
Deepa Agarwal has always loved stories. She writes because she wants children to discover the pleasure of reading too that has brought so much joy into her life. This has led her to pen about 60 books in a variety of genres, for children aged from 3 to 14 years. Picture books, mystery stories, ghost stories, fantasy, historical fiction, stories from real life, biographies and retold myths and folktales—she has tried her hand at all! Her adventure stories have been described as page turners by many, her ghost stories induced chills and her real life fiction has touched many hearts. A number of her books focus on the issues of gender discrimination, social equality and saving the environment. Her stories are often set in the mountains, since she was born and brought up in the hills of Uttarakhand and she draws deeply from real life incidents and personal experience.
Deepa contributes to many magazines and journals in India and abroad and her work has been translated into several Indian and foreign languages. Her work has been included in many anthologies and school textbooks. She has compiled and edited several collections of stories and poems as well. She also likes to research children’s literature and apart from presenting papers in many conferences in India and abroad, she has received the Ministry of Culture Senior Fellowship and a stipendium from the Austrian government to work on different aspects of writing for children.
Deepa’s first book Ashok’s New Friends (CBT, 1990) received the NCERT National Award for Children’s Literature. Since then, several other works have received recognition. She has also served on the jury for the Sahitya Akademi Bal Puraskar Award.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
- A Capital Adventure, Children’s Book Trust, 1990
- Three Days to Disaster, Ratnasagar Publishers, 1990
- The Hunt for the Miracle Herb, Puffin Books, 1995, reprinted Navneet Publications 2006
- Everyday Tales, Harper Collins, India,1995
- Traveller’s Ghost, Harper Collins, India, 1994,
- Ghosts Everywhere, A’n’B Publishers, 1996
- Adventures in the Hills, A’ n’ B Publishers,1996
- Katha Ratna 3, (Hindi), Ratnasagar Publishers, 1995
- Folk Tales from India, Macmillan India Limited, 1997)
- Myths and Legends from India, Macmillan India Limited, 1997)
- Animals and Birds in Myth and Legend, Macmillan India Ltd., 1997)
- The Hilltop Mystery, Vikas Publishing House, 1998
- What’s Right, What’s Wrong, Save the Children Fund, 2001
- Anita and the Game of Shadows, Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd. (2002), reprinted as The Game of Shadows, December 2012
- Not Just Girls! , Rupa & Co., 2004
- My Book of Creative Writing, Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd. 2004
- The Tricky Tales of Vikram and the Vetal, Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd. 2005
- Caravan to Tibet, Puffin Books, India 2007
- 16 Folktales of Uttarakhand, Children’s Book Trust, (2008)
- Chandrakanta, Translation of Devkinandan Khatri’s Hindi classic, Puffin 2008
- Rani Lakshmibai, the Valiant Queen of Jhansi, Puffin India, 2009
- Write Right; Scholastic India, 2011
- Rajula and the Web of Danger; Hachette India, 2011
- Ghost Stories Vol I; Pratham Books, 2012
- Chanakya, the Master of Statecraft; Puffin Books, 2013
- Spinning Yarns (compiled and edited); Red Turtle, 2013
- The Wish-fulfilling Cow and Other Classic Indian Tales, Scholastic India, 2015
- Go, Girl Go!, Ratnasagar Publishers, 2015
- 100 Great Poems for Children (compiled); Red Turtle, 2015
- Words to Live By, (compiled) Hachette India, 2016
- Listen, O King! Five-and-Twenty Tales of Vikram and the Vetal, Puffin, 2016
- Best Stories from Around the World; anthology, Red Turtle/Rupa, 2017
