Uma Krishnaswami is an Indian author of

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

and novels for children and is a writing teacher. She is "recognized as a major voice in the expanding of international and multicultural

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

.""Uma Krishnaswami and International Imaginings." ''Journal of Children's Literature''. Fall 2006. p 60-65. Frederick Luis Aldama.

Biography

Krishnaswami was born in 1956 in New Delhi, India. She received a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, and a master's degree in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

from the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. In 1979, she moved to the United States where she received an additional graduate degree from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

. She then moved to

Aztec, New Mexico Aztec is a city in, and the county seat of, San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. The city population was 6,126 as of the 2022 population estimate. The Aztec Ruins National Monument is located in Aztec. Aztec was the site of the Aztec, New ...

where she lived for many years. She now lives in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, Canada, and she is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and an Overseas Citizen of India. Her first published story appeared in '' Children's World,'' a magazine published in India, when she was thirteen. Her stories and poems have been published in ''

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

'', '' Highlights'' and ''Cicada''."Uma Krishnaswami and International Imaginings." ''Journal of Children's Literature''. Fall 2006. p 60-65. Frederick Luis Aldama. Her award-winning books, which include middle grade novels, picture books, early readers, and non-fiction are published in English,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and twelve other languages. In 2011 Krishnaswami appeared at the

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is an annual literary festival held in Washington, D.C. in the United States; it is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, and was founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 19 ...

which is organized by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. ''Chachaji's Cup'', one of Krishnaswami's picture books, was adapted into a musical and performed in several theaters in both New York City and California. Krishnaswami has taught writing to adults and children for years, and for over ten years she was the writer in residence at the

Aztec Ruins National Monument The Aztec Ruins National Monument in northwestern New Mexico, United States, consists of preserved structures constructed by the Pueblo Indians. The national monument lies on the western bank of the Animas River in Aztec, New Mexico, about n ...

. She is a member of the

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

and CANSCAIP. She also taught writing classes online through Writers on the Net. She currently teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at

Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...

Awards

*1997

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

Young Readers Award for ''The Broken Tusk: Stories of the Hindu God

Ganesha Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

'' *2005 Notable Book For a Global Society (

International Literacy Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dial ...

) for ''Naming Maya'' *2013

Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

(Children's Literature) for ''Book Uncle and Me'' *2011

Scholastic Asian Book Award The Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA) is the joint initiative of Scholastic Asia and the Singapore Book Council (SBC). The award recognizes children's writers of Asian origin who are taking the experiences of life, spirit, and thinking in different ...

for ''Book Uncle and Me'' *2017-2018

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature (APAAL) are a set of literary awards presented annually by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). The APALA was formed in 1980 "to create an organization that would address the n ...

for ''Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh'' *2017

USBBY Outstanding International Books List The USBBY Outstanding International Books List (The OIB List) is an initiative of the United States section of the International Board on Books for Young People ( USBBY) to produce an annual list of the outstanding children's books from around the w ...

for ''Book Uncle and Me'' *2022 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List for ''Threads of Peace: How

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

Changed the World'' *2022 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List for ''Two at the Top: A Shared Dream of Everest''Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year 2022 https://s3.amazonaws.com/bankstreet-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/BBL-2022-Five-to-Nine-for-web.pdf

Bibliography

Middle Grade and Chapter Books

* ''Threads of Peace: How

and

Changed the World'' (2021) * ''Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh'' (2017) * ''Book Uncle and Me'' (2012, 2016) * ''The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic'' (2013) * ''The Grand Plan to Fix Everything'' (2011) * ''Naming Maya'' (2004)

Picture books

* ''Two at the Top: A Shared Dream of

Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

'' (2021) * ''Bright Sky, Starry City'' (2015) * ''The Girl of the Wish Garden: A

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

Story'' (2013) * ''Out of the Way! Out of the Way!'' (2010) * ''Remembering Grandpa'' (2007) * ''Bringing Asha Home'' (2006) * ''The Closet Ghosts'' (2006) * ''The Happiest Tree'' (2005) * ''

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

'' (2003) * ''Chachaji's Cup'' (2003)

Early readers

* ''

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

'' (2003) * ''Hello Flower'' (2002) * ''

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

Class'' (2001)

Retold story collections

* ''The Broken Tusk: Stories of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

God

'' (2006, 1996) * ''Shower of Gold: Girls and Women in the Stories of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

'' (1999) * ''Stories of the Flood'' (1994)

Short fiction

* "Chandra," in ''The Poetry of US'' published by

National Geographic Kids ''National Geographic Kids'' (often nicknamed to ''Nat Geo Kids'') is a children's magazine published by National Geographic Partners. In a broad sense, the publication is a version of ''National Geographic'', the publisher's flagship magazine, ...

(2018) * "The Gift," in ''Period Pieces'' (2003) * "Going to Kashi," in ''Soul Searching'' (2002)

Nonfiction

* ''Beyond the Field Trip : Teaching and Learning in Public Places'' (2002) * ''No Joke! Humor and Culture in Middle-Grade Books in

The Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of t ...

Family Reading'' (May/June 2012 issue) * ''Why Stop at Windows and Mirrors? Diverse Books Act as Prisms for Readers'' in

(Jan/Feb 2019 issue)

Co-authored

* ''Many Windows : Six Kids, Five Faiths, One Community.'' Written with Rukhsana Khan and Elisa Lynn Carbone (2008)

References

External links

Works by Uma Krishnaswami in libraries
(

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

catalog) {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnaswami, Uma Writers from New Mexico Indian children's writers 1956 births Living people Delhi University alumni People from Aztec, New Mexico American children's writers Indian women children's writers Women writers from Delhi 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women