Shobha Viswanath
Co-founder and Publishing Director of Karadi Tales Company, Shobha Viswanath has been responsible for steering the direction of the publishing house.
Her contributions: The Blue Jackal | The Foolish Lion | The Crows and the Serpent | The Monkey and the Crocodile | The Four Friends | The Musical Donkey | Kutti and the Mouse | Karadi Rhymes 1 | Karadi Rhymes 2 | Birth of Krishna & Krishna’s Conquest | Young Hanuman & Hanuman the Mighty | Little Vinayak | Lizard’s Tail
Nandini Nayar
Nandini Nayar is a Hyderabad-based children’s writer. Pranav’s Picture was her first book, published in 2005 by Tulika Publishers. Since then she has published several other picture books with various publishers. Her work is widely published in India, the USA, and the UK, and has been featured on the lists of the United States Board on Books for Young People. She also writes for young adults.
Her contributions: What Will I Be? | What Could It Be? | Where Shall We Go? | What Will You Give Me?
Manasi Subramaniam
Manasi Subramaniam was the Commissioning Editor at Karadi Tales Company. She has 5 years’ experience in publishing, several years’ experience in theatre and creative writing, and a postgraduate degree in Literature. She has represented Karadi Tales at the international trade fairs at New York, Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Bologna, Kolkata, and New Delhi.
Her contributions: Dancing Bear | Story & the Song | The Fox & the Crow
Anshumani Ruddra
Anshumani Ruddra is the VP of product at Practo. He was the former studio head at Tiny Mogul Games. He has written Dorje’s Stripes and Crickematics for Karadi Tales.
His contributions: Dorje’s Stripes | Crickematics!
Kavitha Mandana
Kavitha grew up in the Nilgiri hills of South India. She worked briefly in advertising and has been writing and illustrating for children’s books over the last 15 years, most regularly with the Deccan Herald kids’ supplement. She has been published by Puffin India, Red Turtle, and Karadi Tales.
Her contribution: A Pair of Twins
Devika Rangachari
Devika Rangachari is a prolific children’s author. Her books include ‘When Amma Went Away’, ‘The Wit of Tenali Raman’ and ‘Queen of Ice’. In 2002, Growing Up (Children’s Book Trust, 2000) was on the Honour List of the International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY).
Her contribution: A Hundred Cartloads
Uma Krishnaswamy
Since the late 1980s, Uma Krishnaswamy has been illustrating books for children and adults. She enjoys creating parallel worlds through her art, which she renders in styles and fashions picked up from all corners of the globe. A collector of children’s books, Uma teaches Visual Studies at the Madras Craft Foundation, and History of Art is her all-time favourite subject.She has lived in Chennai for most of her life.
Her contribution: The Monkey King
Soumitra Ranade
Soumitra Ranade is an art director, illustrator, and filmmaker whose films have been screened internationally, including at Cannes. He works in the animation industry. He has written two books for children, both of which take inspiration from his sons’ overactive imaginations.
His contribution: Tak-Tak!
Mamta Nainy
Mamta Nainy spent some years in advertising before a rotten apple fell on her head while she was sitting under a mango tree, and she had her Eureka moment. Now all she does is write for children, devour books and cupcakes, play with a yo-yo, and write some more.
Her contribution: Sadiq Wants to Stitch
Srividhya Venkat
Srividhya Venkat hopped, skipped and jumped careers before she found her most cherished one – writing for children. She also engages in storytelling to spread the love of books and stories.
Her contribution: The Clever Tailor
Praba Ram
Praba Ram works with children via book clubs, art appreciationworkshops, and writing groups. She has a Master’s inPublic Policy from UCLA.
Her contribution: Thukpa for All
Anushka Ravishankar
Anushka Ravishankar is a widely published children’s writer, playwright, poet and translator. Her joyous adaptations of Indian folktales, her hilarious original stories and her jubilant exploits in nonsense verse have won Anushka several awards and critical acclaim. Anushka lives in Delhi and runs her own children’s publishing house.
Her contributions: The Monkeys & the Capseller | The Rumour | The Boy who Drew Cats |The Tallest Tale
Eric Carle
Eric Carle is a celebrated writer and illustrator of children’s books. He is most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book that has been translated into more than 62 languages. His books have sold well over 100 million copies worldwide.
His contributions: The Very Hungry Caterpillar | The Tiny Seed | The Mixed up Chameleon | The Grouchy Ladybug
Annie Besant
Annie Besant is a children’s book author, poet and editor based in Chennai, India. She grew up reading everything she could get her hands on and discovered that she too could shape words to take her into a rabbit hole. Since then, she has been creating ink and paper worlds for children to discover.
