
CHENNAI: Grandmothers’ sari-soft voices weaving well-worn threads of tales, dusty classics on magic carpets or wands to fables instilling morals — stories form a crucial part of our early reading lives. Rich inner worlds are pieced together, word by word providing an escape for some and marking new territory for others. From Roald Dahl’s genius Matilda, and Tinkle’s comical Suppandi to family ghost stories, every child has cherished memories of narratives, carried carefully to adulthood.
Behind the scenes, children’s literature writers carefully chart plots to charm young readers, artists toil at their drawing boards and publishers attempt to entice parents searching for new narratives.
“We have 180 years of children’s literature from the British setting up school book societies, and the move from oral to written forms; we may think that these developments are new but there is a fantastic array of genres for kids,” explains Shailaja Menon, editor and writer.
In India, in the past 30 years, the landscape of children’s literature has broadened. “This is a good time to take stock and critically look at how this area has grown. We find that it has grown by leaps and bounds,” explains editor-journalist Sandhya Rao, adding there’s no aspect of data on the growth of children’s literature.
In an attempt to map this burst, Children’s Books: An Indian Story, edited by Shailaja and Sandhya, presents an accessible volume of essays that takes a serious look at children’s literature. “What has been the trajectory of this journey, what are its key accomplishments and what are the challenges? How closely do they reflect the diverse realities of Indian children and their experiences?
Have we developed distinctive voices, or are we still struggling to find them?” asks the summary. Published by Eklavya, it addresses these topics spotlighting the need for free libraries, books for children with special needs to engage children in the classroom, and issues of caste; it features diverse voices including V Geetha, Sowmya Rajendran, and Mridula Koshy among others.
“Children’s literature is often not seen as critical to education, though it is key, and tends to get neglected from multiple sides. The market is not ready and the government does not make any measured investments and in terms of regional languages the viability of children’s books is also a question,” points out Amrita Patwardhan, education head at Tata Trusts.
In a nutshell
Apart from growth in infrastructure, and the amoebic expansion of the city’s boundaries, Chennai has witnessed an important growth of independent publishing houses such as Karadi Tales, Tulika Books and Tara Books, say the stakeholders. They add each publisher has experimented with form, from marrying folk tales to tribal art, or building a body of books addressing local realities.
Anchoring the children’s literature scene, the past 30 years have witnessed a torrent of themes and inclusive books, says Radhika Menon, founder of Tulika Books. “In the last ten years, there has been a cloudburst on books about every kind of theme — sports, history, science, adventure stories, and science fiction,” she explains, adding social media has played a role in marketing in recent times. She adds the most crucial aspect is that all books must spark some question or awareness in children, not give them answers but make them sensitive, and create a sensibility to reflect.
Reading is good for imagination, vocabulary, and cognition but it is also good for emotional life, says Shailaja. “Exposure to books from all cultures is very important. When a child reads a book written by an Indian author and says I want more books where there are children like me, that says it all,” says Sandhya. On the publishing side of the coin, over the last 20-30 years, the market for children’s literature has grown and is a monetising business, they point out.
Yet not all children have access to hardcovers, library subscriptions, English fiction, or parents reading to them. “Because of different levels of literacy in India, there is always this dichotomy between literacy and literature. You cannot take it for granted, in any discussion of children’s literature, this issue of literacy comes up whether you’re writing, a publisher, an educator,” adds Sandhya.
With our lives steeped in technology and the looming fear of digital replacing books, how does the industry view this? “Digital format is growing but is it replacing printed books in children’s literature and is that the primary way kids are accessing books? The physical book has value for deep reading purposes because we seem to be as adults, skimming when we read on screen, that is one aspect that research seems to suggest,” says Amrita.
With lacuna in data, gaps in translations, and a lack in books in Indian languages, the team continue to harbour hope that every child gets books in his or her language and could live the wonderful life of a reader.