Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Boy Who Drew Cats

Anushka Ravishankar reads from our lovely picture book The Boy Who Drew Cats. Don't miss it if you're in Delhi!


Friday, August 30, 2013

RIP Pulak Biswas

“I wish children's literature and illustration were taken more seriously in the country. Creating for children is an extremely serious business, it just needs better recognition like in the western countries.” – Pulak Biswas


We are incredibly sad to hear about the death of Pulak Biswas, one of India's best-known and most accomplished children's book illustrators. He will sorely be missed. 

Pulak Biswas was one of the most senior children’s book illustrators in India. After training at the Government College of Art, Kolkata, Biswas worked for many years in the advertising industry. He was the recipient of an UNESCO fellowship for advanced studies in Graphic Design and Illustration. He also studied at Hornsey College, London, and the Rietvald Academy, Amsterdam. In the 1980s, Pulak Biswas left advertising graphics and joined the cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai at the Children's Book Trust, New Delhi. Pulak’s artwork is represented in several public and private collections. He has also held several solo and group exhibitions in India and Europe.

His book, A Day in the Life of Maya of Mohenjo-Daro, written by Mulk Raj Anand, earned its publisher Children's Book Trust, India, an Honorary Mention at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 1969. In 1992-93, he won the National Award for Children's Literature for Ashok's New Friends, written by Deepa Agarwal. In 1999, his book Tiger on a Tree written by Anushka Ravishankar, won the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava, and in 2005 was listed in the American Library Association’s List of Notable Books. The book Hensparrow Turns Purple written by Gita Wolf, won the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava Plaque in 1999. 

In the meanwhile, here's one of our absolute favourite illustrations from him.


He will always be remembered. 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Jumpstart

Shobha Viswanath, Publishing Director of Karadi Tales will be at Jumpstart tomorrow and the day after!



At a panel discussion "Speaking in Tongues" at 04:30 PM on 29 August 2013, she speaks on translation.

Translation is tricky. Dialogue is difficult. How can we know that a book that works in one language will work in another? Which stories travel? Which ones 'stick'? Why are there so few children’s books translated from one Indian language to another? Are illustrations just as culture-bound as words? Join our panel of award-winning translators, publishers and writers, as we look at the critical role of translation in a multilingual country and an increasingly inter-connected world. 

She also participates in the Book Souk. a chance for authors, designers, illustrators and miscellaneous ideas-mongers to show their wares and samples other peoples’at JUMPSTART’s very own ideas bazaar.

Don't miss out if you're in Delhi!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Karadi Titles on Publisher's Weekly!

Publisher's Weekly includes Thea's Tree, The Wednesday Bazaar, and The Fox and the Crow in their Spring 2014 Sneak Previews! One of Judith Clay's fantastic paintings from Thea's Tree also makes it to the list. It's going to be a memorable spring season indeed! 


Monday, August 26, 2013

Letter from Japan

We received this absolutely adorable handwritten letter from Japan recently. So lovely to know that we have fans all over the world!


Friday, August 23, 2013

What Do Editors Want?

On 9 August 2013, we had a fantastic panel discussion organised by the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) India Chapter. The panel was moderated by Anushka Ravishankar, author, publisher and head of SCBWI India. The panellists were Sayoni Basu of Duckbill Books, Gita Wolf of Tara Books, and our very own Shobha Viswanath.

Here are some pictures from the event!











Thursday, August 22, 2013

Debussy Special!

It's Debussy's 151st birthday. If you loved today's Google Doodle, you're sure to love our audiobook, A Quiet Courage, which includes some incredible tracks from Debussy (amongst others), rendered gorgeously by the wonderful Anil Srinivasan. Here's a trailer to the audiobook!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Andhra Path

Karadi Path conducted training sessions at the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society recently. Here are some details:

Karadi Path is unique, creative pedagogy to achieve English fluency easily, enjoyable and effectively. If is especially designed to cater to the first generation learners of English. It facilitates experimented learning through creation, music and story.

Read more here.

Monday, August 19, 2013

101 Indian Children's Books We Love!

'101 Indian Children's Books We Love!' edited by Anita Roy and Samina Mishra, published by Zubaan, is a compilation of the very best of Indian children's literature. It lists several amazing titles including books from Karadi Tales. The book is available across stores from August 2013. Here's the book cover! Do check it out. 


Friday, August 16, 2013

Another storytelling session in the USA - clips

Here are 2 wonderful clips from our storytelling session at Fremont Library in California on 3 August 2013.

Roopa Suresh tells the story of When the Earth Lost its Shapes:



And after an encore, she tells the story of Revenge of the Puppets:


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Jumpstart 2013

Don't miss Shobha Viswanath's sessions at Jumpstart 2013 in New Delhi on 29 and 30 August! Registrations here.


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Video Clips from San Jose

Roopa and Vasavi perform The Talking Cave with incredible panache at the Santa Teresa Library in San Jose on 27 July 2013. Check out video clips from the event!



Monday, August 12, 2013

Tak-Tak! Storytelling Event

Our storytellers from the Book Lovers' Program for Schools did a storytelling session at Rosary Matriculation School in Chennai on 3 August 2013. She narrated Tak-Tak! to the students of Classes 4 and 5. Here are some pictures from the event!






Friday, August 9, 2013

Karadi Path on Facebook

The Karadi Path Facebook page is now active here. Do like and share and spread the word!


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Don’t bark at English

Karadi Tales founder Cp Viswanath writes about our multilingual society:

How real is the claim that English threatens indigenous languages? Bilingualism and multilingualism come naturally to Indians simply because our environment is multilingual. Actually, multilingualism is so ubiquitous across India that we take it for granted. Yet, to the west and east of the subcontinent, this is such a rarity. Apart from the practical benefits of knowing multiple languages, research is increasingly proving that being multilingual increases brain capacity when it comes to many other cognitive learning functions.

Read the entire piece here.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Storytelling event at San Jose California

At Aram Sei's community outreach program at the Fremont Main Library in San Jose on Saturday 3 August 2013, our fantastic storytellers told the story of The Talking Cave. Here are some pictures from the event!





Friday, August 2, 2013

Another US event

If you missed us last week in San Jose, no worries, join us this Saturday at Fremont!


Thursday, August 1, 2013

Indian kidlit: More than child’s play

In The Sunday Tribune, an article on children's literature in India says:

The efforts of Karadi Tales are geared towards making the story time a pleasurable time for children through wonderful stories, theatrical narrations, gripping soundtracks, music or songs, on all media. [...]  Shobha Viswanath publishing director, Karadi Tales, says, "Children’s publishing is still a very nascent market in India. Only recently has children’s publishing expanded into wider genres and ideas. We are confident that children in India will grow to read homegrown fiction with as much interest as foreign fiction."

Read the entire piece here.