It’s been 3 weeks since we launched – StoryWeaver, Pratham Books’ open source platform for multilingual children’s content. We are completely blown away by the response. The platform has got over 30,000 reads and community members are already translating stories and creating a pool of new content. The success of crowdsourcing platforms such as StoryWeaver depends on YOU. Whether you are an author, an illustrator, a parent, a reading volunteer, an educator, a librarian, or an aunt with a niece – StoryWeaver will have something for you. If you haven’t already taken StoryWeaver for a ride, read the following ways you can engage with StoryWeaver.
WHAT is StoryWeaver: StoryWeaver is a platform that hosts stories in languages from all across India and beyond. So that every child can have an endless stream of stories in her mother tongue to read and enjoy. StoryWeaver is an open platform designed to be innovative and interactive. It invites both, the weaver of stories and the reader to connect and share the fascinating world of words and illustrations.
READ on StoryWeaver: StoryWeaver is an absolutely free gateway to a collection of stories. From maths to science, from the environment to history. Stories for the early readers and the more fluent ones – in multiple languages. Filtering content by languages and levels has proven to be an easy way for users to find relevant content for their classes (tip: filter for content by looking at the left column on the READ page) . Once you have used the above filters and if the number of books displayed is still large you can always ‘sort’ books by the various sort criterias such as New Arrivals, Most Read, Recommended etc. In our crusade to liberate stories so that they can be read everywhere StoryWeaver can be accessed on desktop computers, laptops, tablets and even mobile phones.
DOWNLOAD on StoryWeaver: StoryWeaver has seen over 25,000 downloads since launch. Downloaded copies can be used easily for offline reading in library and school environments. You can download a low resolution version for offline viewing or a print-ready download which is optimized for A4 size printing. For the users that would like to re-purpose the content after downloading, there is the e-pub version as well.
CREATE on StoryWeaver: Weaving a story can bring immense joy. One which we would like you to experience with StoryWeaver . Bring your story to life with compelling artwork of over 2000 openly licensed images. So, while publishing has always sounded complex, and daunting, StoryWeaver now makes it super-easy to write your words, pick your illustrations, choose templates, and publish your very own story – in minutes! StoryWeaver’s dashboard for content creators allows you to track how many people have read your story and see the derivative versions of your published stories too.
Here is a quick tutorial that will help unleash the story tell in you and help you publish your story in just minutes! Click here to start creating a story.
RE-LEVEL on StoryWeaver: Ever read a story that you loved but wished it could be made a little easier so that the younger children could follow the plot? Or a story that was too cute for the younger ones but had a great storyline which you wished the older ones could read? StoryWeaver’s “re-level” feature lets you do just that. Keeping the story-line intact, you can increase or decrease the complexity of the story to suit the reading level of the child. When you open a story to re-level in the editor it will give you the reference text in the help box. You can copy paste the same into the text box and then easily edit it to make it to a level of your choice. Read a level 2 story here and the same story re-levelled as level 1 here.
TRANSLATE on StoryWeaver: To be able to read and hear stories in her native language is a joy no child should be devoid of. So wonderful it would be if all of us put our collective strength to translate more and more stories in many many languages. The dream to then see a story in every language is only a few clicks away! Come and volunteer some time on StoryWeaver to help translate stories. Click here for a demo. If you can’t find your language, mail to storyweaver@prathambooks.org and we will try to activate the language as soon as possible. Be part of our ‘Weave-a-Story’ campaign and help us reach a 100 translations by translating one of the chosen stories.
UPLOAD on StoryWeaver: Yes you can even upload your own illustrations on StoryWeaver. But make sure that what you upload is your original art. We don’t encourage uploading other openly licensed content. This is because when you upload the image the system automatically gives you credit for the image. Do read the good practices here before uploading an image on StoryWeaver.
FEEDBACK on StoryWeaver: We’d love to hear what you have to say! What you love, what you don’t and how we can improve. Click here to give us feedback.