The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Awards for children’s books have announced shortlists for the 2019 edition, its fourth since the awards were founded.

Set up to “promote excellence in children’s writing and illustration in India”, the awards aim to “acknowledge innovative publishing trends, and to recognise children’s literature in India as an independent and important field.”

Recognising both writing and illustrations in fiction as well as non-fiction, the shortlists ranges across four categories. The winners will be announced at The Hindu Lit for Life Festival at Chennai in January 2019.

The titles on the shortlists are:

Best Picture Book (Story)

  • I Will Save My Land, Rinchin (Tulika Publishers)
  • Angry Akku, Vinayak Varma (Pratham Books)
  • A Walk with Thambi, Lavanya Karthik (Tulika Publishers)

Best Picture Book (Illustrations)

  • Ammachi’s Amazing Machines, Rajiv Eipe (Pratham Books)
  • Sadiq Wants to Stitch, Niloufer Wadia (Karadi Tales)
  • Ambadas’s Dancing Brush, Rupal Vaidya, (Art1st Publications)

Best Book (Fiction)

  • Boy No 32, Venita Coelho (Scholastic India)
  • The Cloudfarers, Stephen Alter (Penguin India)
  • The Pataala Prophecy: Son of Bhrigu, Christopher C Doyle (Westland)

Best Book (Non-Fiction)

  • Amrita Sher-Gil: Rebel with a Paintbrush, Anita Vachharajani (Harpercollins India)
  • The Great Indian Nature Trail with Uncle Bikky, Rohan Chakravarty and Bijal Vachharajani (WWF India)
  • A Brush with Indian Art, Mamta Nainy (Penguin India)