News & Reviews

Kabuliwala

Tagore Classics
Publisher: BPI India Pvt Ltd
(Pp 16, ISBN 978-81-4972061, Rs 50)

The book is a part of ‘Tagore Classics’ series, written by Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It is a famous story which has been told many times. It is about a little girl Mini who befriends a Kabuliwala and both grow fond of each other. They shared jokes and laughed together. Kabuliwala used to give a handful of dried fruits to Mini every time he met her. But fate had something else in store for Kabuliwala who was jailed for committing a criminal offence. When he returns from jail, Mini is no more a little girl- she’s getting married and she has forgotten his old friend. Each page of the picture has an illustration of the story, which makes the story livelier. Printed in large print, the book will be liked by both children and adults (who would like to read to their children).
–Varsha

The ‘desi’ avatar of Archie

Good news for children who love the famous comic series – Archie but cannot read it in English. They can now read it in Hindi and Malayalam. These desi versions from Archie Comics would be published by Variety Book Depot and distributed by EuroBooks, the leader in children’s book publishing in India. Priced at Rs 30 each, the company plans to launch 12 Archie titles in the first phase and 36 titles within the coming year.

Remote intervention classes for students
– Another initiative towards literacy

Cisco has announced the first pilot project based on Cisco Education Enabled Development (CEED) platform for its Inclusive Growth architecture. This pilot project will deploy specialized remote intervention teaching for two government pre-matriculation social welfare boys hostels in the Shimoga district of Karnataka. To enable implementation of this pilot project, the Government of Karnataka has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Cisco.

The project will be on a Public Private Partnership model where Cisco will deploy its solution and maintain it as a service that includes remote access and support. About 450 students in the two Pre-Matriculation hostels at Vidyanagar and Shikaripura will receive intervention training in English, Math, Social Sciences and Science. Sessions would be conducted after class for these sixth to tenth standard students. Children’s Lovecastles Trust, NGO that specializes in pedagogy and providing access to quality teaching for remote government schools using technology, will deliver these training sessions.

“Through Cisco’s technology, we are able to provide our students in rural areas with supplemental training in core subjects. I’m certain this will enhance the learning experience for both teachers and students and we should be able to attract more students to pursue their studies with facilities like this,” said Chandra Naik, district social welfare officer.

The Hidden Treasure

Tagore Classics
Publisher: BPI India Pvt Ltd
(Pp 16, ISBN 978-81-4972047, Rs 50)

Another book from the ‘Tagore Classics’ series is The Hidden Treasure which revolves around a mysterious treasure hidden in a village called Dharagole. But, what is real treasure? Gold, silver, coins or your family? That’s what the book tries to teach children – it is not the material things that matter! An interesting book with vivid illustrations and beautiful moral!
–Varsha

‘Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ becomes first e-book to sell one million copies

The opening book of Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, has become what industry experts believe is the first novel to sell more than a million copies in e-book form, The New York Times reports. News of the million mark milestone comes via Knopf books, which is a subsidiary of Random House publishing.

Combined digital sales of the Millennium series, which also includes The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, have so far reached three million, the publisher said. Total sales of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which includes e-books, audio books and printed copies, are maintaining an impressive steady pace of about 5,00,000 copies per month. Hardback covers of the book, which first went on sale in September 2008, have reached a total of about 3,00,000 copies.