Koppal students wrote and drew 14 picture books of their own
Nineteen government-school students in grades 5 to 8 spent more than a year making the books. They were released Saturday at Bengaluru's National Gallery of Modern Art.
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Fourteen picture books written and illustrated by children from government schools in Koppal were released on Saturday at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bengaluru. The Hindu reported the launch on October 31, 2026. Nineteen students in grades 5 to 8 spent more than a year on the books. Some wrote. Some drew.
The project belongs to Kalike, a Tata Trusts programme, and the publisher is Yellara Pustaka. Co-founder Kailash Tiptur said the press had already published two books for children and by children, in 2021 and 2023, and that Kalike then asked them to take this one on. About 60 children came to a 10-day workshop. Nineteen were chosen. Later workshops introduced watercolour, crayon, Warli and Madhubani painting, theatre, and creative writing. Tiptur said nobody was forced into one job. Students who wanted to draw did that. Students who wanted to tell stories did that.
He argued that many tales handed to children are old moral stories with little that feels new, and that this set was a chance for the students' own voices. Two books by Kalike team members were released the same day. Tiptur said a resource book about the whole effort is still to come. The news is the 14 books and the Saturday launch, not that later volume.
For the classroom
Students from government schools in Koppal, India, made picture books themselves. The Hindu reported on October 31, 2026, that 14 of those books were released that Saturday in Bengaluru. Nineteen students in grades 5 to 8 worked for more than a year. A 10-day workshop with about 60 children was used to choose them. They tried painting, theatre, and writing. Some told stories and some drew. The project is called Kalike, and the publisher is Yellara Pustaka. Two books by adults on the team came out the same day. The news is the 14 books and the launch. A book about the whole project is still planned.
- Why might a story written by a child feel different from a story an adult writes for children?
- If your class made one picture book, who would you want to read it?
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