IFA's Art Education Conference

Via Kali Kalisu

Over the past three years, IFA, in partnership with the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, has intensively focused on the empowerment of the school teacher under one of its major funding programmes, Arts Education. This far-reaching initiative called ‘Kali-Kalisu’ has brought multi-pronged Arts Education workshops to over 500 teachers in rural and small-town Karnataka.

As an extension to this project, the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan and IFA are jointly hosting a major Arts Education Conference on 3rd and 4th of February, 2012, at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore.Participation in the Arts Education Conference is open to key stakeholders in Arts Education in India and abroad. Artists, teachers, educationists, policy makers, donors and organisations interested in issues related to diversity and social justice. 

Please read the concept note that can be downloaded here.

Click here for more details. View the entire schedule here.

Pratham Books Champion : Abhinav Agarwal

As part of the International Year of the Forest, we were running the 'Awareness Today for a Greener Tomorrow' campaign. We asked our AWESOME community if they would be volunteer to become a Pratham Books Champion and conduct storytelling sessions based on the book "A King Cobra's Summer'. And again, our friends volunteered eagerly. We will be sharing the stories of all our champions through our blog.

Today's story comes from Abhinav Agarwal who conducted a storytelling session in Bangalore. Abhinav is a software engineer by profession and works atOracle India. He is a post-graduate from IIM Bangalore. Bangalore has been his home for close to 10 years now. When not reading stories to his children, he reads books, takes photos, and puts them all on his blog at http://blog.abhinavagarwal.net His other likes are Hindi music and retro Hindi movies.

Abhinav wrote about his storytelling experience on his blog ...

On a bright Sunday morning on Dec 18, at 9:30AM, our small apartment complex library opened up, and the kids started trooping in - seven of them. All excited by the prospect of a story-telling session and the chance to do some drawing too. At the very outset I had to remind the kids, gently, without dashing their hopes, that we would "try to draw" something from the book after the reading, and that I could not guarantee any sort of decent results. I have the equivalent of "two left-feet" when it comes to drawing. I also have two left feet when it comes to dancing, so both abilities sort of complement each other. Kids being kids, all they wanted a good story and an opportunity to spread color on canvas.

This whole episode had started a couple of weeks earlier, when I had emailed Pratham Books, asking them whether I could volunteer to be a book reader for their soon-to-be-launched book, "A King Cobra's Summer", written by Janki Lenin and illustrated by Maya Ramaswamy, and be what they call a "Pratham Books Champion",an honor to be sure, since I lay no claim to being a champion. They readily accepted. Maya from Pratham Books called back and spoke with me, and a few days later the book had arrived by mail. The first order of business was for me to read the book. Which I did. In half an hour I had gone from cover to cover. I was quite taken in by the high-quality printing, the gorgeous use of colors, and the easy-to-understand prose, and how the story weaved a rich tapestry of information about the king cobra within its pages.

On the Sunday, after the children had all gathered, over the next 45 minutes we spent a very interactive 45 minutes (see - no point in wasting even a single minute) going over the book. Rather than make it a one-way aural street, I had breaks every five minutes or so, asking the children questions about Kalaa. Of course, the kids had questions of their own that couldn't wait even those five minutes! Right on the first-page, where we are told that king cobras grow to over 15 feet in length, one way to bring this length alive for the children was to tell them that 15 feet would have meant placing four kids on top of another - give or take a few feet. Or that 15 feet would have been almost the entire length of the library room. You know that children have 'got' it when you hear the appreciative 'ooh' and 'aahs' from them!

The part where Kaala gulps down the python elicited a few 'eews', and rightly so. One should peel the skin before eating it, right? Don't we peel the skin of a banana before wolfing it down? See, right there there was a distinction to be made between humans and animals, or in this case, reptiles.

A swift 45 minutes later, it was time to start with the drawing, and to bring out the Raja Ravi Verma in all. Or so went the wistful hope. 

The portraits of Kaala on pages 2 and 20 were quit similar, and in the end we selected the one on page 2 to draw. It also looked the easier of the two. Once the outline had been drawn, the children went about tracing the outline with a black sketch pen, and then started filling in the colors.

What you see on the whiteboard down is my own attempt at fleeting artistic immortality. The book lies at the foot of the whiteboard with its pages opened to the pages.

