INTERVIEW OF SUJATHA LALGUDI

Sujatha Lalgudi is an Author and Illustrator of over 230 eBooks for Children.  Some of her books have been best-sellers in their category.  Her books have been translated to over 15 languages. She is the co-founder of Armo Infomedia Pvt Ltd., and publishes her work through her own company.

She strongly believes that learning can be 'fun' and her  books for children blend in educational aspects while adding a good amount of humour to hold a child's interest.

She holds a Masters Degree in Computers. After working for several years as a software professional in the Silicon Valley, she moved back to India.  Writing and illustrating books is her passion.  

Check out her books :- SUJATHA LALGUDI`s BOOKS

1. Since you write books for children, so what is the difference between your childhood and the childhood the present generation experiences? 

SUJATHA:- My parents encouraged me to read books and I am doing the same as a parent. The difference is that in those days physical paper books were the only option. Now, kids can use tablets like iPads and Kindle to read eBooks as well as physical books. There are interactive books, audio books and educational apps to help children too! While we had one television channel, today there are many channels to choose from

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2. You are software engineer, so when did you think that you have a career in writing?

SUJATHA:- I have been writing since my childhood.  I used to maintain diaries, wrote poems and had pen-friends.  I was very interested in painting as well and even sold a few.  These were my favourite hobbies.  However, software engineering was the career I chose for a living.  But when my daughter was born, I decided to take a break and over time, I decided to pursue my passion of writing and painting.  Books for children became the ideal choice as I could combine both!!  I love telling stories...

3. How many books do you write in a year? 230 books is a huge number. 

SUJATHA:- I really don't have a number or pattern of writing.  When something inspires me, I write.  I always carry my diary with me :-)  I have been writing stories for several years now.  Sometimes, the plot stays in my head for a while and I let it simmer ...  My books have been translated to 15 European languages.  This year I plan to have regional languages like Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Sanskrit to name a few.
 

4. How easy as well as difficult it is to write books for children? 

SUJATHA:- It’s easy to tell stories to children.  They don't have a set expectation and are really open and are great listeners. This has been my experience with the children I told my stories to in several schools.  It’s the parents who are sometimes hard to please :-)   Still, it’s challenging to write books for children since the written word and the illustrations must emote together.  Books have to compete with animated episodes/serials and that is the difficult part.  How does one compel the child to pick a book over TV...?

5. Will you ever write books on other genres or will you stick to children`s book? 

SUJATHA:- My first completed book was actually a part fiction/biography inspired by my grandmother and my parents.  Well, I never did publish it.  But I do know that I will be writing for children since that is what I love doing.

6. Kids are very vulnerable these days. They have to face atrocities like sexual abuse, child marriage and trafficking. What are your views on these issues?

SUJATHA:- Yes.  It’s a sad reality and we need to equip our children to deal with this.  In one of my story-telling sessions in a school recently, they asked me if I could write a book on this topic.  I have been thinking about this and might come up with a book in the near future.
 

7. What do you plan to do in future?

SUJATHA:- I have a few ideas about doing a Television series about Jojo, a naughty elephant.  I have published three books already and eight are in the pipeline. So let's see...

8. What do you think are the major problems      children`s face?

SUJATHA:- There's peer pressure, bullying, consumerism.  But most of all, I think children of this generation are exposed to many things and competition is more intense.  But as long as we as parents are available to actively listen, children will learn to cope well.
 

9. Have you written any books for special children?

SUJATHA:- Yes. My White peacock book is about children who are 'different'.  You can read this book here: THE WHITE PEACOCK

10. Lastly, your message for our readers. 

SUJATHA:- I strongly believe that iPads, Kindle and other tablets can be used to encourage children to read. Our mindset that these devices are meant for apps and games must give way to edutainment and book reading too.  EBooks are just as effective as physical books.  In fact, the inbuilt dictionary may even help children improve their vocabulary!
Thank you for the opportunity to be part of your community of readers.

Check out her books here http://www.amazon.in/s?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Sujatha%20Lalgudi&search-alias=digital-text

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