CHENNAI: One of the biggest achievements for a children’s book author is to keep the readers glued to the book. New Delhi-based author Devika Cariapa has managed to do that effortlessly with her stories. She will be felicitated with the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar Award in a ceremony that will be conducted at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore today.
The award-winning author will be conducting a session at the Tulika Bookstore on Saturday. She has published two special books with Tulika — India Through Archaeology: Excavating History (2017) and India Through People: 25 Game Changers (2019). The former is close to her heart and garnered her a great fan-following among children and adults.
“It was a dream-come-true moment after publishing my life’s passion. Bringing History, something I love, to children has been a wonderful experience. I will be introducing Indian archaeology to children in my session. They might have already seen these things on the Discovery channel. The idea is to enlighten them with real-life experience,” said Devika. She has been conducting the same session in Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi to much acclaim.
Her second book is Tulika’s Part of India focus series where she enjoyed writing about people from different fields. “Children should not take it for granted just because India is an independent country. They must know the people who made modern India as we know it now,” she adds.
The author loves writing non-fiction. She feels that it’s the responsibility of the writer to keep the children interested in relevant and topical issues. “Reading is the most important activity for a child. We are competing with other media to keep them focussed. Once they pick up a book and like the format then they will be hooked for life. Unlike our childhood days, there are too many distractions now,” says Devika whose favourite children’s book that she continues to read to date is The Wind in the Willows for its offbeat and quirky characters.
Meet and greet
The award-winning author will be conducting a session at the Tulika Bookstore on Saturday. It will be held at Tulika Bookstore in Alwarpet from 11 am.
The interactive session for kids will be held at Tulika Bookstore in Alwarpet on November 16 from 11 am. For details, call: 9840909228