News & Review

First edition of Kahaani Festival in Pune concludes successfully

Pune city kids witnessed the magical world of storytelling with the city’s first edition of the Kahaani Festival, presented by HP Printers. A brainchild of pioneering entertainment company Teamwork Arts, the Kahaani Festival was hosted by Arthshila at the Delhi Public School recently. The two day Festival was attended by over 6500 students accompanied by their teachers, parents as well as grandparents.

The event was inaugurated by Dadi Pudumjee, renowned puppeteer from the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, vocalist and Arthshila’s chief curatorial advisor Vidya Shah and Avinash Kamtikar – area sales manager Maharashtra HP Printers. The inaugural ceremony itself was a spellbinding affair that gave sneak peaks into the Festival’s events, including a short story by a grandparent duo, highlighting the importance of storytelling in a child’s life.

The event set off with a performance by Vidya Shah, followed by a small skit which gave a glimpse into what storytelling is. The event, which was spread across a large area of the school campus, witnessed a multitude of activities and workshops for children as well as parents and teachers.

Several artists, educators and storytellers from across the country joined local counterparts in bringing together this exciting Festival for young kids. The Kahaani Festival Outreach, organized by Pratham Books, was also held at nearly 15 schools in and around the city, engaging students in exciting storytelling sessions.

Graded magazines from Edu Hub

Edu Hub Publishing Co has recently launched a series of magazines for children, titled Edu Hub Times. They have come up with different magazines for different grades like Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 & 5. “We will launch the magazine for other classes like nursery & KG as well. The initial print run is 20,000 copies and we will be sending these magazines to all schools across the country,” told Bharat Rai Mendiratta of Edu Hub Publishing Co.

Hitopdesha Tales

Publisher: Edu Hub Publishing

The word Hitopdesha comes from Hita and Updesha, where Hita means welfare and Updesha means to advice or counsel. Hitopdesha Tales is a compilation of stories that advise for the welfare of others. These stories have been believed to be written in 14th century by Narayan Pandit. Since then, they have entertained and advised millions.

Like Panchtantra, these stories can never be out of vogue. Edu hub Publishing has recreated the magic of these stories in this book. Beautifully illustrated, the book will be liked by children and parents alike!

–Varsha

Interactive sessions at NCCL

In its endeavour to promote books and reading habit amongst children, National Centre for Children’s Literature (NCCL) organized an interactive session at the NCCL Library. A large number of students along with their teachers from Nigam Pratibha Vidyalaya, Masudpur, Vasant Kunj and Teach for India participated in this session.

While exhorting the teachers and students to read more frequently, Baldeo Bhai Sharma, chairman, NBT talked of the essence of knowledge and the role of teacher as described in the age-old Indian scriptures. A session on how to write a poem was conducted by Dwijendra Kumar, assistant editor, NBT wherein the teachers and children got acquainted with the nuances of composing a poem.

NCCL also organized an interactive session for children (from Katha Lab School, New Delhi) with Liladhar Mandloi, director of Bhartiya Jnanpith. He was also the former director general of All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Telling Stories Through Pictures

Campfire Graphic Novels, India’s leading publisher of graphic novels, recently held an exhibition at the India Habitat Centre titled ‘Telling Stories Through Pictures’. The exhibition showcased the popular medium of graphic novels and explored how they can be a useful tool for both entertainment and education.

Purple Turtle and Colour Fairies garments on the cards!

The India-based IP development company, Aadarsh Pvt Ltd, has recently signed a license agreement with Mustang Enterprises to launch Purple Turtle & Colour Fairies socks and undergarments for kids. Mustang is one of the largest manufacturers of children’s socks in India and holds a market share of about 50% in the organised sector.

Purple Turtle, a globally-recognized cartoon character developed from the noted publishing house have been enjoying immense popularity among young audience since its inception. With books in more than 30 countries Apps, E- books & games available online children are hooked to Purple Turtle. Purple Turtle videos on YouTube are loved by children, parents and teachers alike.

Sharing his happiness, Manish Rajoria, director, Aadarsh Pvt Ltd. said, “The Purple Turtle is a gender-neutral property that stimulates a child’s mind. This deal permits us to expand Purple Turtle’s growing popularity even further. Young children will now be able to enjoy their favourite character’s garments and we are thrilled about it. Mustang, a leader in providing high quality socks and garments for children, is a perfect brand to support our ever-growing initiatives for Purple Turtle & Colour Fairies brand.”

Rouhaan Shahpurwala of Mustang also expressed pleasure saying, “We are happy to be associated with Purple Turtle as it is the only Indian character which has a global presence. We will be launching Purple Turtle socks and undergarments for toddlers and kids shortly.” He further added, “The designs are very cute and I am sure young parents and kids will love to have Purple Turtle collection as part of their wardrobe. The Colour Fairies range is targeted specifically towards girls. Both these collections will be available through online and also in prominent retail stores in major cities.”