Sanchita Basu De Sarkar (Bookseller) Biography

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Bookseller, Author
Physical Stats
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Award(s)	2018: Bookseller Rising Star 2020: Bookshop Hero 2024: Children's Bookseller of the Year and Best Book Retailer of the Year at the British Book Awards
Personal Life
Date of Birth	February 1988
Age (as of 2026)	38 Years
Birthplace	Wembley, London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Hometown	Wembley, London
Religion	Hinduism
Family
Parents	Mother- Shrabani Basu (an author)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sanchita Basu De Sarkar

• When Sanchita Basu De Sarkar was 22 years old, she joined a children’s book shop in London during her college days. She later took over this shop.

• Her shop’s name is Children’s Bookshop, which is located in Muswell Hill, London.

• After that, the Royal Society of Literature recognised her shop as the oldest children’s bookshop in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1974.

• As an owner of an oldest bookshop in London, Sanchita Basu De Sarkar became an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Society of Literature in 2024.
  

  Sanchita Basu De Sarkar during a media conversation

• She has served as a judge for various awards, such as the Costa Book Award, the British Book Awards, the Times/Children House Prize etc.

• Sanchita Basu De Sarkar is a member of the Children’s Laureate Steering Group.

• She is one of the a co-founder of South Asian Illustration and Literature Festival (SAIL Fest). This organisation promotes children books authors and illustrators from South Asia in the United Kingdom.

• In 2026, she made headlines when it was announced that she would be one of the judges for the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize in 2027.

• She, along with other judges, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, an author, and Lolly Adefope, an actor would select best children’s contemporary fiction book for the children aged between 8 to 12.

• After that, in a media conversation, Sanchita Basu De Sarkar shared that she loved reading children’s books and discussed them with various intellectual readers.

• She often shares and sells children books across country so that she could start and continue a conversation with them.

• Sanchita Basu De Sarkar added in the same media talk that she learnt new view points though these conversations. She said,
  

  I’m thrilled to be a judge for the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize – it brings together everything I love. Children make for the most passionate and opinionated readers. Whenever we sit down and discuss books together, I’m always gaining new perspectives.”

  

  Sanchita Basu De Sarkar posing at her bookshop

• She offers book club sessions in her bookshop.

• According to her, while reading children story books, she realised a strange facts that children with brown complexion did not experience adventures.