By about 11AM or so we had decided to wind up - the children had shared a very enjoyable 90 minutes listening to, participating, and then drawing from the lovely book, A King Cobra's Summer.

Kudos to Pratham Books and their amazing team for everything. Their books are informative. They are educational. And they are entertaining. And they are cheap. I kid you not. And that's not even a pun. The books are very affordable, and here's to them coming closer every single day to their aim of getting a book into every child's hands.

**********

Thank you Abhinav for spreading the joy of reading!

Click here to read the stories sent in by all the Pratham Books Champions.

Note : If any of you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at web(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Sutradhar’s Open Forum - “Language and Literacy”

Via an email sent by Sutradhar

Sutradhar invites you to an Open Forum on ’Language and Literacy’ on 3rd February (Friday), at 4 p.m.

Venue: Ashirwad, St Mark’s Road, the lane opposite State Bank of India.

Time: 4 - 6.30 pm (Tea will be served at 3.45 pm.)

Language learning lies at the heart of the schooling experience. Understandably so, as language enables children to acquire other skills and proficiencies, and helps them comprehend the world. Many children encounter an unfamiliar medium of instruction when they start attending school. This can be an alienating experience, more so when the home is unable to step in and provide the necessary support. Children who flounder with the school language tend to fare poorly in other domains, and their self-esteem and social interactions are often inhibited.

A few individuals have explored the complexity of how children learn language, and how a rich culture for learning language can be nurtured. The Open Forum is an occasion to learn from their experience.

The akshara heritage: Research about how children learn to read has predominantly been with regard to the English language. Less in known about Indian languages that use the akshara symbols as a writing system. Sonali Nag, Newton International Fellow at the University of York, U.K., and founder of The Promise Foundation, Bangalore, will speak about her work with the akshara languages. The akshara is quite unlike the English alphabet in its form and logic, and Sonali’s work is documenting how these differences shape children’s cognition and the teaching of language. Recitation, writing practice, memorising all manner of materials, nuanced engagement with language and book reading are some of the experiences from classrooms that she will explore in her presentation.

The Karadi Path: The aspiration to learn English cuts across socio-economic groups. Thousands of children and teachers have put in tremendous effort towards this, with minimal results. C.P Viswanath, CEO of the Karadi Tales Company, Chennai, will speak about the Karadi Path – a unique pedagogy that has been developed indigenously, specifically for learners from non-English environments. The programme offers the possibility of becoming fluent in understanding and speaking English in just 60 hours. In contrast to traditional teaching methods that tend to be linear and logical, this approach is organic and multi-sensorial; and combines elements of music, storytelling and action. The premise is that English can be learnt intuitively just like the mother tongue.

The Hippocampus Reading Foundation: Umesh Malhotra, Director of the foundation, will share the evolution of the “Grow by Reading” programme. This programme seeks to initiate and galvanise libraries within schools to promote the reading habit. The programme is sequentially graded at 6 reading levels, with appropriate books for each level. Fun activities that children can do after they read the books motivates them to read and re-read, and spurs their comprehension. The programme offers scaffolding for librarians by way of an initial orientation, a monthly calendar of activities, and periodic meetings. The service is offered in 5 languages, and has been adopted by schools, NGOs and the government of Karnataka.

Visit www.sutradhar.com and place your orders; we will bring your materials to the venue. RSVP Sutradhar at 25288545, 25215191 from Tuesday-Saturday.

India’s Business Books Take Off

Via Hindustan Times

Whether it’s a large chain retailer or the smallest bookstall at an airport departure gate, Indian bookshops all have one thing in common — the predominance of business and management titles. 

English-language biographies of leading business figures and self-help books about how to make a fortune pack the shelves, tapping an apparent thirst for success and self-improvement in the fast-growing South Asian nation. 

“Business books are very important to us,” said Sonal Gandhi, head buyer at the leading chain Crossword, which has 86 stores across India. 

“It’s the more populist ones that really sell. We don’t really do a lot of technical stuff. But we do business management, self-help books, a lot of biographies, which sell a lot,” she told AFP. 

But Nielsen BookScan, which tracks retail sales, said the value of the business publishing sector grew at a rate of more than 25 percent from the second to third quarter of the current financial year. 

The overall market increased at a rate of 18 percent value-wise in the same period.

Nielsen BookScan estimates that it tracks more than a third of all English-language Indian trade book sales, using data from retailers including Landmark, Crossword and the online book, film and music store Flipkart. 

“Business books are important because they command a higher retail price as compared to other genres like fiction or self-help and still generate good volumes because the target audience is upwardly mobile and affluent,” he said. 

“Some business books in hardcover have print runs higher than best-selling fiction titles in the same format.” 

Krishan Chopra, publisher and chief editor non-fiction at HarperCollins India and Collins Business, said the phenomenon mirrors India’s expanding economy, as well as a shift in attitudes towards success and money. 

“It’s part of the growth story,” he said.

Read the entire article here.

The Republic Day Spirit

This Republic Day, Delhi-based NGO Family Of Disabled (FOD) and Select Citywalk join hands to pay tribute to the soldiers of our country through an exclusive exhibition-cum-sale of original paintings on January 25-26, from 11 am – 11 pm at Central Citywalk. You are also invited to witness the two extremely talented artists with disabilities painting live @ Central Atrium, Select CITYWALK, Saket, New Delhi on January 26 between 12-2 p.m. and 5:30- 8:30pm.

Both the participating artists, Sheela Sharma (from Lucknow), who paints with her toes as she lost both her arms in a train accident, and Shreekant Dube (from Delhi) who couldn’t fulfill his dreams of entering the army as his right arm got amputated due to an accident but trained himself to write and paint with his left hand, are living examples of the Huber Humphrey quote, “It is not what life takes away from you that counts. It’s what you make of what is left with you.” These artists have triumphed over their disabilities and completed their Masters in Arts.

Pratham Book wishes you all a very happy Republic Day!

Visit us at the Kolkata Book Fair

For a listing of all Pratham Books events and book fair participation, please click here.

The Unexpected Inspirations Behind Beloved Children's Books

The Atlantic shares a few of the stories and inspirations behind popular books that we love ...

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Inspiration: A train journey

One day in 1990, struggling writer Jo Rowling was taking a train from Manchester from London. She’d apparently spent most of the day apartment-hunting up north — she was planning to move to Manchester with her boyfriend — and as she day-dreamed on the journey home, an idea popped into her head: a story about “a scrawny, little black-haired, bespectacled boy.” The only problem was that Rowling didn’t have a pen with her, so she spent the rest of the journey developing the idea in her head, and set to work on what’d become Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or Sorcerer’s Stone in the US) that night.

2. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Inspiration: Scary relatives, an inability to draw horses

Fun fact: Where the Wild Things Are was originally going to be called Where the Wild Horses Are. The only problem was that as it transpired, Maurice Sendak couldn’t draw a convincing horse to save his life. In the end, his despairing editor changed the title on the faith that if Sendak couldn’t do horses, he could “at the very least draw ‘a thing.’” The “things” he drew ended up being caricatures of the “hideous” family members who’d visit the young Sendak’s house on a Sunday afternoon. “I drew my relatives,” he admitted to the Los Angeles Times in 1993. “They’re all dead now, so I can tell people.”

Click here to read the entire article.

Going to a Wedding!

Hello, hello hello! We're all off to celebrate a very dear colleague's wedding. He's the guy who has made us all such great believers in Creative Commons, and in sharing our books with the world in many many ways. We've just put a whole lot of books (159 books actually) for free downloads on the International Children's Library site, including the book 'Going to a Wedding'!

Since he is such a tireless advocate of the social online media, what better way of showing our appreciation than by giving him and his bride an online present! Here it is G & S, enjoy this little bouquet of poems when you're done with smiling for the million cameras, and shaking hands with your friends, and tucking into the wedding feast.
For you with love and affection from all of us at Pratham Books! Wishing you both a very happy married life!

This is from the New York Puplic Library, Children's Literature @ NYPL,
I Want to Be Your Personal Penguin: Wedding Readings from Children’s Books by Kristy Raffensberger


The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
The story of a leaf who isn't ready to let go from the tree.
And then, high up on an icy branch, a scarlet flash.
One more leaf holding tight.
"You're here?" called the Little Yellow Leaf.
"I am," said the Little Scarlet Leaf.
"Like me!" said the Little Yellow Leaf.
Neither spoke.
Finally… "Will you?" asked the Little Scarlett Leaf.
"I will!" said the Little Yellow Leaf.
And one, two, three, they let go and soared.

Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton
A penguin pleads his case to a bewildered hippo. (There is also a musical version, sung by Davy Jones from The Monkees.)
I like you a lot.
You're funny and kind.
So let me explain
What I have in mind.
I want to be your personal penguin.
I want to walk right by your side.
I want to be your personal penguin.
I want to travel with you far and wide.

Like Likes Like by Chris Raschka
A lone cat sees pairs of animals and longs to find his mate. But first, he learns to appreciate the wonders that he finds on his search. (The illustrations are integral,it might not work with words alone.)
Unlike the rest. Unlucky, alone.
Ah. Oh. Rows and rows
of roses.
He sees
seas,
…a breeze, trees
high, wide skies,
…Look!
In luck.
Looks like
like likes like.
Oh. How lucky.
Not alone now,
two together,
in rows and rows
of roses.

I Like You by Sandol Stoddard
The many reasons for liking someone.
I like you because
If you find two four-leaf clovers
You give me one
If I find four
I give you two
If we only find three
We keep on looking.
… I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It's awful when the other person isn't
They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could
just about punch them in the nose.
… I would go on choosing you
And you would
go on choosing me
Over and over again.

Some Things Go Together by Charlotte Zolotow
Pairs of things that go together.
Pigeons with park
Stars with dark
Sand with sea
and you with me.
… Hats with heads
Pillows with beds
Sky with blue
and me with you.

Different Tales : Stories Addressing Issues of Marginalization

Via Teacher Plus

While the ideal childhood, often depicted in storybooks, maybe more or less true for children from the middle class, it is not so for those children removed from what we may consider the mainstream – for those less privileged or marginalized. 

These children also go to school, although a majority of them never make it through school. They also read the same textbooks and some of the same storybooks. While the child from the mainstream can identify with the lessons or stories he is reading (as they largely depict his life), the child from the margins of society cannot. There are few stories about this child, no textbook details his life. It is this gap in children’s literature that Different Tales, a series of 13 children’s books telling the stories of children from the marginalized sections of the society seeks to fill. Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies has brought out the Telugu versions of these books, and the Malayalam and English versions have been published by DC Books. 

 But the children depicted in the 13 stories are brave, energetic, determined and confident. The stories in Different Tales are not about victimhood but about how these children manage their lives. They work, play and study all at the same time. These stories are not about conforming to the standard but in a way challenging the existing naturalized literature. Khadeer Babu’sHead Curry (one of the books in the series), for instance, is a story about the pleasure of eating meat, in this case a ram’s head. How often have we heard even a mention, let alone an entire story, of non-vegetarianism in Indian children’s books? 

While the stories in Different Tales are mainly meant to provide the marginalized children strong and powerful images of their lives, their readership is not restricted. These stories are also meant to educate the mainstream children about the lives of children from different backgrounds.

Read the entire article here. You can learn more about the books and buy them here.

Do Flowers Fly?

Came across this animated video on the state of many schools in our country. A look at how the system curbs imagination and is training kids to learn without really 'learning'. 

Every time I've read one of the posts sent in by the Pratham Books Champions, I am always amazed to see the different ways in which they have conducted the storytelling sessions. Similarly, teachers and parents need to be inspired to go beyond the textbook!

While we are on this subject, you should read this excellent article on the Mommy Labs blog : Are You Facilitating Open-Ended Learning for Your Child?

JLF in the city Meet the Author

Pratham Books is pleased to introduce the “JLF in the city Meet the Author” program for schools. 

It is organized jointly in association with the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival , Pratham Books  and supported by the Tehelka Foundation and the Ministry of Culture.

DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is the largest literary festival in Asia-Pacific, and the most prestigious celebration of national and international literature to be held in India. It encompasses a rage of readings, talks, debates, performances, children’s workshops and interactive activities held in the beautiful heritage property, Diggi Palace in Rajasthan’s capital, Jaipur.

JLF in the city Meet the Author sessions are organized with an objective of bringing children close to books and provide children an opportunity to interact with visiting authors at the one of the largest festivals in the world - JLF. Children are introduced to the magical and wonderful world of books. We believe that if children get an early taste of reading books for pleasure, their educational journey becomes exciting and full of the joy of discovering things on their own. The habit of reading makes them self motivated learners and books become friends for life.

The literature festival primarily aims at bringing authors and talents in the field of literature from across the globe. We are going to bring some of the children’s authors, book illustrators, performers and artists interact with children in schools under the program.

This part of festival has something for children across the ages of 3-15 years and we believe children enjoy listening to writers and artists share their stories, introduce their work and bring books alive for children. 

The Meet the Author program is being conducted on 18th and 19th January 2012 .

During the festival days the action shifts to the Young Adults’ Workshops on the theme Democracy Dialogues. A Tehelka Foundation initiative, a not for profit Trust that has been working at the intersection of Active Citizenship and Youth Empowerment for the past 7 years, these workshops explore the essence of democracy and seek to promote a culture of public reasoning, even as we create spaces for dissent and dialogue. Registration for these workshops is open at the moment for young adults between the ages of 15 – 18 years. 

Click here to see the schedule of the Jaipur Literature Festival (20th-24th January, 2012).

Find Our Books at the All India Urdu Kitab Mela, Mumbai

The National Council for Promotion of Urdu is having their annual exhibition at Mumbai. You can find our books at :

13th All India Urdu Kitab Mela

Venue: Saboo Siddique Polytecnic Grounds, Byculla Mumbai

Stall No 9.

Dates: 14th Jan 2012 - 22 Jan 2012

Time: 12 noon - 9pm 

So, drop by the stall and jump into a world of stories!

Via DNA India

The 13th All India Urdu Kitab Mela organised by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) has a treasure trove of more than 20,000 titles by 60 major Urdu publishers in India. A huge turnout, that comprised of students, teachers, professionals and book lovers, were seen flipping through the pages of their favourite tomes at the Saboo Siddique Engineering College in Byculla on Saturday.

“If the language was on the decline, would thousands be flocking to an event like this,” said lyricist and poet Gulzar, who inaugurated the 9-day book fair. "My only concern is that while Urdu is spoken and understood widely, it is rarely seen in schools or colleges," he added.

The 60-odd stalls at the Kitab Mela display everything from poetry penned by Mirza Ghalib and Allama Iqbal to popular fiction writers like Ibn-e-Safi, Sadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chugtai. One can also find books by contemporary poets and writers such as Kaifi Azmi, Sahir Ludhianvi and Gulzar.

Read the entire article here. 

Illustration by Ruchi Shah

Book Review : The Timid Train

Via The Hitvada

Please click on the image for a larger view. You can buy the book here.

What Are Kids in India Reading?

An article that appeared in the Hindustan Times in November 2011 gives us a glimpse into children's reading habits in India.

... a survey to get a sense of what urban children aged 3-12 in India's metros are reading and the role parents are playing in shaping the habit. 

The findings are interesting. For instance, 35% children spend an average of 3-5 hours on non-school related reading in a week, 77% parents said their kids read their first book at age 4 or before while 74% parents encourage their kids to read by getting them books home and 14% do so by reading out aloud to them. Parents will rue 'it's not enough', but Anita Roy, children's writer and commissioning editor at Young Zubaan, says the figures are heartening. "Being in this field, I spend 30-40 minutes a day reading for pleasure, so 3-5 hours a week is not bad. It's also nice to learn that the attitude of the parents is encouraging," she says. 

According to the survey, while most kids - 72% - have read the authors (Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Tintin etc) that their parents did, it's the contemporary foreign titles of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Diary of a Wimpy Kid series that are topping their lists. Sci-fi writer Samit Basu feels these titles signal a 'golden age' in children's reading. "Potter, Jackson, Wimpy Kid are all fantastic books. They are well-told stories that work for all ages. Also, they are at the height of global popular culture at this time," he says. In terms of genre, the survey threw up comics as the most popular (25%) followed by adventure (20%), fairy-tales (18%) and sci-fi (16%). 

"Indian writers are writing stories set in their country. No more copying Enid Blyton," says Sen Gupta. Adds Manisha Chaudhry, editor with non-profit Pratham Books, "Whether it's a Paro Anand exploring the Kashmir insurgency or a Siddhartha Sarma grappling with the Assam conflict, Indian writers are taking on tough subjects." 

As the churning continues, some even forecast that the trend will reverse in just few years from now. "Foreign authors may occupy 65-70% of the pie, but five years from now, it'll be the Indian authors taking on the scene," says an optimistic Mago.

Read the entire article here.