shyamala's world

                                                  Year of the Weeds This book is special.  Unlike other natural resources the destruction of hills don't get much mileage in books or newspapers until its too late.                                                    This is probably the first Indian young adult book which touches the tricky issue of tribal land rights. Siddharta manages to  address the power play between  government officials and tribals without being preachy or judgemental.  The book brings out a range of emotions. You feel sympathy for  Korok, the central character of the book.  You are surprised  by the calm manner in which the tribal boy deals with the personal challen...

Hyderabad based children's author Nandini Nayar is out with her 50th book for kids. She has been writing for nearly 13 years. Picture courtesy:www.nandininayar.in Congratulations on your 50th book- Living with the Ghost. Thank you! I wasn’t sure which of my books would be the fiftieth and when copies of this book arrived, I was thrilled. It is a special book for various reasons.  This is my fifteenth title with Mango with whom I’ve done some amazing books. And then it turned out to be my fiftieth book for children as well! Living with the Ghost is low on the fear factor. Was it planned or did the editor ask you to tone it down? Saraswathy Rajagopalan, the editor at Man go , is a wonderful person to work with. She never interferes with the writer’s vision; she merely steers it in directions that help make the story better. This book was never meant to be a ghost story; the title is enough to t...

  One Lonely Tiger  (Penguin Random House India) is Benita Sen's latest picture book on the threat of extinction.                               How did this book idea occur to you? Some years ago, we were flying low over tiger territory. When I looked down, the forest did not seem as thick or as large as I had imagined. I kept thinking, where would the tiger be comfortable in this depleted forest? Is the tiger safe in such an environment? An animal does not live in isolation, even if it is at the top of the food pyramid. It lives in a habitat, and every component of that habitat is vital. It reminded me of a famous anecdote I have heard from my youth and which I have never been able to verify. It’s the stuff of folk lore. Apparently, one of the Prime Ministers of our country was given the assurance that our forests were fine. When you drive past a forest, you see the front rows of trees that...

US based  author, Shruthi Rao, is out with a nonfiction book for children. Published by  Talking Cub, 20 Indians Who Changed The World is a  collection of  Indian personalities who made a difference in this world.                                                    How did this project come about? Sudeshna Shome Ghosh, editor at Talking Cub, asked me to write it. How long did you take to write the book? About a year, including zeroing in on the personalities, research, writing and editing. What was the biggest challenge in writing this book? Was it easy to find offline research materials in US? The biggest challenge – too much information, too little information, diffused information, conflicting information. To collate it all into one structured write up was very, very hard. Offline research material wasn’t difficu...

Duckbill sprung an early surprise this summer by announcing their entry into the world of nonfiction books. Sayoni Basu, editor of Duckbill , shares  more details about their new titles. 1.Duckbill is about to add nonfiction titles to its list. Was it a long planned move? Or will you be testing the market to see the response from the market? We have always considered the idea of doing narrative non-fiction, but the challenge was to find a format which was distinctive and quirky, and which we liked. The idea for the 10s evolved somewhat organically, and we commissioned several books in the series. We are publishing four this year (which may not be a large number but does in fact constitute a quarter of our list for 2019-20) and we have six other books signed up for the next few years, and some more under discussion. So it is not really testing the market as such, as we are committed to the series. 2.       Were all the four nonfiction titles ...

Author Aditi Kay aka Anu Kumar has been known for her children's books on Indian history. How the Harappans say Hello and other Mysteries of History , Across the Seven Seas: Traveller Tales From India , and Girls From India: A Chola Adventure are some of her books. She shares info about her new book from Hachette. How did this project come about?                                            I’ve worked with Vatsala, editorial director at Hachette children’s publishing, on quite a few books, and so when she had the idea for this one, I happily agreed, and worked out a list. A hundred names that she vetted and then I went on to do the research, write it all out. How long did you take to write the book? I had to work on a few other things so I daresay it took a bit longer than I envisaged. I’d say around 2-3 months. What was the biggest challenge in writing this...