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 seed-vithanam-telugu.html">"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 us.html?noMobile=946">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:

• This Medium article about "Nani's Walk to the Park" includes images of some draft and final illustrations of the book.
• Deepa's Instagram account 

Deepa's Recommendations:- Books by David Quammen, Ruth Rendell, and Sue Grafton- "My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises"by Fredrick BachmanShuva's Recommendation:- "Phoebe the Photographer: Gets a Camera" written by Beryl Young and illustrated by Darya Shchegoleva

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