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The Parag Illustrator Prize is language agnostic.
The Illustrator Prize is awarded to illustrators who have started illustrating for children in the last 5 years and whose works exhibit a strong literary, artistic and contemporary voice.
1. Nomination
The Award opens by inviting nominations from empanelled members. Individuals, organisations, publishers and other stakeholders in the children’s literature sector who have been committed to creating and advocating good-quality children’s literature are invited to nominate.
2. Longlists
Longlists are drawn from the nominated illustrators in consultation with the jury. The respective longlists comprise of 6 illustrators. A bibliography is put together for each longlisted illustrator and their books purchased for jury reading.
3. Shortlists
The jury reads the longlist works over a few months and independently shortlists 3 or 4 illustrators.
4. Winners
The winners are selected through a discussion among the jury members; the meeting is anchored by Parag. The illustrator shortlist is discussed in depth along with precise reference to their works, contribution and impact. The winners are announced at the Parag Utsav.
1. Illustrators with a minimum of 2 published books qualify for the Parag Illustrator Prize. Illustrations for magazines may be considered in addition to the minimum published books.
2. The illustrated works may include retellings of traditional literature, translations and adaptations.
3. Primary works that are to be considered by the jury must be produced by a publisher. Self-publications may be considered for additional reading.
4. Illustrators’ works in the last 5 years, from 1st January 2021 to date, are eligible.
5. The illustrator is active, and their works are accessible to children.
6. The illustrator’s work displays an excellence developed through an eagerness to explore and experiment with ideas, genres and the possibilities of their craft.
7. The stories/visual narratives that the illustrator has worked on are culturally appropriate and avoid/challenge stereotypes.
8. The works demonstrate growth and willingness to break known barriers in what defines a children’s illustrator.
9. The illustrator may have illustrated for any age between 0 and 18.
10. The illustrator’s works may include one or more genres—fiction, non-fiction, drama and poetry.
11. The Parag Illustrator Prize is not given posthumously.
1. Like the author award category, is the illustrator category also language-specific?
The illustrator category is not language-specific. Illustrators whose books are published in India, in Indian languages including English, qualify for the award. However, for regional languages, works must be available in translation for jury reading.
2. Who can nominate?
An empanelled group of various stakeholders of the children’s literature sector in India can nominate. Selected members are invited by Parag to be on the empanelled group. They are librarians, organisations committed to children’s reading, publishers and children’s literature enthusiasts and experts.
3. What is the judging process?
A longlist of illustrators is created with the jury from the nominations received. Thereafter, books of the longlisted illustrators are procured and sent to the jury. The jury shortlists illustrators, and the winner is decided by consensus.
4. When are the winners announced?
Winners are announced at the Parag Utsav in November or December.
Anushka Ravishankar has written over forty books for children, including picture books in verse, chapter books, retellings of folk tales and non-fiction. Several of them have been published internationally and have won awards. As a picture book writer, she has collaborated with illustrators from all over the world. She worked as an editor at Tara Books and Scholastic India before co-founding a children’s publishing house called Duckbill Books (now a Penguin Random House India imprint). Some of her books are Hic!, Ogd, Captain Coconut and the Case of the Missing Bananas and Moin and the Monkey Monster.
Anushka Ravishankar has written over forty books for children, including picture books in verse, chapter books, retellings of folk tales and non-fiction. Several of them have been published internationally and have won awards. As a picture book writer, she has collaborated with illustrators from all over the world. She worked as an editor at Tara Books and Scholastic India before co-founding a children’s publishing house called Duckbill Books (now a Penguin Random House India imprint). Some of her books are Hic!, Ogd, Captain Coconut and the Case of the Missing Bananas and Moin and the Monkey Monster.
Deepa Balsavar is an author and an illustrator for children. She lives in Mumbai amidst dogs and cats, and teaches at IDC, School of Design, IIT Bombay as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Communications Design Department. She has been a part of the Avehi Abacus Project for over twenty years, involved in research, writing and creating visual learning material for children. In 2021, Deepa received the Big Little Book Award, awarded by the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts, for her significant contribution to children’s literature in India through illustrations.
Some of her picture books are The Lonely King and Queen, Seed, The Sea in a Bucket and Our Library. Her book Headstrap/The Sherpa Trail, co-authored with Nandini Purandare on the climbing Sherpa community of Darjeeling, was published in 2024 to international acclaim. The book has already won four writing awards, including the Banff Mountain Book Award, Canada, the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, UK, the Kalinga Literary Festival Award for Non-Fiction and the Kekoo Naoroji Award for Best Book on Mountain Literature.
Deepa Balsavar is an author and an illustrator for children. She lives in Mumbai amidst dogs and cats, and teaches at IDC, School of Design, IIT Bombay as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Communications Design Department. She has been a part of the Avehi Abacus Project for over twenty years, involved in research, writing and creating visual learning material for children. In 2021, Deepa received the Big Little Book Award, awarded by the Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts, for her significant contribution to children’s literature in India through illustrations.
Some of her picture books are The Lonely King and Queen, Seed, The Sea in a Bucket and Our Library. Her book Headstrap/The Sherpa Trail, co-authored with Nandini Purandare on the climbing Sherpa community of Darjeeling, was published in 2024 to international acclaim. The book has already won four writing awards, including the Banff Mountain Book Award, Canada, the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, UK, the Kalinga Literary Festival Award for Non-Fiction and the Kekoo Naoroji Award for Best Book on Mountain Literature.
Yashodara enjoys sharing books with children of all ages and backgrounds. For a decade she anchored the ‘Open Library’ at Centre for Learning, Bangalore. She has taught English as a second language in schools and informal learning spaces. She has created site-specific nature activities for classrooms set in BRT Sanctuary and Ladakh with the Kalpavriksh education team. Once upon a time, Yashodara ran the Campus Book Store at the Indian Institute of Science and also apprenticed at a public library in Bangalore. More recently, she has been helping school libraries sort, re-classify and enrich their book collections.
Yashodara enjoys sharing books with children of all ages and backgrounds. For a decade she anchored the ‘Open Library’ at Centre for Learning, Bangalore. She has taught English as a second language in schools and informal learning spaces. She has created site-specific nature activities for classrooms set in BRT Sanctuary and Ladakh with the Kalpavriksh education team. Once upon a time, Yashodara ran the Campus Book Store at the Indian Institute of Science and also apprenticed at a public library in Bangalore. More recently, she has been helping school libraries sort, re-classify and enrich their book collections.
