Nominations open for children's authors, illustrators

Authors and illustrators of children's literature in Indian languages can now take a shot at winning the 'Big Little Book Award,' that recognises significant contribution of authors and illustrators of children's literature.
Nominations for the BLB award, instituted by Parag, an initiative of Tata Trusts in association with Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, is open till June 30 this year and is seeking nominations from publishers, librarians, academicians and experts.
The award is in two categories - one for author and the other for illustrator or artist.
"Children's literature and books have been a neglected category in Indian publishing, with a handful of publishers striving to publish stories that reflect the multicultural and multilingual world that children grow up in today," organisers said.

The BLB award will recognise authors and illustrators who have written and illustrated stories "that connect with children, make them laugh, encourage them to think, introduce them to new ideas and cultures, are inclusive and balance the traditional with the contemporary."
In literature, illustrations can tell a story or add several layers to the text.

"Illustrations need to have humour and fun because children enjoy that the most. At the same time they need to address social biases, champion values of sustainable development, equality of gender, caste and religion and break stereotypes," says Swaha Sahoo, who leads the Parag Initiative.

Sahoo says "many of us grew up reading Western authors and Russian books. But today, children's publishing in India is vibrant and active. We have stories from across the country, young characters that speak to children and reflect our sensibilities and struggles. Childhood in books is not foreign anymore."
The first award will be given out at the Mumbai Litfest later this year.
Anil Dharkar, founder and festival director feels the Big Little Book Award adds the missing dimension to the popular literature festival.
"Due to a variety of reasons, children's book publishing in India still lags woefully behind in the overall publishing scene. It was this thought which made Tata Trusts come up with the idea of these awards. We at Literature Live! welcomed the idea immediately and agreed to make it part of our annual literary festival," Dharkar said.

"Hopefully, this will encourage writers and illustrators, as well as publishers, to strive for world class quality in future publications," he said.
While nominations from illustrators from all languages are invited, only authors in Marathi are eligible to be shortlisted, organisers said.