15: Children's Author & Illustrator Deepa Balsavar

For more than 30 years, Deepa Balsavar of Mumbai, India, has been developing curricular materials and collaborating with experts to create educational resources. A few of her works led to an opportunity to write and illustrate children's books beginning in 2005.

Since then, Deepa has flourished in her talents as a writer and artist. Her first children's book "The Seed", published by Tulika, was selected in 2007 an Outstanding International Book for Children in the White Ravens Catalogue put out annually by the International Youth Library in Germany. While Deepa views herself as being "the same person that I always was" when younger, she began her 60s with her most recent book "Nani's Walk to the Park" – published by Pratham Books – having earned the Best of Indian Children’s Writing (BICW) Contemporary Awards in 2019.

In this interview, Deepa talks about her journey to becoming a children's author and illustrator, some of her favorite book projects, as well as how she prioritizes her skillsets as a creator. 

Additional Resources:

Deepa's Recommendations:
- Books by David Quammen, Ruth Rendell, and Sue Grafton
- "My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises"by Fredrick Bachman

Shuva's Recommendation:
- "Phoebe the Photographer: Gets a Camera" written by Beryl Young and illustrated by Darya Shchegoleva

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