shyamala's world

  Written and illustrated by  Nancy Raj,  It's My Colour  emerged from a workshop jointly conducted by Tulika Books and Parag Trust in 2018. Published by Tulika books, the picture book is ideal for chidlren of ages 3-8 years. Chennai based Nancy Raj gives more details about the book which marks her debut as an author. Your thoughts about writing and illustrating a book for the first time. While I naturally paid attention to forms, shapes, composition, colour palette and other visual aspects of storytelling, this book gave me the opportunity to imagine and think of words, texts, it’s expressions and narration for the first time. This was a challenging journey but a joyful one.   Also, this  is my first attempt making mystical characters and scenes. Flying lorries, talking tomatoes, carrots as pirates etc. I have always drawn only people and their everyday life in India. (Except once some Indian wildlife for Pratham’s Achoo ) This book has mystical creat...

Author and illustrator Ashok Rajagopalan's has arrived with a new adventure for his adorable elephant, Gajapati Kulapati. It's the fourth book in the popular picture book series from Tulika Publishers.If you have enjoyed the previous books, you will love this one too!       1. Has Gajapati Kulapati aged in the new story? No, Gajapati Kulapati never ages. In fact, nobody in the series ages. That village exists in a timeless dimension, you can say. 2. Did the popularity of the previous GK books make you more conscious in choosing the right plot for this book? Yes, I always have the fear of the story not living up to reader expectation. The theme is easy to choose; it's usually something to do with issues kids or their  parents have: colds, tummy aches, allergy to baths ... But the way the story is to be told is most important. It has to create a laugh-out-loud funny, noisy, feel-goodexperience. That requires some work. 3. Do some/all of the minor characters from the pr...

What makes me Me ? is a nonfiction picture book by Poorva Agrawal from the house of Tulika. In early 2019  Tulika Books invited ideas from the public for a series of nonfiction picture books.  The creators of selected ideas were asked to attend a workshop in Chennai.  What makes me Me? by Poorva Agarwal was one of the books which emerged out of the workshop which was held in association with the Parag Trust. Big bold and colourful illustrations by Maithili Joshi makes thIs book encourages children to think and discuss what makes them unique from others.  Picture Courtesy : Poorva Agarwal . 1. How much of this book was inspired by your two kids? The book was not inspired by my children at all actually! It was inspired by a curriculum that we were trying to create in a school called Akshara Vidyaashram in Cuddalore, where I used to teach.  The very first verse, however, is totally based on conversations about evolution, wit...

Scholastic India's  Puu has created a buzz even before its release.   Puu is the work of author  C.G. Salamader and  artist Samidha Gunjal.  The pink on the cover  is highly deceptive. Puu  is  the  tamil word for flowers.   However there is nothing  flowery about the book's theme.   Puu is India's first  children's book on manual scavenging. T his dehumanising practice  continues to exist all across  India e ven though it  was outlawed over two decades ago.                                                     There are many stages to solving any problem- awareness, finding optimal solutions  and their successful implementation . This book creates awareness about manual scavenging. Salamander's text and  Samidha's visuals work in ...

Illustration notes are guidelines shared by the author to a book's illustrator. Not all picture books need illustration notes. The text is enough to bring a book to life. Nonfiction books on specific topics  may need  illustration notes as accuracy is important.  Some fiction books may have one or two illustration notes to comunicate the twist in the story through an illustration. Shruti Rao's engaging picture book, Look Again!(Pratham Books) relies heavily on illustration notes. Artist    Kalyani Ganapathy has done a wonderful job bringing Shruthi's imagination to life.  About the book, Shruthi says,"I got this idea one morning,in those hazy moments before I completely woke up from sleep. It was just the seed of the idea. Over the next couple of days, I thought up some appropriate situations, and wrote them down." Do browse through the ebook before you scroll down to read the illustration notes.  Look Again!(Pratham Books) ...