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Celebrating Science with Wonder Why Week

All year round, we create joyful stories for kids. But Wonder Why Week had us focusing all our energy on Science and Mathematics, and putting together a week that celebrates science, discovery, and the spirit of wonder!

In case you missed all the action, here is a quick recap :

We launched three new books on StoryWeaver this week:
Lazy Mama (by Vidya Pradhan and Rohit Kelkar) : When lazy Raghu Mama claims he can go on wild adventures without leaving his chair, Amish and Soni are amazed. How does he do it? Can Amish and Soni go on these adventures too?
Off to See Spiders! (by Vena Kapoor and Pia Meenakshi) : Kaveri and Shivi go looking for spiders, along with their friend Shama.
Anna’s Extraordinary Experiments with Weather (by Nandita Jayaraj and Priya Kuriyan) : Anna Mani was an Indian scientist who loved to read about the world around her. Peek into her eighth birthday party and follow her through her extraordinary scientific adventures.
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We also had two fun storytelling sessions in Bengaluru …

On 24th February, Bhavana Vyas Vipparthi took us to new worlds as she narrated the stories of Gul in Space, Panipuri Inside a Spaceship and Ammachi’s Amazing Machines.

We also celebrated National Science Day at the Government Girls School, Srirampuram. Students from the neighbouring government school were also present. Translator Kollegal Sharma entertained students by introducing them to our forthcoming STEM book ‘How Heavy is Air?’ by Yasawini Sampathkumar and Shohei Emura. The Pratham Books team also got the children on their feet with the help of our new math book ‘Where is Nandini?’, written by Anitha Murthy, guest edited by Sudeshna Shome, illustrated by Ritwick Roy.

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Tune in and listen to ‘How A New Generation of STEM Books Are Putting The Fun Back In Fundamentals‘ on The Intersection podcast 

For many children, especially in India, the thought of picking up a science or maths book inspires terror. There’s no fun in a system that promotes rote learning over curiosity and understanding. Fortunately, things are changing. Books that explain STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) concepts in an interesting and engaging way are finding space on children’s bookshelves and in school libraries and inspiring kids to embrace the subjects instead of running away from them.

On this episode of The Intersection, Padma speaks to the folks at Pratham Books–an organization that publishes titles on things from friction, bio-luminescence and evolution to subtraction, spiders and blue whales–about the importance of introducing children to these concepts at an early age and making science and maths more fun for them. 

Also, catch up on our special STEM book-related posts :

The News Minute also covered our journey of creating STEM books in this article :

Bengaluru based Pratham Books has been actively involved in piquing children’s interest in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – subjects.

“Over the last three years, we have created over 400 STEM books to address the lack of such books available in India for young readers. We have received long-term support from Oracle to develop these STEM books,” says Suzanne. 

The topics of the books range from introducing children to fascinating marine creatures to demystifying math concepts, making physics more relatable to exploring incredible topics such as animals in space, virtual reality, and women in science.

Read the entire article here
Illustrators Rohit Kelkar and Pia Meenakshi gave us a glimpse into their illustration process through their Instagram takeovers. Head to the StoryWeaver Instagram account and take a peek.
We also ran a few contests across our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. In case you see this in time, we still have two contests you can participate in. Head here and here for more information.
And with that, our Wonder Why Week comes to an end. But watch out for new stories and loads of fun stuff over the year. Till then, happy reading!
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