For the many experts in children's literature from across the world, the motivation factor that seemed to have connected them to the world of children's writing has been the open-mindedness and curiosity of the children to explore as readers.
Confirming this idea in a talk to the former BBC Wales arts and media correspondent Jon Gower at the Hay Festival on Friday were writers Radhika Menon, Gerdur Kristny, Ed Vere and Agnes Desarthe. For Radhika Menon, who started Tulika , an independent and multilingual publishing house in India, the entry into children's writing was a “natural choice”. But the success stories, she said, have been translating across the many languages that connected children with diverse States, projecting the diversity of the country.Currently, Tulika's picture books are published in nine languages.
Gerdur Kristny had long carried the passion of becoming a children's writer as she wanted to be like her favourite writers, most of whom were children's writers. For Ed Vere “becoming a children's writer was a pure accident”.
Ed Vere, who is also a painter, has been writing and illustrating children's books since 1999. “I need to be in touch with my inner child to carefully craft the sequences for the illustrations for the many stories because children observe real life and most often relate to the character,” he said .
