@smaarb Instagram profile, stories

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Here’s presenting a special book from our Children’s list by one of our dearest authors. Written and curated by Ruskin Bond, “All Time Favourite Friendship Stories” is a heartwarming collection of 25 stories that celebrate the powerful bond of friendship—be it between schoolmates, rivals, strangers, animals and even nature. Illustrated by the wonderful David Yambem (@david_yambem ) and art directed by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ). Swipe to see some special moments from Ruskin Bond’s world.

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5 days ago

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We are delighted to share some wonderful news! "Bird Milk and Mosquito Bones", designed by Aakriti Khurana (@_aakritikhurana ), has been awarded Best Book Cover of the Year (Adult) at the Publishing Next Industry Awards. We are equally proud to announce that "Baloo’s Big Win", designed by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ), has been named Runner-Up for Best Book Cover of the Year in the Children’s category. Warmest congratulations to both designers on this well-deserved honour! 🎉🎉

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4 months ago

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We are absolutely excited to announce that four of our titles have been shortlisted for the Publishing Next Industry Awards 2025 (@publishing_next ) in the Book Cover of the Year category, across multiple subcategories. "Bird Milk and Mosquito Bones", designed by Aakriti Khurana (@_aakritikhurana ) "Baloo’s Big Win", designed by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ) "How and Why Tales", designed by Gina Mary James (@ginghames ) "Thakurbadi", designed by Aditya A huge congratulations to the designers and authors.

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4 months ago

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Happy Children’s Day! Here’s another special book from our Children’s list. "The Magic of the Lost Earrings" by Sudha Murty is a new milestone as her 50th book! The third in the series, this book follows Nooni on another adventure with her beloved Ajji and Ajja on a quest to find the owner of a lost pair of earrings – travelling from Ujjain to Amritsar to Delhi and even to London, Nooni explores the rich culture of India, learns of its incredible history, and along the way uncovers a tale of love, loss, friendship and resilience as she puts together the pieces of this mystery. Illustrated by the incredibly talented David Yambem (@david_yambem ) and art directed by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ). Swipe to see some snippets from Nooni’s journey.

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6 months ago

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Can you make it SNOW in TAMIL NADU? Valarmathi thinks so. Reaching for the Moon, written by Menaka Raman (@mothership80 ) and illustrated by Adrija Ghosh (@oddrija_scribbles ) tells the story of ten-year-old Valar, who is set on winning the school district science fair. She wants to make snow to cool down her sweltering hometown. But how? With her best friend Siva by her side, she tries many times and also fails many times – just like the some of the early Chandrayaan missions. She learns that sometimes failure can be the coolest part of success! Art direction by Samar Bansal (@smaarb )

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7 months ago

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A Big Win for Puffin! (@penguinsters ) Baloo’s Big Win (from the Magic Makers series) wins the Neev Book Award for 2025! A powerful story written by Mamta Nainy (@mamtanainy ) and illustrated by the ever talented Saumya Oberoi (@somuberry ), Baloo’s Big Win tells the story of how Palwankar Baloo braved caste discrimination and changed the game of cricket for our country. Art direction by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ) A big congratulations to our author, illustrator and the tireless team behind the project.

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7 months ago

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Here’s a new book from our children’s list! @penguinsters Who ever heard of a bald Rapunzel? “Agalya in the Spotlight” by Divya Anand (@divyawrites ) tells the story of nine-year-old Agalya, who lands the lead role in her school’s stage production of Rapunzel, but then finds out she’s got alopecia. How’s she going to deal with it? Illustrations by Indrani Ghosh (@thebadstoryteller ) Design direction by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ) and Vibha Surya (@vibhasurya.art )

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1 year ago

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Here’s a new cover from the Songs of Freedom series! "A Demon in Dandi" by Lavanya Karthik (@_lavanyakarthik_ ) is a story set in the 1930s in Dandi about a young student volunteer who must uncover the truth when a man is found dead in his village, and rumours of an angry demon only deepen the mystery. Now nine books strong, the Songs of Freedom series explores the lives of children across India during the struggle for independence. Cover design and illustration by Samar Bansal (@smaarb )

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1 year ago

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Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize is pleased to acknowledge designer Samar Bansal @smaarb for his remarkable command of graphics and visual narrative for the book cover designed by him @thangjam.hindustani @penguinindia @penguinrandomhouse @imasifoundation #JuryAppreciation #BookCoverPrize #BookDesign #OxfordBookstoreBookCoverPrize

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1 year ago

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Here’s another set of books from our children’s list! @penguinsters The Silly Billy series is a new series of books for young readers with fun, adventurous, cheeky stories about everyday characters doing all the crazy silly everyday things that children do. The brainchild of editor Simran (@kauurr_ ), the first three books in this series are stories authored by Asha Nehemiah, Shabnam Minwalla and Khyrunnisa A. and peppered with illustrations by the wonderful Pankaj Saikia, Isha Mangalmurti and Saumya Oberoi. Series design and art direction by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ) Swipe to see some silly billy spreads from these silly billy books!

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1 year ago

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Presenting another stunner from our children’s list! @penguinsters "The Whispering Mountains" is a collection of folktales gathered from across the Himalayan regions of the Indian subcontinent, curated by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal. Art directed by Samar Bansal (@smaarb ) and brilliantly illustrated by Dennis Laishram (@dennis_concept_n_illustrations ) Collected directly from storytellers and translated to English, these tales capture generations of wit and wisdom passed on from grandparent to grandchild, and are a vibrant insight into the Himalayan regions’ diverse mythology, ecology, landscapes and geography and its fascinating culture and traditions. These tales carry accounts of love, courage, lore and mysticism, binding the region and the community together. Swipe to see some gorgeous spreads from the book.

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1 year ago

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I have a new book! Roop and the River Crossing comes from the tenacity and persistence of @kauurr_ who asked me to write about the Partition for children and then gave me all the time I needed in my writing-in-bursts way of working to come up with something. Here it is now and I hope you will read it. I wrote it but the book belongs equally to @bhukkkad @smaarb and of course Simran. It’s always an amazing feeling to see a creative project come to fruition- my heart swells with gratitude for being able to do this work. Life is both complicated and simple, Fredrik Backman wrote in one of his books that I love, and I think that is true for stories too. Roop and the River Crossing is my attempt at writing between those words. It was challenging and perhaps remains imperfect but I hope it gives readers, especially children, something with which to make sense of our past so that we can heal the present and the future. #partition #kidlit #childrens #stories #history

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1 year ago

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