This year’s winners reflect the richness and diversity of storytelling for young readers. In the Early Readers (6-8 years) category, Rajiv Eipe won for Hello Sun (Pratham Books). The Middle Grade (9-13 years) award went to Nandini Nayar for Are There Bun Shops in the Jungles of India (Hachette). In the Young Adult (YA) category, Shabnam Minwalla was recognized for Zen (Penguin Random House), with an Honourable Mention awarded to Andaleeb Wajid for Henna Start-Up (Penguin Random House). Aditi Anand was celebrated in the Illustration category for What Happened to Grandpa (Penguin Random House), and the Hindi Literature award (Early Readers, 6-8 years) was presented to Nandita for Buxa (Big Beetle Books).
The awards include a cash prize of INR 50,000, a citation from the jury, and a medal. Winners were selected through an exhaustive process from submissions across the country and by major mainstream publishers as well as independent publishers.
Jury members comprised a diverse group who brought a wide range of perspectives to the evaluation of beautiful, relevant and meaningful works of children’s literature. This year, our juries were: Early Reader/Middle Grade - much loved, award-winning authors Asha Nehemiah and Parinita Shetty and the amazing Aashti Mudnani of Bangalore Lightroom bookstore; Hindi jury - Asghar Wajahatji former Professor of Hindi and well known Hindi fiction writer, novelist, playwright; Mihir Pandya, Hindi Professor, author and editor, filmmaker; Nidhi Qazi, writer and an educator with Parag, working with teachers through Parag’s offerings of professional development courses on library practices and children’s literature; Illustrations jury - Priya Kuriyan prolific award-winning illustrator; Suddhasattwa Basu, award-winning Illustrator and educator; Dr. Alka Hingorani, Associate Professor, School of Design IIT; YA jury - Jerry Pinto and Venita Coehlo award-winning authors and Parul Kaushik who brings many years of marketing experience from international publishers like PRH and Harper Collins India.
