Papertigers.org | October/November 2010 | Children's Literature from India and the Indian diaspora

Award-winning author Kashmira Sheth talks to us about her books, including the 2010 release Boys Without Names; how she draws upon her Indian roots to create her stories; her favorite writers...


	Tulika Books Founder and Publisher Radhika Menon, and Editor Sandhya Rao, talk about the company's commitment to publishing bilingual books; its partnerships with other organizations to promote literacy; challenges and opportunities, and more...



			Manisha Chaudhry, Head of Pratham Books Content Development speaks of creating books in multiple Indian languages; the joint literacy initiatives they've been involved with; their social publishing strategy...

Uma Krishnaswamy shares her beautiful art with us and talks about her love of children's books; drawing upon her Indian roots to write her books; the experience of illustrating her almost-namesake Uma Krishnaswami's story, Out of the Way! Out of the Way!...


			Gond artist Bhajju Shyam shares a sample of his paintings; talks about his path to becoming an artist and to having his first book published; co-editing the book Signature: Patterns in Gond Art, which features over 30 artists from his village, and more...

We The Children of India - The Preamble
to Our Constitution

written by Leila Sheth, with illustrations by Bindia Thapar
(Puffin India, 2010)

Leila Seth’s skillfully executed picture book with beautiful, informative illustrations by Bindia Thapar, brings the preamble of the Indian Constitution, “one long sentence that gives you the essence of the constitution,” to life. She breaks it down phrase by phrase so that children can think about the values within it as they grow and develop their own views about their country and the world...


			October 2010 This bimonthly update focuses on Children's Literature from India and the Indian diaspora and the many ways in which it has changed over the years. Nowadays, the children's literature being produced in India includes much more than just stories and folktales rich in morals and traditions. The output of its writers and illustrators in a variety of genres and in a plethora of languages reflects India's complex and ever-changing multilingual society. They also break through and go beyond long-standing gender, cultural and social stereotypes. The unique challenges and opportunities Indian children's book creators face–or those in the diaspora writing about India–help create what one of our interviewees poetically calls the "rainbow-colored horizon" of Indian children's literature. We hope these interviews, reviews, gallery features and point of views will help spread the good news of India's many voices speaking to children, and contribute to making them heard and treasured not only within but also beyond their country. Personal Views: Returning to Essential Questions by Uma Krishnaswami Trailblazers of Yesterday: Bengali Children's Classics Shouldn't Be Forgotten by Swapna Dutta New Reprints: Once Upon an India by Namrata Bitten by the Anushka Ravishankar Bug by Anitha Ramkumar Personal Views Revisited: Diwali: The Hindu Festival of Lights by Chad Stephenson Here to Stay: South Asian Literature for Children and Teens by Pooja Makhijani Borderless World: Multicultural Poetry for Children and Young Adults by Debjani Chatterjee Book Reviews: Make sure to read PaperTigers' new reviews, and to check out our compilation of all the books from/about India reviewed on PaperTigers to date. Take a look at the newly added reviews from our other review sources as well: CCBC, Books for Keeps, Resource Links... Links & Lists: In this section you will find links & reading lists related to children's literature from/about India... ................................................................................................ And in addition to focusing on India, we will also continue our focus on the Spirit of PaperTigers Project. Many book sets have already reached their destination. You can read the children's feedback we have received so far here . We will post feedback as it comes in, both here on the website and on our blog.

On the PaperTigers blog you will find our current and past themes unpacked and expanded, as well as news and views on multicultural and international books, world literacy, bedtime stories, children's literature events, and more...Come and join our ongoing conversation!


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