News & Reviews

Book aimed at healthy children!

Panel discussion (L-R) Suma Varughese, Dr Vijaya Venkat, renowned naturopath, Author Alia Almoayed, Shonali Sabharwal, macrobiotic expert, Niti Desai, consultant nutritionistCrossword Bookstore has recently launched I Want Healthy Kids by Alia Almoayed at their Kemp’s corner outlet in Mumbai. The book launch was followed by a panel discussion about Healthy Food for Children with Dr Vijaya Venkat, renowned naturopath and founder of The Health Awareness Centre; Niti Desai, consultant nutritionist with Cumballa Hill Hospital; Shonali Sabharwal, macrobiotic expert, and the author, Alia Almoayed. The session was moderated by Suma Varughese, editor-in-chief of Life Positive magazine.

The book I Want Healthy Kids has already been deemed a bestseller and is in its second print run even before its formal launch.

Encyclopaedia Britannica partners
with Katha to take Indian storytelling to the world

Life teaches us difficult stories, good stories and good storytelling for young people is something that has become increasingly difficult, said Jorge Cauz, global president, Encyclopaedia Britannica, during the Signing of MoU between Encyclopaedia Britannica and Katha Encyclopaedia Britannica, best known for its most authoritative reference material, is partnering with Katha, a leading independent Indian publisher known for its translations from 21 Indian languages, to take the best of Indian stories published by Katha to children across India and worldwide. Katha is fostering the love of learning among children through its innovative education model based on active story based learning, which is integrally supported by its book publishing programme.

The set of initiatives proposed by Britannica include making available digital knowledge and learning products in Katha schools and learning centers for underserved children in India as part of its corporate social responsibility. Britannica will also convert titles owned by Katha into eBooks and distribute them worldwide under its eBook program under the overall eLibrary initiative.

A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed between Sarvesh Shrivastava, Encyclopaedia Britannica managing director South Asia and Geeta Dharmarajan, founder & executive director of Katha.

Sarvesh Shrivastava shared that in the past five years Britannica India has been offering trustworthy knowledge and learning solutions, consisting of textbooks, interactive student and teacher resources. He said, “By adding Katha’s story-based learning to its learning solutions, Britannica’s learner engagement will be greatly enhanced.”

Geeta Dharmarajan, the creative and innovative force behind Katha’s work over the last 25 years, said, “It gives me great joy that as Katha celebrates its silver jubilee this year, we join forces with such a respected and world-renown company as Encyclopaedia Britannica to get great Indian stories into the hands of children worldwide and share with them India’s rich cultural heritage. We are living in exciting times where technology is bringing great changes to the educational possibilities for our children. Our partnership with Britannica helps us realize our dream of inspiring children to learn and enabling them to become reader-leaders.”

Till date Katha has published over 200 children’s titles and 110 translated stories sourced from India’s many regional languages. From this rich resource, Katha will compile a Literature Reader in English as a curricular textbook for Classes 1-8 for Britannica to publish and market in India. Britannica will then use its channels to offer this Literature Reader to schools following Indian curriculum overseas as part of its curricular offering.

Scholastic to publish book series
with MLB player Ryan Howard

Ryan and Krystle HowardScholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, has acquired worldwide rights to publish a new baseball-themed book series by Major League Baseball first baseman Ryan Howard and his wife Krystle Howard, a former elementary school teacher. The first book in the Little Rhino chapter book series aimed at readers ages 7 to 10 will be released in Spring 2015. The deal was negotiated by CAA, and Debra Dorfman, VP and Publisher, Scholastic.

Ryan and Krystle Howard said, “Partnering with Scholastic on our Little Rhino book series has been a wonderful experience. We have a passion for education and understand the importance of engaging children to read. In this series, we’re bringing to life the excitement of baseball and pairing it with the challenges and life lessons our children face on a daily basis. We are truly excited for the readers to go with us, on this amazing journey, as they get to know and love Little Rhino.”

“We are equally excited about publishing the Little Rhino series with Ryan and Krystle Howard. They both deeply share Scholastic’s mission to get every child to not only learn to read but to love reading,” said Debra Dorfman. “Ryan and Krystle are role models who believe education is a priority in a child’s life, and it’s clear how dedicated they are to improving the lives of children.”

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Ryan Howard is the All-Star first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed the Big Piece, he was the 2006 National League Most Valuable Player, the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year and reached 250 home runs faster than any player in Major League Baseball history. Ryan helped lead the team to a World Series championship in 2008, and a repeat as NLCS champions in 2009.While, Krystle Howard is a Westchester University graduate, and as a former second-grade teacher, active in efforts to promote literacy. Together Ryan and Krystle Howard have formed The Ryan Howard Big Piece Foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children by promoting academic and athletic development and with the goal to engage students in the essential area of literacy, leading them on a path to a brighter future.