Inspired by India – An event with Nehru Centre

Posted on By csoundar

Lantana Publishing and the Nehru Centre had arranged a panel event to discuss two recent books in 2018, created by writers and illustrators of Indian origin.

Poonam Mistry and I talked about our first book together – You’re Safe With Me. Ranjith Singh and Mehrdokht Amini discussed their book Nimesh the Adventurer. The panel was chaired by Alice Curry, publisher and co-founder of Lantana Publishing.

The event started with a short intro about our growing up with photos and a little taste of our Indian influence and in Mehrdokht’s case her Iranian upbringing. We also talked about whether we had started writing and drawing at an early stage.

Alice asked us questions about our books – especially about the setting. While You’re Safe with Me is set in an Indian forest, Nimesh the Adventurer is set in a London neighbourhood similar to Southall. We talked about how creating books for western audiences differ from writing for an Indian audience. We also discussed the benefit or hindrance of labels and being known as “Indian” creators, rather than creators who happen to be Indian.

It was wonderful to see so many friends, well-wishers and industry peers and professionals who attended the event. Apart from signing books, we also had the joy of enjoying the art gallery currently on display at Nehru Centre.

Here is a quick preview of some photos…

The highlight of the evening was of course illustrator Sarah McIntyre drawing us as we spoke. You see above the panel in her artwork. And here below is a very accurate picture of me, in my new sari from India.

Thank you Sarah

Talking About Empathy at Stoke Newington Festival

Posted on By csoundar

Empathy Lab and Stoke Newington Festival invited me to present a storytelling and Empathy workshop with You’re Safe With Me, which is on the list of #EmpathyReads for this year.

Many young families with babies to 10-year olds were present, eager to listen to a story and talk about empathy. I started the session asking about the difference between sympathy and empathy.

It was easier for some 8-year olds to explain sympathy to me. And then slowly we discussed the concept of empathy. Find out more here. As I explained the various elements of it, even five year olds could relate to it. One child put up its hand to explain how she knew a friend of hers was hurt in the playground the previous day, and how she felt sorry.

Then I told them the story from You’re Safe With Me. We had one avid listener who was fascinated with Mama Elephant and he was so worried why she didn’t appear in every spread in the book. The new animals they had seen in the story – loris and pangolin touched their curiosity. And when I explained about pangolins and how we need to save them – one child remembered and asked about it during the activity time we had.

The hall was full of young children who were fascinated with the story of thunderstorms, thunder, lightning, the hungry river and the loud wind. They actively participated.

 

And then came the activity. We had Empathy postcards (check out the resources on the Empathy Lab website) and I explained to the children that we are going to make a wish for someone else.

Here are some of the wishes they came up with during the session:

  1. My Nan, because she needs an operation in her eye and she needs to get better to look after Grandpa.
  2. My grandpa because he is on a stretcher and he needs to get better.
  3. My teacher because she spends a lot of time preparing for class.
  4. My friend – I want her to be my best friend forever.
  5. I want my friend to have a pedal bike too because I have one.
  6. I wish for David Attenborough to save more animals

 

Here are some hilarious ones!

  1. I wish Donald Trump would not be President.
  2. I wish Prince Harry a happy honeymoon.
  3. Joanna, write a new book. (On asking who Joanna was, of course it was J K Rowling! Duh!)

And this one broke my heart – I wish my friend would be nicer to me. I spoke to this little girl and we talked about how she could find out more about why her friend might be rude to her. And maybe she should also say how she feels like, to her friend.

After that wonderful time writing wishes for someone else, they did colouring in and made masks (you can download them here). Towards the end of the session, one child had a tantrum when he had to go home. “I don’t want to go!” he declared. Another came to me and said, “Thank you for the story.” And her little sister, perhaps just four, said, “I loved your story, you made my day.” And she gave me a hug.

via GIPHY

It’s my privilege to be able to write and tell stories to children. And when I know I touched a few hearts and helped them to discuss the thoughts behind the stories, it makes all the trouble worth it.

When I write a new story, I might know who might like it or what ingredients should go into it. Even when the book is out there, you don’t know who it’s going to reach. But when it actually connects, the circle is complete and that’s when the book is truly an agent for change.

12th June is celebrated as Empathy Day across the UK. Find out more here and perhaps you will find the time this 12th June,

  1. to read one of the books from this year’s list,
  2. share your Empathy inspiring books and
  3. take one action that reflects empathy.