- The Scholastic Book of Hindu Gods and Goddesses; Scholastic India, 2017
- Sacked: Folktales You Can Carry Around; HarperCollins India, 2017
- The Teenage Diary of Nur Jehan, Talking Cub, 2019
- Blessed; Hachette India, 2019
- Friendship Stories; Scholastic India, 2019)
- Mahabharata Stories; Harper Collins India, 2019
- Journey to the Forbidden City; Penguin/Puffin, 2020
- Kashmir! Kashmir!; Scholastic India, 2021
PICTURE BOOKS
- Ashok’s New Friends, Children’s Book Trust, 1990
- Lippo Goes to the Park, Frank Educational Aids, 1994
- Lippo Goes to a Party, Frank Educational Aids, 2000
- Squiggly Goes to School, Frank Educational Aids,1994
- Squiggly Goes for a Picnic, Frank Educational Aids, 2000
- Cheeko and the School Bag, Frank Educational Aids, 2000
- Flippi the Flying Pup, Frank Educational Aids, 2000
- The Tree, Frank Educational Aids, 1994
- Momo’s Capers, Frank Educational Aids, 1994
- Birthday Gift, Frank Educational Aids,1994
- Hoppity’s Song, Frank Educational Aids, 1996)
- The Toy Horse, Children’s Book Trust, 1997
- The Walking Tree, Children’s Book Trust,1999
- Birju and the Flying Horse, National Book Trust,1999
- Bamba and Pinky, Frank Educational Aids, 2002
- Flippi the Doggieangel, Frank Educational Aids, 2002
- Tango Goes Camping, Frank Educational Aids, 2003)
- Bamba and the Apple Tree, Frank Educational Aids, 2003
- Stories from the Panchatantra, 1, 2, 3, Frank Educational Aids, 2003
- Greek Mythology 1 & 2, Frank Educational Aids, 2003
- Latula the Dancing Top, Rupa & Co., 2003
- Shanti’s Friend, Pratham Books, 2007
- The Mango Birds, National Book Trust, 2009
- A Real Giraffe, National Book Trust, 2009
CONTRIBUTIONS IN ANTHOLOGIES
- Mystery Stories, AWIC, 1989
- M for Mystery Part 1 and 2, Ratnasagar Publishers,1989
- Dinosaurs in the Garden, Ratnasagar Publishers,1993
- Stories from the Panchatantra,1 and 2, Ratnasagar Publishers, 1993
- The Ghostly Tale and Other Stories, Vikas.
- The Great Lottery Scandal and Other Stories, Vikas,1995
- A Jinx on the Land and other Stories, Children’s Book Trust.
- Kidnapped and Other Stories, Children’s Book Trust.
- Kaleidoscope, Children’s Book Trust.
- Bouquet of Stories, 3, Publications Division.
- Abhinav Kahaniyan, (Hindi) Children’s Book Trust,1991
- Abhinav Kahaniyan 2, Children’s Book Trust,1991
- Ek mein Anek, (Hindi) Ratnasagar Publishers,1995)
- Phoolwari, Hindi Readers, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Ratnasagar Publishers, 1995)
- There’s Another Way—Stories on Peace, Vikas Publishing House,1998
- The Carpenter’s Apprentice, Katha, 1999)
- That’s Ghosts for You, Carus Publishing Company, 2000
- 13 Scary Stories, Scholastic Inc., 2001
- Once Upon a Time in India, ICCR-AWIC- Macmillan India, 2003
- Aasha (anthology of women’s stories), Hindi Book Centre, 2002
- Deh-Dehri (anthology of women’s stories in Hindi), Sahitya Prakashan, 2003
- The Puffin Book of Children’s Verse, Penguin India, 2005)
- Favourite Stories for Girls, Puffin Books, 2007
- Friends Forever, Hachette India, 2009
- The Puffin Book of Spooky Ghost Stories, Puffin Books, 2009
- Dad and Me, Hachette India 2010
- Mom and Me, Hachette India, 2010
- Bad Moon Rising, Puffin Books, 2010
- The Killer App, Puffin, 2012
- I’d Rather Read, Red Turtle, 2016
- On Your Marks, Talking Cub, 2018
AWARDS
- SCBWI Tapestry of Voices REACH Award, SF North and East Bay Region, 2021
- Children’s Book Trust Awards, 2019
- Best of Indian Children’s Writing Award for 2018, 2019, “Manya Learns to Roar”
- Winner of the BalKatha Prize, 2018, “Watch Me”
- Winner of the Children First Contest, 2017, “Manya Learns to Roar”
- Shortlisted in the Children First Contest, 2017, “Susie Will Not Speak”
- First Prize Winner in the Fiction for Children category, Unisun – Reliance TimeOut Competition, 2011, “The Story Lady”