Her contributions: The Dragon’s Toothache | Whimsy
Lavanya Karthik
When Lavanya Karthik was a little kid, all she wanted to do was make up stories and draw pictures. Now that she’s a slightly bigger kid, that is pretty much all she does. She lives in Mumbai, where she writes and illustrates children’s book and takes a lot of naps. She also makes comics and writes speculative fiction for adults.
Her contributions: The Lion’s Feast
Manohar Devadoss
Manohar Devadoss is a writer and artist who is reputed for his intricate sketched of buildings in Chennai and Madurai. He has authored ‘The Greenwell Years’ and ‘Poem to Courage’.
His contribution: A Quiet Courage
Sushree Mishra
Sushree Mishra is an educator, storyteller and reading specialist, who loves to weave stories for children by delving into their world of imagination. She has worked with several NGOs and publishing houses in India and the US. She loves spending time with children, good food, and Mumbai rains. She lives in Mumbai with her husband and her 3-year-old son.
Her contribution: The Night Monster
Nalini Sorensen
Nalini Sorensen is a children’s author. Her books include The Star That Saved the Day, Alphabet Dress-up and Number March. She is a co-author of Gifts of Teaching and Memories from the Road. Nalini grew up in Mumbai, but currently lives in Melbourne with her husband and two sons.
Her contribution: Dada’s Useless Present | Dadi’s Marathon
Rudradutt Ranade
Rudradutt Ranade is a student majoring in Creative Writing at Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology, Bangalore. He has written several short stories and a graphic novel.
His contribution: 8563
Daya Subramanian
Daya Subramanian lives in Chennai, India and works as an editor. She has a Master’s in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University where her thesis focused on children’s publishing in India. She occasionally writes for The Hindu in the children’s literature section.
Her contribution: Something’s Moving
Ira Saxena
Ira Saxena is a child psychologist, writer, and critic of children’s books. She is the recipient of Shankar’s Silver Medal for Writing in 1996 and White Raven’s recognition in Germany in 2000.
Her contribution: The Tale of Babban Hajjam
Sheela Preuitt
Day-time coder and night-timewriter, Sheela Preuitt also volunteers as a reading specialist at herkids’ school. She holds a Master’s in Science Education.
Her contribution: Thukpa for All
Chitra Soundar
Chitra Soundar was born in Chennai, India and resides in London, United Kingdom. She loves to retell folktales, legends and ancient tales from the Indian sub-continent. Soundar has written over 20 books for children aged 3 to 10 years old including the popular Farmer Falgu series for Karadi Tales.
Her contributions: Farmer Falgu Goes on a Trip | Farmer Falgu Goes to Market
Natasha Sharma
Natasha Sharma is an award-winning children’s book author with twelve books published till date. Writing across age groups, from picture books to historical fiction for children under the History Mystery series, she is extremely pleased to have found her way to the world of children’s literature with its sleepless nights of plotting and joyful moments of crazy character creation.
Her contribution: Princess Easy Pleasy
Kaushik Viswanath
Kaushik Viswanath is a writer from Chennai, India, who has recently completed an MFA in fiction writing at the University of Notre Dame. He has been published in anthologies by Scholastic India and Penguin India.
His contributions: Monkeys on a Fast | Super Hathaman
Samit Basu
Samit Basu is a renowned author in the fantasy genre. He is a well-known for the Game World trilogy, a fantasy epic that riffs on Eastern and Western mythology. He has also written Turbulence, a superhero novel set in India, Pakistan and England.
His contribution: Intergalactic Idol
Neha Singh
Neha Singh uses different media to express her stories, including books, plays and films. She loves storytelling and teaching drama to children. She performs as an actor-singer on stage and especially enjoys working in children’s theatre. She likes loitering and blogs about her loitering experiences on whyloiter.blogspot.com. Neha lives in Bombay.
Her contribution: Bella Misses Her Train | The Wednesday Bazaar
Lavanya R.N.
Lavanya R. N. has authored 3 books with Karadi Tales, 2 for tiny-tots and 1 for older children on the joys of reading. When she’s not writing, she’s working with a multinational consulting firm in Chicago, where she lives with her husband. She loves going to the movies and theatre and is always trying to find a way to be either on stage, behind the scenes or in the audience. Someday she hopes to publish a novel.
Her contribution: The Lion and the Mouse | Bablu & the Mouse
Nadine D’souza
Nadine D’souza is a writer from Mumbai who has written for various publications on subjects such as music, animation, and digital media. She loves a good story and when she is not reading or listening to one, she is busy weaving some of her own.
