I met Devika at a talk arranged by Duckbill Books in New Delhi on the eve of Bookaroo Children’s Literature Festival, November 2014. I was inspired her passion for letting children be – let them read what they want, if they don’t want to discuss it with parents, that’s fine, she said.

Then I met her two days later again at the Duckbill breakfast and  we’ve been in touch via social media. When I started discussing books from India, Devika was my first choice for an opinion on reading by children and writing for children in India.

Dr. Devika Rangachari has won several awards for her children’s writing. Her book, Growing Up (Children’s Book Trust, 2000) was on the Honour List of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in 2002.

Here is our discussion on writing for children.

1. What books did you read growing up? What do you think are the big differences between the books of then to now?

I read anything and everything that I could lay my hands on when I was growing up. Among my favourites were Enid Blyton and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer; later, Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse and A.J. Cronin. I remember reading several Russian folktale collections as well. Indian books hardly featured in my scheme of things.

I think a significant difference between the books of then and now relates to themes.

Contemporary young adult books, for instance, focus on topics that might earlier have been considered unsuitable reading matter for children/ adolescents and would, at best, have been treated with coyness. The globalisation of literature has also played a large part in this change.

2. As a writer, how do you choose a subject or a theme for your books? Do you have a specific reader in mind? Is that reader Indian? Do you think about an international audience when you write the book?

As I am a historian, I enjoy writing historical fiction based on my research on women in early medieval India who remain invisible in the mainstream historical narrative. Through my books, I hope to counter any incipient gender bias at an early stage and make my readers aware of extraordinary women in history who do not otherwise feature in their textbooks. I don’t really have a specific reader of a particular nationality in mind, although my characters are always Indian.

If I have written it well, the book can be enjoyed by anyone anywhere.

3. Do you go into schools and the community to meet your readers? What do they tell you about today’s books and what they are reading?

Some of my publishers send me on regular school visits so that I can interact with my target audience. What is always apparent to me is that children do read despite all the naysayers and prophets of doom—and despite all the competing distractions available to them.

In addition, their reading is seamless in that they don’t particularly focus on culture-specific books but are eager to read books that emanate from anywhere in the world. International publishing phenomena are equally popular here.

Of course, there is a huge discrepancy between the reading skills and choices of children who attend private, English-medium schools and have easy access to books, and their vernacular-speaking counterparts who constitute the majority.

4. Do you wish your book would be published in the UK and US and be considered for prizes like the Carnegie?

Yes, it would be great if my books were to be published in the US and UK, and compete for the Carnegie and other prestigious writing awards. At present, there is a dearth of awards in India instituted to identify and commend the best in children’s writing.

5. What support would you like from the bookshops in India?

It would help enormously if they could display/ promote children’s books by Indian authors in a prominent manner instead of shoving them away into inaccessible, dingy corners that is largely the norm. So while one could literally stumble over stacks of Rick Riordan, for instance, one would be hard put to even locate one’s book in the average bookstore!

6. And lastly can you tell us three books from India that every child in every country should read?

The Grasshopper’s Run by Siddhartha Sarma

Swami and Friends by R K Narayan

and of course Queen of Ice by Devika Rangachari

If you  have a view and you want to discuss, join me on Twitter on 24th Apr 2015 (Friday) at 6 pm GMT with hashtag #storiesfromIndia

I met Uma a long time ago when I was just starting out. She is also from Chennai, my home-city and I was privileged that she illustrated my chapter book A Dollop of Ghee and a Pot of Wisdom, Walker Books.

Uma Krishnaswamy (And yes, she has been asked many times – she is NOT the author Uma Krishnaswami with an I at the end of her name, who lives in the US and is also from Chennai), has been illustrating since the 1980s and currently teaches Visual Studies and History of Art.

1. What is your view of India’s children’s book art in comparison to the rest of the world?

Children’s literature in India, in the now-understood format, is relatively young if compared to other traditions like the West. We must keep that in mind when we judge or more importantly make comparisons. India’s and the world’s oldest children’s collection of stories, the Panchatantra, has been illustrated by the greatest of miniature artists to sculptors in Indonesia. Long before the present book format came into being. So art is very intrinsic to our literature at the folk and classical levels.

In the past, we’ve had brilliant illustrators of children’s books like Shankar Pillai, Pulak Biswas, Mickey Patel who largely drove the CBT, NBT books. The ease with which they mixed the new format and techniques with images that actually matched the flavour of the soil, laid a solid foundation for the industry.

They introduced the Indian language idiom, which today has been taken far by innumerable talented artists. This has ensured that Indian books, especially those that emphasise Indian-ness, read folk art traditions, make a mark on the world market.

But having said that, I will add, that a certain edginess, pushing at the boundaries, and visual daring is lacking.

Perhaps our late entry into the field, quite a wide disparity among the targeted audience and definitely much lower exposure to world of images (visual literacy), are some reasons.

2. As an illustrator what are your challenges when you are working with international publishers – like do you have to compromise style or do they want you to work on only Indian books and don’t give you western mainstream books to work on? 

