shyamala's world

  C.G.Salamander aka Andrew David is out with two mystery chapter books for young readers in the 6-10 years. While Yamini and the 7PM Ghosts is published by Scholastic India, Moodunnit is from Duckbill(Penguin Random House).Andrew shared a bit of information for his readers about his new releases. 1. You seem to be on a mystery book writing spree. Passing phase? Or just testing to your writing abilities in this genre? I am, and it's so much fun! I just sent out a middle grade mystery the other day, and I have a chapter book mystery that I'm editing at the moment. So, I don't think it's a passing phase, I've always enjoyed writing mystery and I think I'm going to continue to enjoy it. You are right about the exploring my writing abilities bit though, and more so when I write across age groups. For really young readers, I write like I'm rooting for them to solve the mystery, I'm sneaky with middle grade books, and with YA, I genuinely want to make a mo...

Bengaluru based award winning children's  author Asha Nehemiah is out with a new book for early readers. Part of Duckbill(PRH) Hook Book series, The Grand Chapati Contest is a delectable tale around the simple chapati. Chetan Sharma's illustrations are captivating and Asha's story engages the readers till the end. Asha Nehemiah shares more about her book written in simple language for 5-7 years.                                   1. What inspired you to write The Grand Chapati Contest? I’m quite an adventurous and experimental cook. I can make fancy cakes and biryanis and even my hand-rolled lasagna sheets! But I’ve always failed miserably at making soft, round chapatis.  That’s what gave me the idea. I had to set the story in a palace – because who else but a queen could organise a ‘Grand Chapati Contest’?   2. Have you ever taken part in a Chapati making contest? How good are you at ma...

The fourth book in PRH Duckbill's nonfiction series for 8-12-year-old  kids, 10 Indian Champions Who Are Fighting To Save the Planet  is an  interesting read about people who are doing their bit to preserve the  environment for the present and future generations. This book  spotlights  ten eco champions and equips with you with information  to do your bit for the environment.  A must for every home and school library! Radha Rangarajan, co-author of this book, shares more details.                                          1. What criteria did you choose to shortlist the champions for this book?   We first came up with a list of names of all the inspiring people who have worked on and are continuing to work on wildlife conservation, research and environmental issues. Some of the topics we wanted to cover were - birds, large mammals, marin...

                                        Children's author and champion of big and small animals, Ranjit Lal,  shares his thoughts on his latest nonfiction book from Duckbill - 10 Indian Animals You May Never Again See In The Wild. 1. You have been writing about animals for the past few decades. What visible change in perceptions do you see in children then and now? I hope children are more sensitive and aware that animals too exist in the world and are vital to its functioning. Usually, it's the parents (my generation and even later) that are the problem: 'kaatega'! it will bite, don't touch or pet it..., if you don't eat your food it will eat you!' 2. Which of the ten animals mentioned in the book can be brought back from the brink of extinction? Hopefully all, though the prognosis for the bustard, Ganges river dolphin look very bleak indeed. The bigger, more 'cha...

Bhutan based author Evan Purcell is out with a new book on monsters. Published by Duckbill, this  middle grade book is a part of a series.Evan shared a few thoughts on his new creation, Karma Fights a Monster. You have been writing romances and horror for adults in the past. This is your first middle grade book. Why did you choose to write for a young audience instead of adults ? First of all, writing for grown-ups is a lot of fun. There are fewer rules, and there’s no limit to the content or tone. It’s really freeing. For me, though, I prefer writing YA and middle grade. Deep down, maybe I’m still a twelve-year-old. I find it easier to write about monsters and creatures than about more grown-up problems. Plus, I’m a teacher. I spend time with kids every day. I see the issues they face and the choices they make. I want them to have literature that they can learn from and relate to, literature that’s scary and funny, but always relatable. (Plus, I really like monsters.) ...

                                                  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...

Habib Ali is the illustrator of the award winning picture book, Neel on Wheels .   Written by  Lavanya Karthik and published by Duckbill , this book  was a winner in the Children First competition organised by Parag Trust and Duckbill. A riot of imagination, this rhyming book is a visual delight.   Habib Ali tells us more about his recent releases. How did this book come about? My alma mater, Riyaaz Academy, had set up a stall at the World Book Fair in 2017. My illustrator friends and I  had exhibited our artworks. I met Ms Sayoni Basu(editor of Duckbill books). She liked my artwork. A few weeks later, I received an email from Duckbill inviting me to work on a book. How difficult was it to create  images for this book?In every spread,the wheelchair arrives in a new avatar. Did the manuscript come with illustration notes? It was indeed challenging to create layouts for the book. Several of my final artworks had be abandoned. It...

Primary Platypus of Duckbill books, Sayoni Basu was a part of Kahani Takbak’s first anniversary celebrations. The following is a transcript from her live chat titled  What publishers look for in kids’ fiction?  The following questions were asked by participants of the live chat: If I write something on a topic that's 'current', will it still make sense for it to be made into a book that could be read next year or even some years later... I think it depends on your writing. No topic every totally disappears from public consciousness, and in fact one of the important ways in which a book differs from a magazine piece is that it needs to bring some additional angles to the story, or different points of view. Like poetry, it is often after an emotion has been reflected on in tranquillity that something of lasting value can emerge. If one were to write a coming of age book set in the 90s do you think it would resonate with digital natives today? Yes, I ...