BWI: Leadstart Publishing & Crossword Bookstore Launch the Champa Series with Kajol and Tanisha

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Leadstart Publishing
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 02:07 PM IST (08:37 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Entertainment, People; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Media & entertainment, Publishing & printing, Retailers; Technology
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Leadstart Publishing & Crossword Bookstore Launch the Champa Series with Kajol and Tanisha


Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Wednesday, July 20, 2011 -- (Business Wire India) -- Leadstart Publishing launched their children's books, Champa The Punjabi Kudi Discovers The Himalayas and Champa The Dreamer Journeys To The Land Of The Buddha, written and illustrated by Asha Shankardass at Crossword, Kemps's Corner. The books were released by much-awarded actor and avid reader, Kajol Devgan and her sister, Tanisha Mukerji.

With the store packed to capacity on a rainy afternoon, the sisters walked in amongst heavy security. The event began with the unveiling of the books. The first speaker was Chandralekha Maitra, Executive Director - Editorial, Leadstart Publishing - who first requested the audience to observe a minute's silence in memory of our fellow Mumbai residents who lost their lives in last week's terror strike. She went on to say, "The vast majority of people assume that writing for children must be easy and fun. The truth is that the children's genre is perhaps the greatest creative challenge in writing today. From the time a child is ready to understand and absorb anything, he/she is exposed to a mind-boggling and instant world of information, colour, images, contrasts and sensations. The world today is a vastly different place from what it was even 10-15 years ago and writing for children today, in any of the sub-genres, is an intense labour of research, creativity, and quest for originality."

The children's books currently available in the market are either re-telling of classics such as (Panchatantra, Mahabharta, etc) or products from animation studios producing books as a second revenue line. Leadstart thus introduced its children's book imprint, Happy Squirrel, a year ago, dedicated to original content with an Indian ethos but universal appeal - at Indian prices. Kajol spoke about her experiences with her children, Nysa and Yug - to whom she has narrated and read stories even when they were just a few months old. She applauded the author and book publishers on the Champa series. She told the audience that her daughter had read the entire book in a few hours and loved it. Tanisha shared her own vivid memories of books and how they help in shaping the imagination of children.

Asha Shankardass, author and illustrator of the books, said, "The journey of writing the Champa series started with a desire to expose children to the diversity of this great country . Go to any corner of India and it is full of mythology, history, different festivals, architecture, languages, food or the dress code. I thought if I could entwine all this information into a story, with a lot of illustrations, it would make it more interesting for children. This is where Champa was born - a nine-year-old village girl with a dream to see the world beyond her little village. With Champa's travels, I hope to cover many parts of India."

To view the photographs, please click on the links given below:

Leadstart Publishing-Kajol - Tanisha- Crossword- Champa

Leadstart Publishing-Kajol - Tanisha- Crossword- At the Launch
For picture(s)/data to illustrate this release click below:

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CONTACT DETAILS
Mr. Iftikar Shaikh, Head, Media Relations, Leadstart Publishing, +91-22-40700804 /+91-22-2404 6887, media@leadstartcorp.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENTERTAINMENT, PEOPLE, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, MEDIA, PUBLISHING, RETAIL, TECHNOLOGY

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