Today is the start of the 3rd annual Neev Literature Festival for Children. The event is held over two days at the Neev Academy, an international school in Bengaluru, capital of the Indian state of Karnataka.

Taking Children’s Literature Seriously

The festival has a slick website, and they seem hot on catchy slogans – “love to read, read to love” – but it all backs up a clear message: “Our mission is simple – we want to create readers for life.”

And by the looks of the video, it should be a fun festival with an emphasis on sharing seriously good, seriously exciting and seriously funny books with young people.

Besides a marketplace showcasing new books, events will include workshops for children, teachers / librarians & parents; interactive sessions; readings; and panel discussions around the importance of literature in children’s lives, under the broad themes of reading, identity/history, future realities and building bridges.

Both days have a packed schedule featuring authors, poets, illustrators and librarians from across India and overseas.

Neev Book Awards 2019

The Festival also hosts the annual Neev Book Awards, honouring books in four categories: Picture Books, Emerging Readers, Junior Readers and Young Adults (this is an expansion from last year, when there were just three categories). The award aims to promote and encourage high-quality children’s literature from India. The winners of the Neev Book Award 2018 were:

I Will Save My Land by Rinchin, illustrated by Sagar Kolwankar and published by Tulika Books (Picture Book winner);

Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins  and published by Duckbill and PRH (YR)

Queen of Ice by Devika Rangachari and published by Duckbill (YA).

Winning titles were honoured with an award and cash prize of ₹1,00,000.

There are too many titles shortlisted this year to include them all here, but have a look over at the Neev Festival site; it’s a great snapshot of what kids are reading in India at the moment.

Find out more

You can follow the news from Neev over on Twitter @neevlitfest and find out more on the festival website.

Do read Kavita Gupta, co-founder of Neev Children’s Literature Festival in The Times of India, talking about the paradigm shift in Indian storytelling , the need for #ownvoices reflecting children’s local and personal realities, and the renaissance of Indian children’s literature.

If you attend the festival and you’d like to write a report for us about it, please get in touch @worldkidlit!