Not Now, Not Now! – Pratham Books – Children’s Books

Countries in the West have autonomous school boards that report to citizens and encourage participatory practices. Sure they have their share of problems, but at least these problems are aired and responses are required to be made. Let me start with Akshara Foundation, with which I am most familiar. Since early 2000, we have had […]

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. […]

ON International Literacy Day, it is time to do some stock-taking. And statistics do not console when it comes to the continuing high rate of school dropouts and the inability of even 50 percent of children going to government schools to read fluently. But the picture is not entirely bleak. In Bangalore, the Akshara Foundation […]

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 […]