Her contribution: Just One Pasia | Revenge of the Puppets
Pankaja Srinivasan
Pankaja Srinivasan has been a journalist for thirty years. She has worked with Indian Express and India Today, and is currently the Senior Deputy Editor heading the MetroPlus edition in The Hindu, Coimbatore. She enjoys food, travel, and listening to Hindi film music.
Her contribution: The Case of the Stolen Smells
Maria L. Denjongpa
Maria L. Denjongpa grew up in Massachusetts and attended Brown University where she met her Sikkimese husband. She is one of the founders of Taktse International School in Sikkim, where she is also an English teacher.
Her contribution: The Truth About the Tooth
Sayoni Basu
Sayoni Basu has worked in children’s publishing for several years as an editor. She lives in Gurgaon with her son and dog.
Her contribution: The Crocodile’s Tail
Shilo Shiv Suleman
Shilo Shiv Suleman is an Indian illustrator, animator and visual artist based in the city of Bangalore. She illustrated her first book for children at the age of 16 and has illustrated and published 8 others since. In 2010 she was selected for an INK fellowship for her work as a young innovator in her field. She was also one of the youngest speakers at the WIRED UK and DLD conference in London and Munich
Her contributions: The Bookworm | Tak-Tak
Srividya Natarajan
Srividya Natarajan is the author of No Onions, Nor Garlic. She currently teaches English at King`s University College, University of Western Ontario. Srividya has illustrated children`s books for Orient Longman and Chatterbox in addition to Karadi Tales.
Her contributions: Raja Kapi | The Fox and the Squirrel | The Foolish Crow | Wrestling Mania | Besura Dhondu | The Musical Donkey | Sweet and Salty | All Free | Mazzoo Mazzoo | Lomdi aur Gilaheri | Anilum Kullanariyum | Muttal Kaagam | Bondu Kagi
Ayswarya Sankaranarayanan
Ayswarya Sankaranarayanan studied Visual Communication from PSG College of Arts, Coimbatore and Animation Film Design at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. As a student of animation, she made a hand-drawn animation film based on the folk-tale ‘A Story and a Song’. She has co-written the screenplay of the feature film ‘Nainsukh’ (2010), based on the 18th century Pahari Master painter of the same name.
Her contribution: The Story and the Song
Shilpa Ranade
Shilpa Ranade is an illustrator and an Associate Professor at the Industrial Design Centre at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. A talented animator and film-maker, Shilpa’s works have been exhibited and awarded at various national and international film festivals.
Her contributions: Little Vinayak | Monkeys on a Fast
Garima Gupta
Garima Gupta has been illustrating and designing books for children and young adults for over 10 years. Her work has been published in several popular magazines and books in India. Garima graduated from the prestigious National Institute of Design in 2007. She is currently working on her second graphic novel for young adults.
Her contributions: The Moustache Man | The Last Bargain
Ayush Rajvanshi
Ayush is a graduate from National Institute of Design. He loves to travel, cook up stories and day dream. He was a winner of the Emerging Young Designer Award at the NID-Business world Design Excellence Awards in 2005 and Shortlisted for British Council Creative Future in 2007. Currently, he lives in Mumbai with his wife and a cat.
His contribution: Revenge of the Puppets
Kanika Nair
Kanika Nair was born in Jaipur, India. She loves to incorporate various insights about children that she has collected over years into her illustrations. Nair has worked on children’s books projects with Karadi Tales, Room to Read, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) and Pratham Books.
Her contributions: Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market | Farmer Falgu Goes on a Trip | Farmer Falgu Goes to the Kumbh Mela | Farmer Falgu Goes Kite Flying
Allen Shaw
Allen Shaw was born in Munger, a small town in North Bihar. Currently he is based out of Berlin and works as an independent artist, illustrator and storyteller. He graduated in Communication design with specialization in Animation film making from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He has been exhibiting his work in India and Europe for the last six years.
His contribution: Dada’s Useless Present
Christine Tappin
Christine graduated in 2007 from Christ Church University in Canterbury, Kent, where she studied for her degree in Fine Art. She currently works from her Kent-based studio, painting pictures for children’s books and making greeting cards.
Her contribution: Whose Lovely Child Can You Be?
Sonal Gupta
Sonal, is an artist, Illustrator and an Animator, based in Mumbai-India.Sonal has always been in love with colors and textures and continuous to experiments with medium and material. She loves illustrating for children as it takes her back to being a kid. She has worked on several visual books for children for fisher price, Karadi tales, UNICEF and Pratham.
