SINGAPORE - Indian author Aditi Krishnakumar's manuscript 'Codex: The Lost Treasure of the Indus' has beaten four other works to win the Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA) 2016.
This year's competition featured 54 submissions, including manuscripts representing Iran and Palestine for the first time. Five finalists were selected.
The award offers the winner $10,000 in cash and a chance for their manuscript to be published by Scholastic Asia.
The award was presented by guest of honour Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Trade and Industry, during the opening ceremony of the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) 2016, at the Central Public Library, Victoria Street.
The AFCC is organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) and will take place from Wednesday until Sunday.
Ms Aditi, whose work is a combination of adventure, history and mystery, said: "I love writing and the experience of winning this award is surreal.
"I trust the AFCC will inspire our young ones to read for enjoyment and pleasure, improving their language and bilingual skills along the way."
Ms Aditi published her first book, 'A Whole Summer Long' in 2012 and was also shortlisted for the SABA 2014.
Now in its seventh edition, this year's AFCC will feature 140 conference sessions catering to writers, illustrators ,educators, librarians and parents, with 116 local and international speakers from 14 countries.
The festival aims to celebrate children's books and content focused on Asian themes. This year's country of focus is Japan.
