Mumbai witnessed a celebration of literature at the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest from 25th – 29th October. The festival also celebrated the best of Indian children’s books and their creators through the Second Binod Kanoria Children’s Book Awards, that were presented at the festival on Saturday, 28th October.
These awards celebrate excellence in Indian Children’s Literature in five categories: Early Readers (Hindi), Early Readers (English), Middle Grade (English), Young Adults, and Illustrations. “The Binod Kanoria Awards for Children’s Literature believes that children’s literature is a unique and valuable space in the literary field and merits an exclusively tailored award. It recognises that high quality creative content plays an important role in a child’s life and must be encouraged,” read their press release.
The winners of the 2023 awards are:
Early Reader
Shobha Viswanath for Keshav’s Kolam (illustrated by Leeza John)
Published by Karadi Tales
Middle Grade
Lesley D. Biswas for A Conspiracy in Calcutta
Published by Duckbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Honourable Mention
Vaishali Shroff for Batata, Pao and All Things Portuguese: A Bird’s Eye View of Estado da India
Published by The People Place Project
Young Adult
Mallika Ravikumar for The District Cup
Published by Penguin Random House
Hindi Early Reader
रेगिस्तान में बस – कवि- प्रभात
Published by Jugnoo Prakasan, Ektara Trust
Illustration
Barkha Lohia for a Tree of my Own
Published by Speaking Tiger Books
The awards were selected through a selection process that included a longlist, shortlist and winners. Each of the awards categories are judged by a jury of three, drawn from the most experienced and respected names in children’s publishing, education and library/reading professionals. The Awards comprise a medal and a cash prize of Rs. 50,000.
The Jury for the 2023 English Early and Middle Grade Awards Awards includes Paro Anand, children’s author; Uma Krishnaswami, author and professor; Sujata Noronha, educator and founder director of Bookworm. For the Hindi Awards, a jury of Udayan Vajpeyi, poet, playwright, speaker and editor; Manoj Kumar, professor, educator and children’s hindi publishing specialist; Dr Mukul Priyadarshini, professor and consultant; was formed. Illustrator Proiti Roy; illustrator and professor Deepa Balsavar; and artist, writer, filmmaker, educator Nina Sabnani formed the jury for the Illustrator Awards.