Follow Empathy Lab on Twitter here. You can follow me on Twitter here and on Instagram here. From now up to 12th June and of course after that, we will be discussing empathy, recommending books and sharing ideas, experiences and more.

An Earth Day Message

Posted on By csoundar

Earth Day was founded decades ago in 1970 to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.

For me personally Earth Day has always meant the day we celebrate the workings of this planet and get out of its way. As humans, we have exploited its riches, corroded its wealth and in many situations ignored the earth’s reactions to our actions.

As a spiritual Buddhist and a practicing Hindu, I believe that every action we take changes the world in a small way. That action can’t be undone and that action sets off a chain reaction into this world – be that a smile or a plastic I discard.

The other thing I believe is the earth has patterns and intelligent behaviour. It moves with certainty and it knows the steps of the dance. From the tides of the ocean, to the winds of autumn to the thunderstorms that bring torrential rain.

While many natural phenomenon are terrifying – be it a volcano or a forest fire or a thunderstorm, the earth has a reason. And therefore understanding them, having a healthy respect for their powers is an important lesson for all humans.

One of the reasons I wrote You’re Safe With Me was to demystify thunderstorms – not with facts but with imagination and a bit of poetry. They’re not fearful – they have a job to do for this earth. The wind brings seeds from faraway places to plant the forests. Thunder brings clouds full of water. The river eats the shadows of the night and as the night clears, she too is clear and sparkling.

Earth Day is for everyone who wants to do their bit to fix the planet we live on – because this is the only one we’ve got. And this year, 2018 is the year we pledge to rid our lives of plastic. Find out more here about how Earth Day movement across the world this year is mobilising citizens of this world to End Plastic Pollution.

Here are some Earth Day Tips that everyone can follow in their everyday lives.

Check out more here. And do you have other ideas? Tweet them to @csoundar or share them with your friends and family.

A Month in a Writer’s Life

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The last month has been hectic for so many reasons. Through March I was still doing school visits as part of the World Book Day celebrations which have started to extend into the month.

Through snow and rain, I’ve been to 11 schools during March and April, to meet with children to work with them on storytelling and creative writing. It’s always a joy to meet children who have read my books, and my website and have interesting questions to ask.

 

All school events are different – in some the classes are small and in some I talk to a whole year group or key stage. This year I had the opportunity to talk to children about both my picture books and stories from my chapter books.

I visited West Earlham Junior too, where I’m the patron of reading and we wrote poems and riddles in each class and the children enjoyed their time making what would be on their imaginary’s teacher’s table.

Alongside the school events, I was also at the Bexley Half-term festivals to tell stories at the Bexley libraries, which was super fun because I  met a lot of parents and their young children who had come to listen to Farmer Falgu stories.

The summer term is here now and I’ll be visiting more schools. I’ll be at more schools across England and Wales in May and June. I’ll also be doing public events in the summer. You can find out more about my events here.

But here’s the conundrum of an author and a writer who writes stories for children. I love meeting my readers and I go into schools and libraries just to do that. So when do I write my next stories? Every week I set aside time to write, whether it’s the weekend or early mornings before I head out – so that I’ll be writing new stories all the time. Find out more about my new books here.

So that’s a wrap so far. More exciting news to follow. If you’re not already subscribing to this blog, please do so you can get all of these news before anyone else.

Lists, editor’s choice and more

Posted on By csoundar

This week has been brilliant so far. I’m recovering from a bout of flu and I need all the good news I can get.

Earlier this week we found out that Pattan’s Pumpkin, published by Candlewick Press in the US has been added to the 2018 Notable Social Studies Book list! It’s an amazing honour and also I’m glad many schools and children will be able to find out more about this wonderful story.

Then a casual glance at last year’s round-ups of books published in the US led me to this wonderful list. The School Library Journal had created a 2017 list of folktales and fairytales and Pattan’s Pumpkin is featured in that too.

And some exciting news about my upcoming title with Lantana Publishing. You’re Safe With Me has won a lot of praise for its wonderful artwork and the stunning design. Fiona Noble has chosen it as her editor’s choice for the 2018 May releases of this year in The Bookseller this week!

You’re Safe With Me is also chosen as an empathy read by Empathy Lab. Find out more here.

And if you have missed this news from before A Jar of Pickles and a Pinch of Justice is on the shortlist for the Surrey Libraries Children’s Book Award.