News & Reviews

Kiddies winter fun @ Oxford Bookstore

Fun…frolic and fiesta…it was all there in a big way during this winter at Oxford Bookstore in Connaught Place, New Delhi. There were cookery sessions and special craft workshops for kiddies and their moms during Christmas time. Besides, many interesting story reading sessions attracted a lot of children to this bookstore during winter break.

Kabuliwala Stories in Hindi for children (4 to 12 years) and parents was done with master storyteller Kamal Pruthi, the Kabuliwala, who is a renowned artistic director of Museum Theatre Company.

Established in 1919, Oxford Bookstore is the best equipped ‘base-camp’ for journeys of the mind, offering its customers the widest range of outstanding titles and consistently courteous and informed service for close to a century. With more than 30 outlets across the country, the bookstore is a name to reckon with. Delhi got its share with the opening of its most architecturally crafted retail store in a stunning new destination in Delhi’s historic centre, Connaught Place in April 2013 and has become a hub of book events since then.

Gandhi: My Life is My Message (Hindi)

Author: Jason Quinn Translated by: Ashok Chakradhar
Publisher: Campfire Graphic Novels (Pp 205, ISBN 978-93-81182-12-3)

Much has been said about Gandhi – an Indian with a difference. But, still books are written and rewritten on this great personality. This book is an illustrated work on Gandhi and makes an interesting read for children. How did this shy, unassuming lawyer transform himself into the leader of India’s freedom movement? Renouncing wealth, ambition and comfort, Gandhi led by example, becoming one with the people he sought to free, facing imprisonment, hardship and humiliation while never raising his voice in anger. His strategy of nonviolent protest would become the model for the US civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and continues to change History throughout the world.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as the Mahatma or Great Soul, took on the might of the British Empire armed only with a message of love and non-violence. In the book, children discover the man behind the legend, following him from his birth in the Indian coastal town of Porbandar in 1869, to the moment of his tragic death at the hands of an assassin in January 1948, just months after the Independence of India. An interesting book for children to know more about this immortal man! –Varsha Verma

Read a book without words from Premio Publishing

Want to help kids cement their vocabulary skills? A new book—without words—can do just that. Polar Bear Bowler: A Story Without Words is designed to help children create their own narration to engaging, funny images. It is Karl Beckstrand’s eleventh book. Illustrated by Ashley Sanborn of Lehi, UT, the story is about a Polar Bear that hitches a ride to Antarctica. He has never seen penguins before; to him they look like something fun to play with. So, the romp begins. The new title has been translated into more than twenty languages and is available in paperback and ebook versions.

True to its multicultural tradition, Premio Publishing’s books feature learning activities and characters of colour. Premio’s mystery and language books, non-fiction, e-books and app are nationally-lauded, invite family learning and together time, and often end with surprises. Premio is celebrating its tenth year.

Psychological insight into fairy tales and Disney’s Into the Woods

Asheville, NC based Chiron Publications is of fering an in-depth look at fairy tales and how they enrich and inform our lives. What do these tales have to offer us as grown-ups? What are the deeper meanings embedded in these childhood stories? How are we formed or informed by the fairy tales we thought we had left behind? Psyche’s Stories, a three volume series, is a guide for that journey.

Bestselling author Alexandra Bracken to pen Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) has announced that New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Bracken (The Darkest Minds, Never Fade, In the Afterlight) will pen Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Being the Story of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and the Rise of the Rebellion.

The upcoming global release, scheduled for sale on June 23, 2015, will be the first in a series of new illustrated novels based on the original Star Wars film trilogy. The classic Saga will come to life through adaptations by Bracken and other bestselling children’s authors previously announced including Tom Angleberger and Adam Gidwitz. Each of these celebrated writers will bring their contemporary, unique voice to the project, bridging the multi-arc storyline in anticipation of the release of Star Wars Episode VII in December 2015.

Titles in the programme include Bracken’s retelling of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back by Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm) and Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi by Tom Angleberger (Origami Yoda series.) Each book in the series will be illustrated by award-winning Star Wars concept artist Iain McCaig and will be published in the United States under Disney-Lucasfilm Press, an imprint of the Disney Book Group. The adaptation of A NEW HOPE had previously been announced with RJ Palacio, who has to withdraw from the project due to scheduling conflicts.

Playrific selected to bring Purple Turtle brand to mobile

Playrific, Inc, USA licenses the lovable Purple Turtle for apps and games; animated series also in development.

The popular Purple Turtle is going digital. Aadarsh Pvt Ltd is partnering with Playrific, Inc, publishers of popular kids’ apps for leading and emerging brands, to bring the Purple Turtle brand’s beloved characters to life for digital kids. Playrific is creating and publishing the new Purple Turtle mobile app filled with games, videos, read-along stories, puzzles, music, coloring and other activities.

As per Manish Rajoria, director of licensing & publishing, Aadarsh Pvt Ltd, “Children love to play on mobiles and tabs all the time. The Purple Turtle app engages and teaches kids while entertaining them, helping them develop the critical skills. We are very pleased that children around the world will soon be enjoying a great app with so many games and activities featuring the Purple Turtle.”

Purple Turtle books are now published in 25 countries including USA, UK, China and Russia, and in six regional languages in India. More than one million copies and 150 titles have been published since the Purple Turtle brand’s introduction in 2012.

Aadarsh Pvt Ltd is an awardwinning media and entertainment company in its twenty-fifth year of operations. Playrific Inc publishes apps kids love for premium and emerging kid-facing consumer brands.

Aadarsh Pvt Ltd connects kids, families and organisations with content that unlocks their creativity and enriches their experience. The Purple Turtle brand has attracted a growing community of fans around the world through the highest quality of content including mobile/digital, books, and entertainment products. Aadarsh Pvt Ltd has been a respected publisher of educational and entertainment content for more than 25 years. It also provides an array of artistic, publishing and licensing services to leading multi-national corporations and brands.

4000 school children participate in the DK Quiz

DK India, in association with Quizcraft Global and Eureka Bookstore, organised the grand finale of The DK Quiz in New Delhi recently. This thrilling finale saw winners from 30 schools participating in a written preliminary round. Six finalists were then shortlisted to battle it out in the stage round for the coveted title and grand prize of Rs 50,000 in cash and books.

The Army Public School, Shankar Vihar, emerged winners with its team of intrepid young quizzers Pankaj Joon and Abhivan Ramesan. The Air Force School, Subroto Park, represented by Herman and Tanmay Kataria, were a close second, while in third place were the youngest contestants in the fray, Soham Mukhopadhyay and Sai Satyaprakash Biswal, both Class 7 students from Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon.

Apart from the quiz, the day saw much excitement with DK India and Eureka Bookstore showcasing a range of their content, both books and digital. From dinosaurs to LEGO, from human body to Gandhi – the variety was mindboggling. The participating teams, teachers, and cheerleading squads also got a chance to participate in engaging activities such as games and contests through a message board, dinosaur activity centre, interactive online quizzes, and much more. The DK Quiz was the culmination of a series of events to celebrate DK’s 40 years as a global leader in illustrated reference publishing. DK India successfully engaged with its readers by reaching more than 4,000 students in 30 schools across the Delhi-NCR region.