Tara Books and the making of a book by hand From her studio Minus 9 Design, Rathna Ramanathan has worked with Tara Books on projects over the last sixteen years. Here, she reflects on her experiences of collaborating with Tara Books in the context of sustainable modes of design and production, and alternative models of [...]
Reflecting on our blossoming relationship with Korea “For me, Tara Books is a publisher which has a strong identity. And this identity lies on the border between not only what is local and what is universal, but also what is traditional and what is contemporary. Their approach to the book is something between the view [...]
Earlier this year Mithila art expert and enthusiast Peter Zirnis visited India’s Madhubani region. There he met with a range of artists working in what can broadly be defined as the Mithila style of folk art. He was guided by the artist Rambharos Jha, the talented author behind our latest handmade title Waterlife Since Peter discussed the book [...]
Tara’s outgoing resident designer Jonathan Yamakami reflects upon the creative journey he embarked upon when working on ‘I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail’. A 17th century English ‘trick’ poem, Tara’s version is illustrated by artist Ramsingh Urveti from India’s Gond tribe. 25 people like this post. Like Unlike
In the aftermath of Delhi University’s decision to ban A K Ramanujan’s essay discussing disparate versions of The Ramayana, Tara publisher V.Geetha reflects upon the many lives of the text, and in particular our recently published retelling of the great epic from the female point of view, Sita’s Ramayana. 5 people like this post. Like [...]
Questioning the social economics of both digital and printed books in a new publishing century In the first in a short series of posts, Tara’s North American representative Jennifer Abel takes on the fiery debate about the future of the printed book, addressing the issues of class and economics in the context of a reading [...]
A Workshop Exploring Indian Floor Patterns All over India, there are enduring traditions of women decorating the threshold of their homes with decorative patterns. Known by different names in various communities, they are called kolam in Tamil Nadu. Women create them every day with rice paste or powder, and by nightfall, they are usually gone. [...]
Recently, we were asked to write an article about our experience of gender in children’s books in the Indian context. It’s certainly a topical issue at the moment: a recent study in the US looking at almost 6,000 books published between 1990 and 2000 found that males are central characters in 57% of children’s books [...]
Folk and Tribal Art in Children’s Literature “It may seem, at first glance, that the majority is the dominant force in every society, but those who dramatically change their world, now and throughout history, always belong to the minority.” With this motto, the International Board on Books for Young People – IBBY – organised their [...]