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The Kaziranga Trail has been awarded the Shankar’s Gold Medal for the best book written for children. Conscious writ­ing for the young is a fairly recent deve­lopment in India. Earlier even when some­thing was written for the child it tended to be didactic and more of an admonition than art, for, the child’s ‘mind was some­thing to be improved; his imagination something to be shielded, his soul was something to be saved’! That books should be written for entertainment rather than for instruction is a recent concept. Child­ren’s literature, while it must meet many of the standards of adult literature has its own yardstick. The child is a logical being who is not always satisfied with folklore and fantasy. He expects his reading matter to come from the world of reality and nature. A good book must appeal to his imagination and desire for fun and adven­ture.