You can see more of her work at www.thematchboxgirl.com
Her contribution: The Wednesday Bazaar | Bella Misses Her Train
Rayika Sen
Rayika Sen is a visual communication designer based in New Delhi, India. She graduated from the prestigious Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, and her primary interests include illustrating, designing, printmaking and experimenting with alternative storytelling methods.
Her contribution: The Dragon’s Toothache
Ambika Sambasivan
Ambika Sambasivan found her love for children’s illustration quite by accident. She is rather old-school – drawing and inking by hand and creating collages using craft paper. She is also the co-founder of Yali Books, an independent publishing venture, where she is the chief puzzle maker, graphic designer and marketing maven.
Her contribution: 8563 | The Tiger Eaters
Niloufer Wadia
Niloufer Wadia quit her 20-year career in advertising to follow her passion – illustration and painting. She works in traditional and digital media. This is her seventh picture book and while it has gone well so far, she believes she has miles to go, and much to learn.
Her contribution: Sadiq Wants to Stitch
Francesco Manetti
Francesco Manetti has always had a great passion for the visual arts. He spent his childhood in the countryside, surrounded by the colors and fragrances of flowering fields. He has studied at the Technical Institute for Surveyors and has a Masters degree in Graphic Design from the Institute IFOTER. He has also studied Visual Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara. He lives in Livorno, Italy.
His contributions: What Will You Give Me? | Where Shall We Go? | What Will It Be? | What Could It Be?
Judith Clay
Judith Clay is a German artist and trained ceramic painter. She holds a degree in comparative literature. She works primarily in ink, pastels, colored pencils, and collages. She was one of the finalists for the Der Meefisch Award for picture book illustrations in 2009 and 2011 and one of the honourable mentions in Artist Portfolio Magazine’s portrait competition in 2011. Her book Thea’s Tree, published by Karadi Tales, was chosen for the White Ravens List of the International Youth Library in 2012.
Her contributions: Thea’s Tree
Culpeo S. Fox
Culpeo Fox is an artist and illustrator with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. Fox is best known for the self-defining concept of Method Art. Currently living and working in Germany and having a deep love for wildlife, Fox’s work focuses on wildlife and animal art, portrayed in a way that can be described best as “culpeo-esque”.
Her contribution: The Fox and the Crow and A Tangle of Brungles.
Uma Krishnaswamy
Since the late 1980s, Uma Krishnaswamy has been illustrating books for children and adults. She enjoys creating parallel worlds through her art, which she renders in styles and fashions picked up from all corners of the globe. A collector of children’s books, Uma teaches Visual Studies at the Madras Craft Foundation, and History of Art is her all-time favourite subject. She has lived in Chennai for most of her life.
Her contributions: The Monkey King | Shakuntalam – The Recognition of Shakuntala
Ruchi Mhasane
Ruchi Mhasane is a freelance illustrator who studied children’s illustration in Cambridge and has now come home to Mumbai to draw pictures for Indian children. She spends most of her time drawing, listening to music, writing, traveling to secret places and most of all, dreaming! You can see some of her drawings at ruchimhasane.blogspot.in.
Her contribution: Whimsy
Sanket Pethkar
Sanket Pethkar is a Mumbai-based freelance illustrator and designer for various publications in India. He graduated with a degree in fine arts and pursued his Master’s in Print Making and has worked as a resident artist at IDC IIT, Bombay.
His contribution: The Night Monster
Amrita Pokarna
Amrita Pokarna completed her Masters degree in Design and Visual Communication at the Industrial Design Centre of the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai in 2009. She is currently studying Communication Art & Design at the Royal College of Art, London.
Her contribution: Just One Paisa
Sayantan Halder
Sayantan Halder is an animator, illustrator and a comic book artist. He graduated from the National Institute of Design in animation. He is currently working at Walt Disney India.
His contribution: Bheeshma | Karna
Sadhvi Jawa
Sadhvi graduated from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology as a textile artist. She illustrates and does textile art. She works with urban poor children, making them self-reliant by teaching them to use textiles as a medium of self expression and a source of livelihood.
Her contribution: An Elephant in my Backyard
Dileep Joshi
Dileep Joshi graduated from Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai and has worked as a freelancer with several advertising agencies. He has illustrated books for Scholastic India and Karadi Tales.
