Tag Archives: india

A Matter of Class?

By admin | Published: September 14, 2011

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 [...]

Posted in Books, General, Tara Ethos | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Responses

Women’s Art of the Everyday

By admin | Published: June 23, 2011

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. [...]

Posted in Behind the scenes, Events, Gender, General, Tara Ethos, Workshops | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Responses

Gender & Social Media

By admin | Published: May 31, 2011

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 [...]

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Questioning the Greats

By admin | Published: February 17, 2011

Education, Authority & the Indian Epics Samhita Arni wrote and illustrated Tara’s ‘The Mahabharatha: a Child’s View’ when she was just twelve. Fifteen years, almost 50,000 copies worldwide and seven language editions later, we have just released the fifth edition of the book in a single volume. To mark this milestone, Samhita returns to her [...]

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Martin Luther King Jr

By admin | Published: January 17, 2011

A Tale Replete with Fate, Destiny and the Human Condition Recently, one of the most difficult projects we’ve ever done came together in a deeply satisfying way. I See The Promised Land is a graphic novel on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. The art is by Manu Chitrakar, a scroll painter from the [...]

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10: Time and Movement in Book Design

By admin | Published: November 25, 2010

Talking to Marion Bataille There is nothing we enjoy more than playing with the form of the book, and meeting the French artist Marion Bataille was a revelation. Marion performs an incredible feat – she pushes the borders of bookmaking beyond text and illustration. Her pop-up books – originally published in France by Albin Michel [...]

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The Politics of Voice

By admin | Published: September 29, 2010

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 [...]

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The Handmade Book Project

By admin | Published: September 7, 2010

Founded and run by our Production Manager C. Arumugam – Mr A, as he is affectionately known – our handmade printing workshop is a unique undertaking. This is where each and every one of our handmade titles is screen-printed and hand bound. After producing 180,000 books (that’s around eleven million pulls in the silkscreen printing process!) the workshop has now left its original thatched home for a larger, safer and brighter purpose-built space. The unit is run on fair trade practices, and the printers live and work together as a commune.

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Warli Art and Public Education: Do! Travels to Mexico

By admin | Published: December 6, 2009

A year ago, we were busy finalizing plans for a rather unusual picture book. Featuring art from the Warli indigenous community whose home is western India, this book was to introduce simple verbs to the very young child. Comprising line, triangle, curve and circle, Warli art is fluid, dynamic and elegant. Children relate easily to [...]

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