shyamala's world

Delhi based children's author Deepa Agarwal has come out with a new book dealing with illiteracy  and girl empowerment. Released by Hachette, Blessed, is a gripping middle grade book filled with intriguing twists and turns. Find out more about Deepa's latest book and her writing in this interview.                                                      Hachette is extremely choosy when it comes to publishing fiction titles.  What do you think tilted the scale in Blessed ’s favour? Well, frankly speaking, you should ask my editor Vatsala Kaul Banerjee! I  think it was the theme of education for girls that appealed to her. You  know, in children’s book publishing, the general belief is that original  fiction by Indian authors does not sell well. For this reason, I was  overjoyed and extremely grateful when Hachette accepte...

On Your Marks- The Books of  Crazy Exam Stories  from Talking Cub (an imprint of the Speaking Tiger) is a collection of short stories by new and veteran authors of children’s books. The anthology has been edited by Sudeshna Shome Ghosh. Some of the contributors to this anthology shared a few details about their st ories.   Title : The Happy Birthday Exam Song Author :  Andaleeb Wajid Description :  Anandita has crammed for her Chemistry exam but when she enters class, someone sings a song that instantly gets lodged in her head and she forgets all the equations she has learned. What will she do now? Inspiration : Sometimes a song gets stuck in our heads and nothing can remove it. Imagine if that were to happen to during an exam! *   Title : Gorilla and the girl Author : Menaka Raman  Description : I t's about a young girl who's very bright but doesn't really test well. Inspiration: T here are many children out t...

Deepa Agarwal is an award winning writer who has written over 50 books in various genres and for different age groups.  She is one of the rare , enthusiastic children authors who is comfortable promoting her books through school visits and internet.  The Scholastic Book of Hindu Gods and Goddesses  is her forthcoming title. Caravan to Tibet ,  Go Girl  and  Listen O King  are some of her middle grade books. To know about her visit  www.deepaagarwal.com Since virtual author visits are one of the convenient ways to promote a book from home, Kahani  Takbak interviewed Deepa to know more details. 1.What should be the ideal duration of a  virtual author visit? I think 30-45 minutes are enough. 2.                    What should be the criteria for selecting a school for a visitor author visit? The schools approached me directl...

  School visits are becoming an essential part of the business of writing books for children. The role of the reading habit in education is gaining weight and more and more schools are inviting authors to interact with their students.   These visits provide an ideal opportunity for authors to engage directly with their audience. You can receive immediate feedback on your work or at least introduce it, if the children are not familiar with your writing.I have found that just an hour spent chatting with a group of lively youngsters can be extremely stimulating too. You do want to make it memorable for your audience. Toensure a pleasant and fruitful experience for yourself as well, the first step is to sort out the essential details when you get such an invitation from a school, your publisher or a bookseller. Such as: ·        School details—address, phone number and directions to get there ·        Age grou...

Why did you choose to write about Vikram and Vetaal? ​ Actually the request came from the publisher. My editor Sohini Mitra told me that they had a translation by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Chandra Rajan in the Penguin Classics series and wanted to bring out a child friendly version. As you know, these tales have passed into the realm of children's literature though the written Sanskrit texts are not really suitable for kids. Many years back, I had done a selection of 14 stories for Scholastic India titled  The   Tricky Tales of Vikram and Vetal  so I asked the editor Tina Narang if it was OK to write them again for another publisher. She was kind enough to give permission. ​  2.  How easy or difficult was it researching on those stories? Was the book easily available in the library? Generally libraries charge a lot just to allow people to handle these ancient texts and photocopy them? Did you face any challenges in the library? ​ You are absolut...