Mumbai, February
13, 2021.
Parag
Initiative of Tata Trusts today announced the Parag Honour List 2021, featuring a wide range of original
writings in the category of picture books, young readers and young adults, across
fiction, non-fiction and poetry genres.Currently
in its second edition, Parag Honour List isa curated
collection of outstanding books in English and in Hindi, for children and young
adults, by the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts.
The list,
published annually, comprises noteworthy books of the year with brief
information about each title. Experts in the children’s literature sector
create it with careful screening and multiple reviews. For this year, Parag
received books from 26 Indian publishers, published between October 2019 to September
2020.
Parag Honour
List aims to promote access to a comprehensive curated list of good quality
children’s literature that librarians, teachers, parents and children can refer
to and read.
HINDI BOOKS FEATURED
IN THE PARAG HONOUR LIST 2021 |
||
BOOK |
AUTHOR |
PUBLISHER |
Kya Tum Ho Meri Daadi? |
Sonika Deshpande |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Jungle Kiska |
Samita Uika |
Muskaan |
Taarik ka Suraj |
Shashi Sablok |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Mitti |
Madhu Dhruve |
Muskaan |
School Mein Humne Seekha Aur Sikhaya |
Nikeeta Dhruve |
Muskaan |
Chaar Cheetiyaan |
Shyam Sushil |
Eklavya |
Godam |
Vinod Kumar Shukl |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Tees ki Murgi Bees Mein |
Sankalan |
Eklavya |
Bhool Bhulaiya |
Sankalan |
Eklavya |
Tum Bhi Aana |
Naveen Sagar |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Bhai Tu Aisi Kavita Kyun Karta Hai? |
Sushil Shukl |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Mera Khachhar Danda Hai |
Sankalan |
Eklavya |
Ek Chor Ki Chaudah Raatein |
Arun Kamal |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Pehli Udaan |
Amit Kumar |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
Hawa Mithaai |
Arun Kamal |
Jugnoo Prakashan |
ENGLISH BOOKS FEATURED
IN THE PARAG HONOUR LIST 2021 |
||
BOOK |
AUTHOR |
PUBLISHER |
A Saree for Ammi |
Mamta Nainy |
Tulika Publishers |
Ammachi's Incredible
Investigation |
Vinayak Varma |
Pratham Books |
Bombay Ducks,Bombay Docks |
Fleur D’Souza |
Pratham Books |
Tail Tale |
Anushka Ravishankar |
Tara Books |
The Laddoo Code |
Saksham Arora |
Pratham Books |
The Miracle on Sunderbaag
Street |
Nandita Da Cunha |
Kalpavriksh |
Zakir
and His Tabla: Dha Dhin Na |
Sandhya Rao |
Tulika Publishers |
Friends
Behind Walls |
Harshikaa
Udasi |
Puffin
Books by Penguin Random House India |
Mini's
Questions |
Nandini
Nayar |
HarperCollins
Publishers India |
My
Daddy and the Well |
Jerry
Pinto |
Duckbill
Books by Penguin Random House India |
Nadya |
Debasmita
Dasgupta |
Scholastic
India Pvt Ltd |
The
Piano: Story of a Friendship |
Nandita
Basu |
Duckbill
Books by Penguin Random House India |
Who's
There? |
Hansda
Sowvendra Shekhar |
Duckbill
Books by Penguin Random House India |
Girl
Power |
Neha
J. Hiranandani |
Scholastic
India Pvt Ltd |
The Swan Car of Nabha and other Unusual Stories
from History |
Live
History India |
HarperCollins
Publishers India |
Journey
to the Forbidden City |
Deepa
Agarwal |
Puffin
Books by Penguin Random House India |
Queen
of Earth |
Devika
Rangachari |
Duckbill
Books by Penguin Random House India |
Candid
Tales – India on a Motorcycle |
Adithi
Rao |
HarperCollins
Publishers India |
Unearthed
– An Environmental History of Independent India |
Meghaa
Gupta |
Puffin
Books by Penguin Random House India |
First
Katha Book of Haiku, Senryu, Tanka and Haibun |
Various
Poets |
Katha
|
Soha Ali Khan, author and actor, wholaunched the list
today, shared her views on the initiative, she said, “I am happy and excited to
launch the Parag Honour List 2021. Reading is crucial to building critical
citizens. Curated reading lists such as PHL can support educators, librarians
and parents to know about the best Indian children’s books being published each
year. I congratulate the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts for its effort in
popularising Indian publishers, authors and illustrators.”
Swaha Sahoo – Head, Parag Initiative, Tata Trusts: “Parag Honour List 2021 features 35 titles in Hindi and
English. The collection was created after careful screening and multiple
reviews by experts of children’s literature. At the launch of PHL last year we
received enthusiastic responses from parents, teachers and children, with many
marking books they wanted to read. We hope that the PHL 2021 also enables
access and awareness about outstanding Indian books for children and young
adults.”
Dr Suneeta Mishra, a jury member for
Parag Honour List 2021 and a linguistics professor in the Department of
Elementary Education at the Institute of Home Economics (Delhi University)
commented, “I think the most important dimension of children's literature is to
have enough opportunities for children's imagination and their perspective to
see and understand the world. The purpose of children's literature is not just
to make children into stories, but to understand the world and life experiences
from the perspective of children. Two things are important here – one, it is
not always necessary to be very simple or positive and secondly, there should
also be content in children's literature for teenagers and young adults.”
Arvind Gupta, a jury member for
PHL 2021, a Padma Shri awardee and a toy inventor who is popular for designing teaching
aids for young children remarked on the list, “Over the
last two decades, a handful of Indian authors have significantly contributed to
develop and grow the Indian children’s literature scene in the country with
stories that talk to young readers about who they are, and help them navigate a
multicultural and multilingual environment. With Parag Honour List, we aim to
showcase the best children’s books published in India in a particular year.
This year there were several good picture biographies of iconic Indians - Ustad
Zakir Hussain – the table maestro, Srinivasa Ramanujan - the great
mathematician, Pandit Nain Singh Rawat -surveyor extraordinary, Mithali Raj -
cricketer, and ace astronaut Sunita Williams. We need many more picture
biographies of eminent people to inspire our young.”
As
part of the criteria for creating the Parag Honour List, all leading publishers
of children’s books are requested to submit their select titles for review. In
turn the books sent to a panel of eminent educationists and bibliophiles for
their comments and feedback. A broad criterion is laid for the choosing the
best amongst the submitted books. The jury then discusses each book threadbare
and the very best find their way to the Parag Honour List.