by Maya Thiagarajan Here’s a question for you: What percentage of recent American college graduates have read the following American classics? To Kill A Mockingbird The Great Gatsby To be honest, I don’t have an accurate answer for you, but I’m willing to guess that the percentage would be quite high. These are books that … Continue reading #INDIAKIDLIT – Does India need its own Literary Canon?
#INDIAKIDLIT – Why why? And other questions for Indian children’s books
by Shalini Srinivasan Unlike a lot of my own readers, my reading journey was – and continues to be – fairly uneven. I read Are You My Mother? at the recommended age (4ish, if you’re wondering) and met Enid Blyton and then Moby Dick (much abridged and with false editorializing from my father) and proceeded … Continue reading #INDIAKIDLIT – Why why? And other questions for Indian children’s books
#INDIAKIDLIT – Why I retell old Indian stories for the young
by Roopa Pai The Vedas and Upanishads for Children - by Roopa Pai (2019) / The Gita for Children - by Roopa Pai (2015) Some stories stand the test of time. The core themes of Shakespeare’s plays, for instance, are recognizable tropes in modern film and theatre across the world, and his words have passed … Continue reading #INDIAKIDLIT – Why I retell old Indian stories for the young
#WORLDKIDLITMONTH – September 2022 – Slices of Indian Children’s Literature Served Up Over Time – #INDIAKIDLIT
by Karthika Gopalakrishnan India is a country of multitudes, made up of over a billion lives that intersect across lines of class, culture, language, and tradition, to coalesce into a thriving, proud, and fascinatingly curious whole. Composed of individual states, some of which are more populous than Brazil while others have roughly the same population … Continue reading #WORLDKIDLITMONTH – September 2022 – Slices of Indian Children’s Literature Served Up Over Time – #INDIAKIDLIT
(More) ASIAN TITLES CELEBRATING UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS & SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Consider this part two of the June 21st post where I highlighted mainly books from Singapore on the newly released booklist from the AFCC (Asian Festival of Children's Content) and the Singapore Book Council highlighting Asian titles celebrating UN SDG goals & social emotional learning. Now let's look at some books on the list from … Continue reading (More) ASIAN TITLES CELEBRATING UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS & SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
#INTLYALITMONTH: Year of the Weeds by Siddhartha Sarma and Oonga by Devashish Makhija
Review by Katie Day Year of the Weeds by Siddhartha Sarma Oonga by Devashish Makhija I’m cheating a bit by insisting on reviewing two books today. But both are fictions based on an on-going political and environmental struggle over indigenous people’s lands and rights in India – and both deserve to be better known and … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH: Year of the Weeds by Siddhartha Sarma and Oonga by Devashish Makhija
#INTLYALITMONTH: The Secret Life of Debbie G. by Vibha Batra, illustrated by Kalyani Ganapathy
Review by Chris Fazenbaker The Secret Life of Debbie G. by Vibha Batra The Secret Life of Debbie G. revolves around the life of 16-year old Arya as she encounters and navigates major life changes. With her divorced mother remarrying, she struggles to adjust to her new blended family that includes classmates who are not … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH: The Secret Life of Debbie G. by Vibha Batra, illustrated by Kalyani Ganapathy
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Neev Book Award Winners
Are you familiar with children’s and YA books from India? If not, the Neev Book Award is great place to start. It is a fabulous showcase for children’s and YA literature that promotes a “fuller understanding of India, Indian lives and Indian stories.” First introduced in 2018 as part of the Neev Literature Festival, the … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Neev Book Award Winners
The Booktrekker: India
READ I’ve read a lot of books for this blog that I haven’t particularly enjoyed. So when I find one that really speaks to me, it’s an especially pleasant surprise. My selection for India, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by Arundhati Roy, is just such a book. It has so many layers and covers such a vast … Continue reading The Booktrekker: India
Hope and Hardship: The Picture Book As Exile Narrative
Today I am ceding editing rights to my friend and colleague Betsy Bird, an award winning children's author and librarian... Children’s books are written years in advance of their publication dates. A book being written at this very moment may take anywhere between two to five years to reach library and bookstore shelves. As such, … Continue reading Hope and Hardship: The Picture Book As Exile Narrative
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 