BICW Awards: The Best of Indian Children’s Writing – Contemporary
The Best of Indian Children’s Writing (BICW) award recognises the best Indian books for children in the age group of 3 to 12 years from publishers across India, published after 2005. The books are completely Indian, absolutely original, and wholly contemporary. Our carefully selected jury painstakingly read all submitted books, and our storytelling team verified the choices with children in classrooms across India. When we say “best”, we really mean it.
Completely
Indian
BICW rewards only authors of Indian origin. The book has to be set in an Indian (or neutral) context.
Absolutely
Original
Has to be original. No re-telling and rehashing, unless stunningly refreshing. No misappropriation.
Wholly
Contemporary
Contemporary characters, plot lines, and settings. Modern sensibilities. Rooted in the present.
Level 1: Regular 5 | Advanced 3
Hurrah! The kids have started reading.
Level 2: Regular 6 | Advanced 4
Are they really reading or just looking at the pictures?
Level 3: Regular 6 | Advanced 4
Oh! They really did read it. Phew.
Level 4: Regular 7 | Advanced 5
Hmm. Maybe they don’t need our help anymore.
Level 5: Regular 8 | Advanced 6
Will they make it to chapter books?
Level 6: Regular 9 | Advanced 7
Okay! We’re at Base Camp Books and the climb has just begun.
Level 7: Regular 10 | Advanced 8
We’re in Chapter Land and the pictures are disappearing fast.
Read More
BICW has been around since 2018 and it will grow with every annual BICW exercise. The books announced each year add to the BICW list. You can view our 2018 BICW announcement here and 2019 BICW announcement here. We are very transparent about our process and the work we do. Free to drop a comment (good stuff and ugly ones) on this page or on any of the posts or write to us. If you have books that you want us to consider, then let us know.