Personally speaking there hasn’t been any compromise on style. But I’ve never been asked to work on a western mainstream book.

For all their attempts at inclusion and multiculturalism they are unable to cross their self-drawn barrier.

It may work if one lived abroad and periodically approached the publishers. But I was told several years ago, quite categorically, that western children wouldn’t quite be able to identify with the visual language that I chose to speak in. Of course conveniently forgetting that ‘other cultures’ have had their stories illustrated in a distinctly western style, and had books sold or distributed in those regions. The question of confusion or unfamiliarity obviously doesn’t apply to the other cultures!

3. Do you think Indian artwork can challenge the status quo in the western world?

It most certainly can and should. India’s amazing and unique diversity in all spheres, including the visual traditions, and its endless ability to absorb new influences and recreate, can breach any borders. Not just India, any visual language from any region should be given that space.

A powerful image requires no translation.

4.  Do you see a difference between European and North American views of Indian books?

Regional histories, influences, considerations and environments will subtly, if not overtly influence the character of a story.

5. As an illustrator what support do you think Indian governments and other bodies should do for Indian children’s books?

National Book Trust, a Govt of India body, has been publishing quality books for children for many decades. Featuring some of the best authors and illustrators these subsidised books are translated into several languages. Very affordable, they should reach a large pool of readers. Together with the state governments, who should have their own publications, they should play an effective role.

But with the concept of school and public libraries being given such low priority, even in the private sector, I’m afraid the reading is confined to textbooks !

If this one concept is given sufficient push we will see good results, and governments can certainly ensure that in schools.

But the onus cannot be put completely on the governments, there has to be public participation.

Parents / family / society should nurture reading.

Given that we probably have one of the largest collections of folk and classical stories in the world, it is a contradiction that we give so little importance to it!

Thank you Uma, it was great to understand the illustrator’s view and your thoughtful comments about Indian illustration were quite thought-provoking.

You can read Uma’s interview to Saffron Tree here.

If you  have a view and you want to discuss, join me on Twitter on 24th Apr 2015 (Friday) at 6 pm GMT with hashtag #storiesfromIndia

A long time ago I emailed Sayoni Basu when she was at Scholastic Books, sending her my manuscripts and she was fabulous in responding to them. When she left the big publishing houses to setup a publishing house along with Anushka Ravishankar, I was in awe and of course delighted. I met Sayoni last year in person when I was at Bookaroo and she & Anushka kindly invited me over to her house to join hosts of other Duckbill writers for breakfast.

Sayoni has worked in publishing for over thirteen years, including at Oxford University Press and Penguin India. She was in charge of the children’s list at Puffin India, before she joined Scholastic India as publishing director, a position she held for several years. Most recently, she worked at ACK Media as the group publisher. Duckbill is a publishing house, run by Sayoni Basu and Anushka Ravishankar. They have been publishing books for children and young adults, since October 2012.

As part of the series of interviews ahead of our twitter chat on Indian books, I asked Sayoni some questions about books for children in India and its place in the international scene. Here is what she said.

1. What are the major challenges for an Indian children’s book publisher on the world stage and within India?

Within India: We find distribution and getting adequate display space in bookshops a major challenge.

On the world stage: well, that depends on the particular publisher. Indian picture book publishers like Tara and Karadi are doing fantastically on the world stage, but that is due to not only fantastic books but also dedicated work over the years.

For us, it is still early days on the world stage, though we were very happy to be shortlisted for the LBF International Excellence Awards.

2. When you go to Bologna, what are your impressions of the market compared to Indian books? Do we have more variety? Are Indian books lacking in any aspect ?

Considering that the English children’s book publishing industry in India (apart from the NBT and CBT and textbook publishers) is really at most twenty years old (Tara, Katha, Karadi, Tulika were all set up about twenty years ago), we have a fair amount of variety. However, there is always room for more. I think quality improvement in any industry happens over a period of time with many players each doing their best–so yes, I do think there is room for improvement, but I also feel that the improvement is happening quite swiftly now.

3. What is your experience in selling rights to world markets? Does the west want to buy very traditional content? Do they want you to fit inside the multicultural box or are they willing to look at the contemporary stuff too?

Recently, there has been more willingness to look at contemporary stuff–but this is from a few publishers with very specific interests.

By and large, India is associated with (a) cheap books of fairytales and ABCs and (b) traditional tales.

4. Do you get support from international and Indian bodies to help with the costs of attending world book fairs? Is your presence at these fairs important?

Presence at the fairs makes a huge difference as one can see what different publishers around the world are publishing, both from a point of view of learning and also in terms of looking at what publishers publish in order to pitch books to them.

I have received support only from international bodies–the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Italian Trade Commission–so far!

5. Should India carve its own space in the book market and not worry about whether US and UK buy rights? What other markets are more welcoming to Indian books?

When we publish a book at Duckbill, we are thinking solely of the Indian market.

