Akshara Foundation presented Rotary award – Kannada

My childhood was spent between the pages of hundreds of books. My mother had to force me away from the book I was clutching so that I could do my daily chores, such as help set the table. Thank God for all those authors and illustrators who carried me off into a world of make-believe, […]

The COVID-19 crisis should push us to re-imagine education in radical ways that we’ll be thankful for. At six, in grade 1, my daughter returned from school in a chirpy mood. “What did you study today?” I asked. She was puzzled. “I didn’t study anything,” she replied, “but I learnt a lot.” Education in the […]

What is a good time to introduce a child to books? Different parents may have different answers. I found the right age to be six months. For both my children, I had cloth, plastic or board books about animals or very simple stories with repetitive words. I would show them the books, and slowly read […]

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s appearance on NDTV, talking about how to encourage children to read and her latest book, ‘The Hungry Little Sky Monster’, published by Juggernaut Books. During this pandemic and the lockdown, parents have become increasingly worried about the amount of screen time that is good for their children. […]