Kavitha Mandana grew up in parts of the Nilgiri hills where telephones and TV did not exist.

After an idyllic and undisciplined schooling in Ooty, and a degree in English Literature from Coimbatore, she got into a fairly unliterary career as an advertising copywriter in Bangalore. It took a chaotic six years working print, TV and radio commercials for her to discover she liked writing and illustrating for kids.

She writes regularly in the children's supplement of the Deccan Herald. HEr work has also appeared in Chatterbox and Toot magazines. Tenali Raman (Puffin) was her first historicl novel for kids.