Our aim has always been to create books that Indian children would find compelling, to enhance their enjoyment of the written word and their understanding of the world they live in. After we sign on books, yes, then we think of the rights potential and we know that there are some books which have potential to travel!

I think Indian publishers by and large focus primarily on the home market, which really is how it should be.

We do not have sufficient experience in rights selling to say that some markets are better than others. UK and US are perhaps more difficult markets to sell into. We would love to sell our books there, but also to Asia.

I think we need to read more books from other parts of Asia, and our books need to travel more there.

6. Can you recommend three Indian books that any child in any part of the world should read?

Talking of Muskaan by Himanjali Sankar

Moin and the Monster by Anushka Ravishankar

Queen of Ice by Devika Rangachari

Thank you Sayoni. Let’s hope the contemporary books that take on difficult topics (not just for India, but for the world) and stories from India get their fair recognition on the world stage and of course in Indian bookstores too.

If you  have a view and you want to discuss, join me on Twitter on 24th Apr 2015 (Friday) at 6 pm GMT with hashtag #storiesfromIndia.

I met  Dr. TanuShree Singh on Facebook when she mentioned my Bookaroo visit in Delhi. Then I found out she’s one of the biggest fan of books, especially children’s books and a super-mom. Tanu lives in Faridabad, India and teaches psychology and writes a wonderful blog at https://tanushreesingh.wordpress.com/.

When I started talking about Indian books on world stage, Tanu was an obvious expert I wanted to talk to. She has a front-seat view of children’s books in India and recommends a host of books to many friends via her Facebook Group The Reading Raccoons.

So I asked Tanu about Indian books and their place in today’s world publishing – in terms of the content.

1.     Compared to when you were a child, do you think there are more interesting Indian books on offer? What do you like about today’s bookshops and what do you not like?

Oh, absolutely! When I was a child, my access to books was limited to the library at mum’s college and a rare visit to a bookstore in Delhi. The library visit meant that I read P G Wodehouse, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and the likes. The bookstore lead us mostly to Hardy Boys, Famous five, and Nancy Drew. Picture books were unheard of. The very first ones were the translated Russian books. And Indian books were unheard of barring Feluda. So we weren’t spoilt for choices like the children of today. You have books for all age/reading levels now. 

I love visiting bookstores despite everything being cheaper online. The thing I love is the wider representation that children’s books are getting as compared to the past. There are even stores dedicated solely to children’s books!

The thing that saddens me, however, is the way Indian authors languish in a corner at most stores. Very few of them display them prominently or stock them. 

2.     Do you buy books from US and the UK for your kids? If so, what do you think are the big differences between a western book and Indian? Do we have books that engage as much as Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter?

We buy books from world over! The big difference is getting smaller by the day. Till even a few years back there was a certain amount of seriousness in whatever little children’s books that were being written here. Thankfully, there is a tremendous shift now. There is no conscious attempt to ‘preserve our culture’ via children’s books. And the experimentation in terms of genre is narrowing down the difference further. from historical fiction to horror to issues like homosexuality – everything is being tackled in children’s books here. So yes, we have books that engage.

To compare with big franchises like Harry Potter would be unfair!

3.     On an average do you think Indian books have more of a moralistic attitude to children’s reading?

Not anymore. They did – yes. But with the newer age writers and publishers, that doesn’t seem to be true anymore. The books that we have read recently have broken away from that attitude. There are some wonderful books like Flat Track Bullies, and Talking of Muskaan, which can not be called moralistic though they do address issues of the times. 

4.    Do you think Indian kids want to read for pleasure? Do all parents allow their kids to read for pleasure?

Yes they do. A big YES. And no not all parents allow their kids to read for pleasure. Quite a few parents look for life-lessons in books.Kids do not – Indian or elsewhere. And then there is the worry over appropriateness of content. Ultimately all we end up doing is pushing the child away from books. 

5.    Can you recommend three Indian books that any child in any part of the world should read?

There are many good ones out there, but these three from recent times are bound tobe loved everywhere: 

Talkingof Muskaan by Himanjali Sankar

The Adventures of Stoob – Testing Times by Samit Basu

Big Bully and M-me by Arti Sonthalia

Talking of Muskaan touches upon Homosexuality, Stoob is our average exam-hating school child, and Big Bully and M-me centres around a boy who stammers and hence is bullied. These three books transcend cultural boundaries. Stoob could be sitting in any classroom across the continent. Muskaan is every person trying to form a clear sexual identity. And Little Krish from Big Bully and M-Me could be slinking away to the corner of a classroom in any country.

 I feel that these three books distinctly break away from the constraints that make it difficult for a book to reach out to children from other countries. 

Thank you Tanu, that gives a wonderful view into contemporary Indian books and as someone who grew up reading more western books than Indian I’m so happy that is changing fast now.

If you want to join us on a twitter chat about Indian books, join me on Twitter on 24th Apr 2015 (Friday) at 6 pm GMT with hashtag #storiesfromIndia. Find out more here.