BY J.M.LEE
Sandip Kaur (Chohan) Sodhi is a British- born Canadian author and teacher with a South Asian (Punjabi) background. Her parents immigrated from India to England in 1967 and then to Canada in 1971. She is the youngest of six children – 5 females and 1 male. She grew up and went to school in East Vancouver and then to UBC, where she completed her B. A and B.Ed. Currently, she lives in South Surrey with her husband, Arvinder, and daughter, Soheyla. She has been teaching in Surrey for the past 28 years, teaching kids from kindergarten to grade seven. Currently, she is the school’s Teacher-Librarian. She is passionate about reading to children and finds great joy in finding books with which the children can connect.
The most important thing from her childhood that she remembers was being surrounded by love. She had parents, siblings, aunts, and uncles from whom she received a loving upbringing. Things were not always easy to come by. Her parents worked extremely hard and taught them the value of discipline and hard work. Her dad used to show them the callouses on his hands and tell them that he brought them to this country so that they wouldn’t have to have those callouses, that they could have opportunities to learn and study and have promising careers. Everyone worked together to complete chores and take care of one another. There was definitely a strong sense of family and community.
Being the youngest, Sandip didn’t have the same responsibilities as her siblings and managed to channel her energy toward other things. Sandip read a lot, was a creative storyteller (telling fibs), and was a great mischief maker and continues to be one!
She loved going to the library and surrounding herself with books. She remembers reading aloud to her very few toys and pretending to be the teacher. Perhaps, that’s where the journey began, and she had no idea that that’s where her future was headed.
Due to her love for storytelling and reading children’s books, she decided to write her own books for children. The characters in her books are from different ethnic backgrounds, and she uses names that represent the various cultures. Just recently, she wrote and self-published two picture books. The first book was published in 2020, called Ms. Chievus in the Class-room. It was illustrated by Ken and Janet Priebe. This is a humorous book about how a teacher connects with her students and teaches them from her examples. The net profit from the sale of this book is being donated to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.
She released her second book, “Talk to Me, What Do You See? Beauty and Joy from A – Z,” in 2021. It was illustrated by Anika Sandhu, a Canadian artist with a South Asian background. This is an alphabet book of positive things to see and talk about.
During the COVID lock-down and during the days of uncertainty about the pandemic, Sandip observed that many people felt stressed, scared, and sad about their surroundings. Many of her own students showed fear and shut down. However, she also saw beautiful things happening in the community and the world and wanted to write about her observations. She is an optimist and believes in finding positive lessons in life, and this book encourages people to connect with the images and talk about them.
She is currently working on her third picture book— which will hopefully be released before the end of this year. You can find more information about her books on www.sandipsodhi.com and her Instagram @sandipsodhibooks. According to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib’s teachings, Sandip’s journey involves living her life by working hard, sharing with others, and remembering God. Sandip is hopeful that her books will positively impact those who read them!
