Childrens Book Trust

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History

Children's Book Trust was founded by Shankar in 1957. It came to be housed in Nehru House, inaugurated by the President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan on November 30, 1965.CBT is now in the 50th year of its establishment. These golden years have seen a marked progression not only in terms of creative ideas, themes and factual accounts, but in their presentation, production and visual interpretations as well. From playful animal fantasies that were published as Panchatantra tales or the retold folktales that even today make perennial favourites, CBT gradually steered its energies towards reality issues like teenage problems, scientific and technological advances, school and sports dilemmas, contributions of eminent men and women in India's progress, the changing mindset of ordinary people and the evolution of their thought. The change came about with the launch of the Competition for Writers of Children's Books in 1978. The subjects were diversified to make a much wider spectrum. This now comprises General Fiction, Science Fiction, Indian History/Heritage, Natural History, Travelogue, Non-Fiction/Information, Popular Science, Great Institutions, Short Stories/Humour Stories, Short Plays/Dramas, and Read-Aloud Books/Picture Books. These are published not only in English and Hindi, as was the case earlier, but in various Indian languages to a certain extent.

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-MAGAZINE FOR CHILDREN:The Trust has been publishing for about 39 years an illustrated monthly magazine in English, 'Children's World'. It has helped forge a significant link with children in India and abroad.Publications apart, CBT now comprises many facets of activities.-WORKSHOP FOR WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS:As a fillip to creative talent, CBT has organized, from time to time, workshops for writers and illustrators of children's books.A forum for them, sponsored by CBT, has since formed itself into a registered body known as the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children. Its activities include participating in world events, encouragement to writers, promotion of the reading habit, and establishment of libraries.-SICC:The Shankar's International Children's Competition (SICC) began in 1949.At that time, Mr. Shankar Pillai, SHANKAR as he is more popularly known, was editing a cartoon journal called 'Shankar's Weekly'. In that weekly Shankar used to make fun of grown-ups especially politicians and public men. However, for children, Shankar always had a soft corner. So, acting on the spur of the moment, he held a competition for children in painting and writing. About a thousand children took part sending 3,000 entries. Shankar was so impressed with what they had drawn and written that the very next year he held another competition throwing it open to children from other countries. The result was 7,000 entries from 13 countries. The number of entries has grown over the last three decades and more, touching an average of about 1,60,000 from 130 countries. Even Shankar had not bargained for such an explosion of child talent.The President of India or the Vice-President or the Prime Minister is normally the Chief Guest at the function.-CHILDREN'S ART NUMBER:The prize-winning entries are published in a de luxe multi-colour publication called 'Shankar's Children's Art Number'. This annual compendium has acquired a unique place in the world of children's literature. The Art Number published in 2005 was the fifty sixth.-ON-THE-SPOT PAINTING COMPETITION:At the 1952 exhibition of prize-winning paintings, a doubting Thomas felt that children could not have turned out such 'accomplished works of art'. To clear the doubt, the first On-the-Spot Painting Competition in Delhi was held in April 1952. The Competition held on the sprawling lawns of a New Delhi's school, was an annual event till the year 2005 and over 10,000 children in and around Delhi, as well as children of foreign nationals in Delhi, participated whole-heartedly. However, the Competition had to be suspended owing to space constrains and traffic restrictions.-DOLLS MUSEUM:Set up by the renowned political cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai (1902-1989), Shankar's International Dolls Museum has one of the largest collection of costume dolls anywhere in the world.

Description

Pioneer publishers of children's books in India, Children's Book Trust has set for itself an ambitious target to promote the production of well written, well illustrated and well designed books for children. In furtherance of this objective, the Trust brings out books that are easy to read and easy on the eyes, including books that enable children to have a better appreciation of India's cultural heritage.CBT publications on science, information, biographies under the 'Remembering Our Leaders' series, have attracted good attention, many of the titles being reprinted over and over again. CBT books have been included under schemes for Adult Education and Science Improvement. Select titles were printed under the 'Operation Blackboard' in many languages to supply the needs of the State Governments. Conscientious attention has been bestowed on achieving quality and production excellence. The publications also include an exhaustive and authoritative book on 'Children's Literature in India' for documentation and referencing. The Trust has to its credit today about 1000 titles.The prices of the books are kept down to the minimum possible, in fact subsidised, in an effort to bring them within the reach of the average Indian child, which was Shankar's basic idea.In such ways, therefore, CBT has steadily built for its readers a vast storehouse of literature which, if followed systematically and chronologically, reveals the pace of development of children's literature from the time when

Childrens Book Trust