India News | Ruskin Bond, Jerry Pinto Books in Parag Honour List 2022
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Ruskin Bond, Jerry Pinto and Kamla Bhasin are among 40 odd authors whose books have been made it to the Parag Honour List 2022, which features works for children and young adults published in the past one year across Hindi and English.
New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) Ruskin Bond, Jerry Pinto and Kamla Bhasin are among 40 odd authors whose books have been made it to the Parag Honour List 2022, which features works for children and young adults published in the past one year across Hindi and English.
The third edition of the Parag Honour List was announced by the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts on Tuesday and has a wide range of original writings across categories like picture books, chapter books, and young adult books.
This year, over 200 books were received from 23 Indian publishers, published between October 2020 and September 2021, and 38 of them in English and 9 books in Hindi across genres were selected.
With a focus on curating a comprehensive collection of remarkable literature in English and in Hindi, the list aims to promote access to good quality children's literature that librarians, teachers, parents and children can refer to and read.
Among the books in English are Bond's "Hop On: My Adventures on Boats, Trains and Planes" and "How to be a Writer"; "The Secret World of Mehlli Gobhai: The Man Who Found Art Everywhere" by Pinto; "Animal Alphabet" by Manjula Padmanabhan; "Postbox Kashmir: Two Lives in Letters" by Divya Arya; and Lavanya Karthik's "The Boy Who Played with Light - Satyajit Ray" and "When Adil Speaks, Words Dance".
The Hindi books in the list include Bhasin's "Betiyaan bhi chahein Azaadi"; Sushil Shukla's "Machhali Nadi Kholke Baithi" and "Ye Sara Ujala Suraj Ka"; and Shriprasad's "Bees Kachodi Poodhi Tees".
Amrita Patwardhan, head (education) at Tata Trusts, said with the number of books being published for children on the rise, it is important to help readers including librarians and parents with recommendations of good books.
"The Parag Honour List is a first of its kind effort in India, of an annual independently curated list of noteworthy books published in Hindi and English across genre and age-groups. An independent jury with a deep understanding of children's literature reviews a number of entries and curates PHL," she said.
The jury for the English language category comprised Anita Balasubramanian, co-founder of The Learning Network; and authors Jeeva Raghunath and Manjiri Nimbkar.
The jury members in the Hindi category were poet Arun Kamal, and academicians Gurbachan Singh and Prachi Kalra.
Talking about the list, Nimbkar said, "The books handle diverse topics and are beautifully crafted. Some are funny and entertaining while others handle delicate issues very sensitively while still others introduce the reader to the life's work of contemporary heroes."
Kalra added, "The Parag Honour List is about the pleasure of binge reading! Just drown yourself in the best books."
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