. The first 2/3rds of the book are a little bit dark, but the last 1/3rd is enlightening (in story and illustration) as the main character learns to see the world in a new light. It's possible that people have already made up their minds by the time that they get to the last 1/3rd, but I like the resolution there.
April 11, 2016
Received this book and was very impressed! It is an adorable read and seemed to keep the little ones attention. She loved the very detailed artwork. Mahak Jain thank you for supplying us with such a heartwarming story! We loved it!
May 4, 2016
Madly love the art. The story feels dream-like and sweet.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews