CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT LITERATURE

Author and Illustrator: Lavanya Karthik is a

Mumbai-based writer and illustrator of
children’s books. She has written several
picture books for various Indian publishers,
illustrated over 20 books. Most of her picture
books are humorous but still have a lessons.
Lavanya also writes fiction for adults.
When Lavyanya Karthik was a child, all she
wanted to do was make up stories and draw
pictures. Now she’s a slightly bigger child, and
that is pretty much all she does.

Some of Her Works:

• Ninja Nani
• Chikkiri Chakkiri
• Cyborg Dadu
• Up Among Stars
• What Does Anu See?
• Too Big! Too Small!

Publisher: Pratham Books

Language: English, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, etc.

Awards:
• Her picture book, "The Lion’s Feast" was shortlisted for the Hindu Youngworld – Goodbooks
Award for Best Picture Book in 2017.
• Her book, "Neel on Wheels", won the Children First contest organized by the Vidyasagar Trust
and Duckbill Books.
• Her art was featured at the AFCC Illustrators’ Gallery in 2015.
 • She also won the first Vani Foundation Illustrators’ Fellowship given by Vani Prakashan in
2015.
• Her middle grade novel “Ninja Nani” and the “Mad Mummy Mixup”, that she wrote and
illustrated, won a Peekabook Children’s Choice Award in 2019.
• Her book, "Where Am I?", won a commendation and prize as Best Interactive Book.
• "Too Big, Too Small!", a picturebook written for Pratham Books’ opensource resource, has
been translated into 79 languages so far.

Quotation:
"I think humour is the single greatest hook to get children and adults to read. The human brain is
wired to remember fun and dull memories of pain. We barely remember how a hurt knee or
childbirth felt. But we can vividly recall the sensation of bursting into peals of laughter over a
childhood storybook or giggling helplessly at the back of a dull math class over the comic hidden
in one’s textbook."
— Lavanya Karthik