CHENNAI: The past 17 months have seen our children’s worlds shrink. For so many young people, their days, once filled with raucous school bus rides, classroom shenanigans, sports, art, music, dance and play, have been reduced to a series of interactions viewed through a rectangle on computers, phones and tablets. Birthdays, summer camps, extracurriculars and even just hanging out with their friends and family have become things that happen almost exclusively online. Travel during vacations feels like a thing of the past for those of us privileged enough to afford and experience it. Travel doesn’t just give us some R&R, but also offers us a glimpse into the lives, cultures, food and languages of other people. In these times, when there’s a hesitancy to step into a plane or train, we can find ways to bring the world into our children’s lives through books. Here’s a selection of new and not-so-new books for a range of reading ages and interests that provide some armchair travelling for children.
The Culture of Clothes: A Celebration of World Dress by Giovanna Alessio and Chaaya Prabhat
This gorgeous book is bursting with colour. Pour over the costumes, accessories and traditions of communities from countries around the world and learn something new about them. Meet the 5,000 strong Miao tribe of Guizhou, China, who wear ceremonial headdresses made mostly from human hair collected over the years. The elaborate headdresses are wrapped around a hornshaped frame, held in place with a white ribbon and can weigh up to 4 kg. It’s the kind of book I like to leave lying around in the living room, which the kids spot as they pass by and then invariably sit down to flip through and read. They’ll usually open up a random page and see where they land — Alsace, Peru, South Korea. I’ve found that later in the week, we might talk about places we want to visit one day and foods we’d like to try. Small moments of hopefulness in an otherwise grey time.
The Story Quilt Regional Children’s Stories from India
- Edited and compiled by Harshikaa Udasi
This short and sweet anthology of stories from across India has been lovingly curated by author Harshikaa Udasi and illustrated by Dr Sherline K Pimenta. The slim volume is just right for bedtimeread- alouds or those much-needed reprieves in between online classes. Often anthologies of translated stories for children tend to focus on mythology or folk tales, so it’s refreshing to read some of these contemporary stories from Konkani, Sindhi, Maithili and Assamese. I have two personal favourites — the story of the scooter that decides to take off on its own for a ride around town, and the ghost who wants to set up a Facebook account!
PS What’s Up with the Climate
by Bijal Vachharajani and Archana Sreenivasan
It might seem strange to include a book about the climate emergency in another wise feel-good list, but if we want our children to appreciate and safeguard what’s left of the planet’s ecological diversity, then they must also know how our actions have placed it under threat. The book is a series of postcards and letters exchanged between various animals — Bees, Grizzly Bears and Snow Leopards, all of them wondering where their friend the Mosaic-tailed Rat has disappeared to. Archana Sreenivasan’s illustrations are breathtakingly beautiful while Bijal Vachharajani’s writing narrates the tale of extinction and climate emergency and places the blame at the feet of humans. This is an important book for children and grown-ups alike, which is sure to lead to important conversations at home.
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan’s wordless book, The Arrival, isn’t new but feels oddly right for the moment we are in. A nameless immigrant arrives in a strange new place having left his loved ones behind to make a life for themselves there. As we find ourselves at the shores of the new normal, the themes of fear, loneliness, confus ion and longing resonate.
Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski
This beautifully illustrated atlas invites readers to travel the globe without leaving their living room. I think it’s a lovely companion book to The Culture of Clothes and is filled with lots of tiny details about each country that’s sure to keep curious young minds engaged.