https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Anushka_RavishankarAnushka Ravishankar - Revision history2026-07-31T09:42:57ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Anushka_Ravishankar&diff=411524&oldid=prevCleanupBot II at 14:45, 14 August 20232023-08-14T14:45:59Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox writer<br />
| name = Anushka Ravishankar<br />
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| birth_place = [[Nashik]], [[India]]<br />
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| occupation = Author<br />
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| nationality = Indian<br />
| genre = Children's<br />
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'''Anushka Ravishankar''' is an author of children's books, and co-founder of [[Duckbill Books]], a publishing house.<br />
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==Early life==<br />
Ravishankar was born in [[Nashik]], and graduated in mathematics from Fergusson College, Pune in 1981. While at college, she was influenced by the works of [[Lewis Carroll]], [[Edward Lear]] and [[Edward Gorey]]. After completing her post-graduation in [[operations research]], Ravishankar worked with an IT firm in Nashik for a while. She became a full-time writer after the birth of her daughter.<ref name=live-mint-rbailay>{{cite news|last1=Bailay|first1=Rasul|title=Anushka Ravishankar - She writes stories that children can read for pure fun|url=http://www.livemint.com/Companies/aAD6UnGMBWtodwpfOf8GqN/Anushka-Ravishankar-She-writes-stories-that-children-can-r.html}}</ref><br />
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==Children's literature==<br />
Ravishankar sent her first few stories to [[Tinkle]], a comic book published by [[Amar Chitra Katha]]. When two of these stories won a contest organised by the magazine, the publisher of Tinkle offered her a job, but Ravishankar could only freelance for Tinkle as she was staying home to care for her young daughter.<ref name=live-mint-rbailay/> When her family moved to [[Chennai]] in 1996, she was hired to be an editor at [[Tara Books]], a children's publishing house in the city. There she authored ''Tiger on a Tree'', a book of nonsense verse that was translated to [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[French language|French]]. While the book only sold about 2500 copies in [[India]], it sold over 10000 copies in the [[United States]] and over 7000 copies in [[France]].<ref name=live-mint-rbailay/> She also worked as Publishing Director at Scholastic India.<ref name=duckbill-website>{{cite web|title=Duckbill Books|url=http://www.duckbill.in/platypus.php}}</ref><br />
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She founded the Duckbill Publishing House in 2012 with Sayoni Basu. In 2019 [[Penguin Random House|Penguin Random House India]] acquired all book publishing assets of the company.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arrackistan.com/2019/12/01/penguin-acquires-book-publishing-assets-of-duckbill/ |title=Penguin acquires book publishing assets of Duckbill |date=2019-12-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/penguin-random-house-india-acquires-duckbill-books-childrens-publishing-division/articleshow/72292963.cms |title=Penguin Random House India acquires Duckbill Books children's publishing division |date=2019-11-29}}</ref><br />
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She is sometimes called the Indian [[Dr. Seuss]].<ref name=uk-book-trust>{{cite web|title=Anushka Ravishankar: India's Dr.Seuss|url=http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/authors/131}}</ref><br />
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==Writing style==<br />
While Ravishankar writes both picture books and chapter books, her specialty lies in writing nonsense verse for children. While her work does contain some nonsensical elements, it is not always pure nonsense. Ithat is 'sensical', but the verse itself is quite nonsensical. I rely a lot on sound. Sometimes the sound takes you away from the meaning. Then, some of my books are really nonsense. ''Excuse Me, Is This India?'' is nonsense in the Carrollian sense."<ref name=uk-book-trust /><br />
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A few of her books, like ''Catch that Crocodile!'', ''Elephants Never Forget'' and ''Tiger on a Tree'', were inspired by real-life events.<br />
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Ravishankar is also known to rewrite her verse on some occasions, after the illustrations are complete. She collaborates with artists from [[South Africa]], [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]] and [[India]]. While some of her books have an Indian flavour, most have a cross-cultural appeal.<br />
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==References==<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravishankar, Anushka}}<br />
[[Category:Indian women children's writers]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Indian children's writers]]<br />
[[Category:English-language writers from India]]<br />
[[Category:Women writers from Maharashtra]]</div>CleanupBot II