CHENNAI: What I really want is for Children’s Day to become an occasion on which children’s rights — to be free of violence, to be able to access education, and to grow up in a world in which climate change will not kill them in their prime — are the focus. But unlike Women’s Day, which began as a socio-political observation and has been unrecognisably corrupted, Children’s Day has always been about gifts and celebration.
Among those gifts, then, could be books. Every child deserves to have a library within her reach — whether a community one, or one in her own home.
I think of picture books as books for all ages (including yours and mine), so here is a list of a few beautiful picture books by Indian authors that talk about important issues in creative ways that encourage empathy and awareness of the world. There is so much contemporary children’s literature from India that is wildly imaginative, visually stunning, forward-thinking and not at all preachy even when talking about important topics. This is only a tiny selection.
Puu (written by CJ Salamander, illustrated by Samidha Gunjal, Scholastic): This is first on my list because it is a book that I believe every single child with the privilege to read or be read to in English, in India, should experience. It deals with immense subtlety about an inhumane reality in this country: manual scavenging.
Kali Wants To Dance (written by Aparna Karthikeyan, illustrated by Somesh Kumar, Pratham Books) and Amma’s Toolkit (written by Nandini Nayar, illustrated by Ashwini Hiremath, Pratham Books): These two picturebooks are essentially about gender roles. In Amma’s Toolkit, a mother teaches her daughters about basic home repairs. Kali Wants To Dance is about Kali Veerapathiran, a working class Dalit boy who became a Kalakshetra-trained Bharatnatyam and Tamil folk dancer, and thus deals not only with breaking gender stereotypes but caste and class as well. Both these books can be read online for free, along with hundreds from the catalogue, on Pratham Books’ Storyweaver website (www.storyweaver.org.in)
I Need To Pee (written by Neha Singh, illustrated by Meenal Singh and Erik Egurup, Puffin India): Still on the topic of toilets, this story of an intrepid little girl who knows her rights (and who keeps well hydrated) tackles the fact that while men in India relieve themselves freely and with great entitlement just about anywhere, toilet access is an issue that keeps women and girls from travelling, working and more.
The Honey Hunter (written by Karthika Naïr, illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet, Zubaan): The last recommendation on this brief list is sadly out-of-print and deserves to be back in affordable circulation. It may be found in libraries. It is a highly nuanced story about the protection of nature, and about respecting traditions that are indigenous to certain regions. Set in the Sundarbans, it is perfect for lovers of folklore and lovers of forests, both.
A Saree For Ammi (written by Mamta Nainy, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, Tulika Books): Even though Ammi makes a living weaving exquisite saris, she cannot afford them, so her two small children set out to find a way to buy her one. This sweet story is a way to get children thinking about class inequality and capitalism. A note on the publisher: Tulika Books make many of their titles available in multiple languages, thus providing children’s literature of quality to non-English-reading families while encouraging bilingualism in English-reading families too.
Sultana’s Dream (written by Begum Rokheya Sakhawat Hossain, illustrated by Durga Bai, Tara Books): This 1905 feminist classic, enlivened here through the work of a Gond artist, is about a “reverse purdah”, a women-led utopia. Even today, it’s a story that can provoke much thought and discussion in homes and classrooms. It begins, “One evening I was lounging in an easy-chair in my bedroom and thinking lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood” – as one certainly still does, here and now!
Dorje’s Stripes (written by Anshumani Ruddra, illustrated by Gwangjo and Jung-A Park, Karadi Tales) and The Bee Master (written by Lata Mani, illustrated by Priyankar Gupta, Tulika Books): These two books are concerned with animal protection. The former deals with tigers and their need to be left safe in the wild, while the latter deals with bees – those tiny creatures on whose wings the entire ecosystem of human life depends – in an urban environment.
Raising readers requires conscious effort by families, educators and social activists, and just stocking shelves with famous or well-marketed titles won’t do. Looking beyond the limited, lacking-in-diversity options that were available to generations prior and seeking out books that sensitively introduce social justice issues, elevate homegrown voices and explore the output of smaller publishing houses takes a bit more intentionality. But it can certainly be worth it. There’s a treasure trove out there, and you’ll enjoy exploring it as much as any child you share it with!