His contribution: The Blue Jackal
Monami Roy
Monami Roy is an illustrator, visual essayist and backpacker from Mumbai. Her art and constant travels are deeply intertwined with one another. Her contribution: The Insect Boy
Manasi Lamba
Manasi Lamba graduated from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore India, with a Professional Diploma in Visual Communication Design. She loves playing with colour, form, and typography with attention to detail and intricacies.
Her contribution: The Crocodile’s Tail
Christine Kastl
Christine Kastl grew up in Germany. She studied art and design North Germany and illustration in Strasbourg (France) at the ESAD (Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs). In 2007, she was awarded the Kunstförderpreis Friedrichshafen, a prestigious art award.
Her contributions: The Boy Who Drew Cats | When the Earth Lost its Shapes | The Lizard’s Tail
Chetan Sharma
Chetan Sharma is the founder of Animagic India, one of India’s most reputed independent animation studios. He effortlessly dons many hats – filmmaker, animator,writer, designer and voiceover artist. He has directed & produced 2 feature length animated features. He is the winner of the National Award for ‘Raju & I’ in 2005. He illustrated his first book for Karadi Tales almost two decades ago, when he was 19!
His contributions: The Lion’s Feast | Bhasmasura & Bakasura | Raja Kabilan | Super Hathaman | The Tallest Tale
Kanyika Kini
Kanyika Kini is a freelance web designer based in Munich. She graduated in Communication Design from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore in 2005. Since 2008, she has been freelancing and has been working on a range of web and graphic design projects. Other than illustrations her interests include hiking in the Alps, teaching Indian dance, and honing her culinary skills.
Her contribution: The Rumour
Nayantara Surendranath
Nayantara Surendranath is a visual artist, illustrator, and animator. She graduated from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology with a diploma in Animation and Visual Effects. She primarily works with dry pastels, charcoals, inks, and watercolour pencils. She also teaches art as a medium of self-exploration.
Her contribution: A Pair of Twins
Malavika P C
Malavika P. C. is someone who “always wanted to do stuff on paper with a pencil”. A book designer, illustrator and advertising designer, her sketches are filled with cheeky humour and general wickedness. Her greatest inspiration, she says, is Dr. Seuss! She enjoys theatre and reading and loves kids.
Her contributions: Intergalactic Idol | The Lion and the Mouse | Kaka and the Mouse | Bablu and the Mouse | Kutti and the Mouse
Priya Kuriyan
Priya Kuriyan is a children’s book illustrator, comic book artist and an animator. A graduate of the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), she has directed educational films for the Sesame Street show (India) and the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) and illustrated numerous children’s books for various Indian publishers. She currently lives in New Delhi, filling her sketchbooks with funny caricatures of its residents.
Her contribution: Princess Easy Pleasy
Jung A Park
Jung-a Park was studied illustration at SI Illustration School, one of the most prestigious schools in Korea. She works as a graphic novel artist and professional illustrator.
Her contribution: Dorje’s Stripes | Dancing Bear
Archana Sreenivasan
Archana Sreenivasan is a freelance illustrator based in Bangalore, India. Her illustrations have been published in magazines, children’s books, book covers and comics. She is an alumna of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Gwangjo
Gwangjo studied at Korea University and during his undergraduate degree won the support from the Buchon Cartoon Information Centre. He currently works as a professional comic and graphic novel artists and illustrator.
His contribution: Dorje’s Stripes | Dancing Bear
Thota Tharani
Thota Tharani is an award-winning art director and production designer. He has worked in over 100 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi film industries. He has won two National Film awards, two Filmfare Awards South and four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
His contribution: Birth of Ganesh & Kubera meets Ganesha
Ashwathy
Chennai-based visual artist Ashwathy P S graduated from Stella Maris College. A creative person who loves to transform a piece of paper into a whole new experience, her penchant for art came very early, while learning to draw as a child. She loves to explore the field of art, and believes that art can evolve from anything.
Prashant Soni
Prashant Soni lives in Udaipur, Rajasthan and has been an illustrator for the past few years. He enjoys nature and places of historical interest. His contribution: Papa’s Marathon.
Mayukh Ghosh
Mayukh Ghosh hails from Kolkata and has a degree in Visual Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University. He has been a freelance illustrator for the last three years and has had experience working as a textbook illustrator. He loves to travel and always takes his sketchbook along with him when he does.
His contribution: The Tale of Babban Hajjam
Konkona Sen Sharma
The Rumour
3 Brothers and a Violin
Going by the unusual name of “3 Brothers and a Violin”, the trio of Sriram, Narayan and Viswanath, fuse Indipop with classical harmonies and violin to produce some peppy background music for our audiobooks. The trio has created music for a majority of our audiobooks.
