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November is International Picture Book month. One Indian mom shares how picture books help in teaching kids all about life!
Children reading picture books
By Richa Jha
Long before my son’s classmates started teasing him about the round glasses he wore, he had understood that it was okay to look different than the crowd. Long before my daughter learnt to spell ‘jealous’, she knew exactly how it felt to have a best friend come and plonk himself on her darling granddad’s lap. And long before my kids’ first set of pet fish died, they had formed their own ideas about dealing with loss.
Blame it on the picture books for children that they have been over-fed on ever since they could barely keep their eyes open for ten minutes at a stretch, my littlings have turned into precocious we-kinda-know-what-you-mean kids!
When someone asks me why I don’t tire of doing my picture books for children rap before friends or strangers, I say because there is no other life coach substitute for a child that young. No parent or teacher can do what a good classic picture book can.
A good picture book plays a child’s own view of the world back to her; it understands her big little concerns and throws back ways to deal with them.
A good picture book plays a child’s own view of the world back to her; it understands her big little concerns and throws back ways to deal with them. It brings a child’s world of joys, mischief, imagination, flights of fantasy, fears, anxieties and much more right into – as the NYT bestselling author of picture books Doreen Cronin puts it – the child’s hands for her to “hold them with both hands, sit with her feelings, and confront them” at the turn of every page. All the while, playfully, with humour, and many a time, without a single word written on any page.
Picture books for children help them get a good grasp of words and language early on. And I haven’t even begun on the can of wonderment that picture books for children open before the young, eager minds and how they can make a child fall in love with words and books and pictures for life!
It’s a pity that we have very few Indian titles that offer this kind of an engaging and wholesome reading (and reading aloud) experience. But I am confident that we will get there soon. The British Council Libraries in the bigger metros usually have an exceptionally well-stocked and regularly updated picture book section. A family membership, which entitles you to check-out books from that section, is worth every rupee that you shell out for it.
I have been an unapologetic picture book-sucker for as long as my kids have been around in my life. What started off as our bed time night-cap soon turned into an obsession with me when I discovered the uncannily familiar world of you and me and everyone in there, the dollops of wisdom (yes really, even for adults), universal values and concerns, and the un-ending supply of non-didactic fun, all so beautifully packed between the pages of these books.
Reading aloud to my kids with them and a book in my lap became a classic fool-proof recipe for family bonding.
Reading aloud to my kids with them and a book in my lap became a classic fool-proof recipe for family bonding. And as the minimal words (an average of 400 to a book) and the funny, often moving-often rib tickling text and illustrations opened up layers and layers of interpretations, our snuggle time became our circle-time for teaching my kids every possible subject under the sun. Even what my vagina and they looked like when each of them popped out of there!
It feels satisfying to see my children’s hearts too go “hoot hoot” at the very mention of picture books. My eleven year old son is ever ready to dig into one after he’s done with his Agatha Christie and Rick Riordan for the day. And my seven year old daughter is only too eager to select picture books for me at a shop or her school library saying, “Got them for you, Mom; you’ll love these!” These days, it is usually she who reads aloud her favourites to us, our family snuggle and the bonding intact.
If you are new to picture books, here are a few of my favourites:
Meggie Moon: Written by Elizabeth Baguley / Illustrated by: Gragoire Mabire / Publishers: Little Tiger Press, 2005. Theme: How friends enrich our lives in ways we didn’t even know were possible.
Daft Bat : Written by: Jeanne Willis / Illustrated by: Tony Ross / Publishers: Andersen Press, 2006. Theme: This book helps in teaching kids that there will always be several points of view other than yours and the importance of respecting them.
It’s A Book: Written and illustrated by: Lane Smith / Publishers: Macmillan’s Children’s Books, 2011. Theme: A crispest (172 words) celebration of the simple pleasures of reading a printed book in this digital age.
Do Not Open This Book!: Written by: Michaela Muntean / Illustrated by: Pascal Lemairtre / Publishers: Scholastic Press New York, 2006. Theme: The zaniest rib-tickler about creating a book out of nothing at all!
Do check them out! What are your favourite picture books for children? Let me know in the comments.
*Featured image credit: matthauck (Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License.)
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
If her home and family seem to be impacted by her career then we expect her to prioritize her ‘responsibilities at home as a woman’ and leave her job.
The entrenched patriarchal norms have always perpetuated certain roles and responsibilities as falling specifically in the domain of either men or women. Traditionally, women have been associated with the domestic sphere while men have been considered the bread winner of the household. This division of roles has become so ingrained in our lives that we seldom come to question it. However, while not being questioned does give the system a certain level of legitimacy, it in no way proves its veracity.
This systematic division has resulted in a widely accepted notion whereby the public sphere is demarcated as a men’s zone and the private sphere as belonging to women. Consequently, women are expected to stay at home and manage the household chores while men are supposed to go out and make a living with no interest whatsoever in the running of the household.
This divide is said to be grounded in the intrinsic nature of men and women. Women are believed to be compassionate, affectionate and loving and these supposedly ‘feminine’ qualities make them the right fit for caring roles. Men, on the other hand are allegedly more sturdy, strong and bold and hence, the ones to deal with the ordeals of the outside world.
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