Interview with Rajat Chaudhuri, Author of Wonder Tales For A Warming Planet

Author Rajat explores climate change, hope, and solarpunk futures in Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet for young readers.
on May 22, 2026

Frontlist: Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet presents climate change through the eyes of ordinary children what inspired you to tell such a complex global issue in a deeply personal, story-driven way for “The Reader of Tomorrow”?

Rajat: We can see today that the planet is in pain, and it is our duty to join the great work of healing. This is the inspiration behind this book and all my other writing about climate and planetary crises. This book is for The Reader of Tomorrow because they are the generation who will be most affected by the effects of climate change and other planetary crises.

Frontlist: Your stories blend imagination with environmental reality, how did you strike a balance between creative storytelling and the urgency of climate science?

Rajat: Striking that balance is the most difficult part because our understanding about environmental degradation and the climate crisis is either shaped through sensational news or cold scientific facts. In between and increasingly so, is the lived reality of climate change in the form of increasingly harsh summers, powerful cyclones, droughts, melting glaciers and so many other things. To express all this imaginatively we need a believable storyworld besides characters who the reader can associate with. I have written about the mechanics behind this process in a different book (The Climate Crossroads) which was just published, as for the book (Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet) we are discussing, it is for the young readers to say whether they liked the stories and could take something away. And of course, the brilliant illustrations by Isha Nagar helped in this balancing act.

Frontlist: As someone actively involved in climate advocacy, how did your real-world experiences shape the themes and narratives in this book? 

Rajat: My work as a climate communicator and activist who has been involved in grassroots awareness as well as international advocacy made me want to write imaginative fiction about planetary crises. Many issues that I have engaged with as an activist like renewables, deforestation, pollution and the precautionary principle, have shaped the stories and themes of this book. So we have this mysterious character from the time of James Watt who wants to send us back to the age of coal (remember we are again expanding mining operations), there are flourishing solarpunk communities in the eastern land of Jimbaba, and there is also this crazed tech-guru who wants to cool the planet by shooting a missile at the sun.

Frontlist: The book explores ideas like renewable energy, urbanisation, and sustainable living how did you simplify these concepts without losing their depth for young readers? 

Rajat: Did you know that there had been reports that President Trump had once suggested nuking powerful cyclones to weaken them? While the President had denied those reports this absolutely stupid idea has been in circulation for sometime and it provides elements for a funny climate story. In Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet, there are no nukes but there are equally dramatic ideas, taken from real suggestions that are floating around, for dealing with climate change using light reflecting GM crops, ocean seeding among other things. Again, the growing urban sprawl and the resistance to this is imbued with the possibility of conflict and drama, which are important for a story. When telling these tales, I tried to zoom in on this potential for conflict as well as the solutions available to us today, while introducing real-life and imaginary characters and weaving a yarn which I hope appeals to children.

Frontlist: Climate anxiety is becoming more common among children, how does your book aim to transform fear into curiosity, awareness, and action?

Rajat: Anxiety can be countered by belonging to a community of sharing. It can also be addressed through the process of healing, understanding and the practice of hope besides of course, professional help. Stories of climate hope, climate solutions as well as certain stories of planetary disaster can bring the young in school together in the communal act of reading together, deepening their understanding of the crisis while demonstrating coping strategies and the possibility of hopeful futures. Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet includes stories of transformation from a bleak present to a better future as well as cautionary tales. These are supplemented by fun illustrations and a bunch of classroom exercises and explanatory notes. We know solution-focussed stories can instill hope and lead to action while a better understanding and sense of community can help the young deal with anxiety.

Frontlist: Your work often falls within speculative and solarpunk fiction how does this genre help in envisioning hopeful futures for the next generation?

Rajat: Speculative fiction is a broad `genre’ which includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird fiction and other subtypes. Solarpunk on the other hand is a literary genre and movement which imagines hopeful low-tech futures where decentralised governance, community engagement, renewables and multispecies justice are strong. Being a genre focussed on solutions, it naturally gives readers a sense of efficacy leading to hope and possibly action. By reading these stories young readers will feel empowered as they will get some ideas about what needs to be done, and realise that they can be part of the journey towards better futures. However, other kinds of speculative stories, like dystopia, which I have also written, can also have a beneficial impact through better understanding of the possibilities and by sparking the need to rise out of despair and look forward to new beginnings. Dawn always follows the darkest hour.

Frontlist: In a digital-first world, what storytelling elements did you use to ensure young readers stay engaged while also reflecting on serious environmental issues?

Rajat: Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet is a collaborative work where Isha’s illustrations and my stories complement each other providing a fun reading and learning experience for the young hooked to screens. The ubiquitous screens have turned young people to passive recipients of unstructured information which is hard to process and therefore useless. Stories on the other hand, seek our attention, fuel our imagination and in the case of climate fiction or solarpunk can change our relationship with the planet. In the stories of this book I have tried to create engaging human and non-human characters – like the lonely girl living on a sinking island, the young boy who makes friends with ghosts to save a forest, a magical orb with extraordinary powers and so on – besides well-paced storytelling, all embedded within the context of a living planet suffering pain.

Frontlist: If “The Reader of Tomorrow” finishes this book, what is the one change in perspective or action you hope they take towards the planet?

Rajat: Each reader reads a book differently but I hope the Reader of Tomorrow will be a bit more aware about good and bad solutions of planetary crises, and therefore they will be able to engage more meaningfully in transformative action. This could be something as simple as creating awareness about renewables, joining or donating to a local environmental NGO or voting for a party whose manifesto focuses on a sustainable future.