For a bunch of people in Bengaluru aged 40-60 years, patience comes naturally. The founders of Bookalore—an independent city-based forum to introduce contemporary Indian books to children and youth through fun-packed monthly events—believe in letting children involuntarily slip into a different world of imagination, aiding them to think.
The ‘big little book club’, which will complete three years in February 2016, brings books and children together through dramatised readings, meet-the-author-illustrator sessions, storytelling, puppetry, quizzes, games, art and craft, music and other exciting activities.
Comprising children’s writers, illustrators, editors, librarians, teachers and filmmakers, the thought process of starting the forum began with an innocent incident. “Once a poet was reciting his poems to a group of children when one of them asked, ‘How did you become a poet?’ The poet answered, ‘Well, I like words and the rhymes’. In all his innocence, the child said, ‘Oh, I thought to become a poet, you must be dead’,” says writer-editor Vidya Mani.
The incident got eight people thinking. Not just the question, there were many other aspects. One was that while there are plenty of words to convey to children, they get jammed like the city’s traffic. Another aspect was that having known each other for 15 years, the authors, writers, illustrators and reading consultants had met just once in Delhi during the children’s literature festival Bookaroo, never in Bengaluru. Thus was born Bookalore.
Formed by people who focus only on children’s literature, bringing out the child within is not rare, it is the rule. Their idea was simple: get the child to read by packaging it in a way that they find interesting.
Bookalore has innocence layered with ounces of sagacity, percipience and patience. Their urge to connect with a child is greater than the eagerness of the child. When they say that Bookalore has a lot of plans and the mountain is huge to climb, they also say, “Well, we will never run out of children.”
“We hold events once a month at different venues across Bengaluru and have readings and activities for children. They and their parents get to meet the author they have only heard of,” says Mani.
Author Asha Nehemiah, who is credited with initiating Bookalore, says, “We have lot of creative freedom and were able to do things that are not possible during a normal book launch. Children love it because they have total freedom and there is no competition. It is never just book reading, it is a memorable experience for the child.” They also have reading sessions for parents.
Schools have encouraged the team by inviting them to organise events on their campuses. Bookalore has also partnered with KathaVana, the children’s literature festival conducted by the Azim Premji Foundation, and with the Bangalore Literature Festival to curate book events that are engaging and entertaining.
“It’s more about engaging children, never just about books. It’s much easier to connect with children as they come with an open mind,” says author-storyteller Vijaylakshmi Nagaraj.
Accompanying Bookalore is Funky Rainbow: The Travelling Children’s Bookshop with an exclusive selection of fiction and non-fiction books that are curated to represent the best of children’s writing.