KOZHIKODE: This Children’s Day, Malayalam is all set to welcome a major addition to its children’s literature compendium — a book documenting the comprehensive history of the genre. Malayala Balasahitya Charithram, authored by well-known children’s litterateur Dr K Sreekumar, will be released in Kozhikode on Sunday (November 14).
The 1,312-page two-volume book is the result of efforts spanning three and a half years, says Sreekumar. “The book documents the history of Malayalam children’s literature — from ancient folklore tales and ballads to recent writings of 2021. It highlights many of the firsts, such as the first book and the first magazine, that comes under the genre. It also brings to focus several of our illustrators and designers, and carries rare pictures,” he says. So far, only Hindi language has had such an exhaustive book (released in 2018) looking into the history of its children’s literature genre.
Kerala Sahitya Akademi secretary K P Mohanan will release the book, the preface of which was written by legendary writer M T Vasudevan Nair. The book is being published by Poorna Publications. A former journalist, 53-year-old Sreekumar has up to 200 books to his credit, 186 of which come under the children’s literature genre. His noted works include Nammude Nadodikathakalum Aythihyangalum (2010), Soviet Naadinte Balakathakalum Nadodikathakalum (2013) and Balakathasaagaram (2018). Some of his stories are also taught in classes 3 and 4 under the Kerala school syllabus.
Sreekumar has won numerous awards, including that of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi, Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, Kolkata, and Kerala State Institute for Children’s Literature among others. Hailing from Chottanikkara, Sreekumar is currently settled at Balusserry in Kozhikode. “I have always had an inclination towards children’s literature. Unnyaayayum Ponnumuthassiyum is my first story published in 1994,” said Sreekumar. Besides children’s literature, Sreekumar’s work also deals with folklore and theatre studies.