Pratham Books is a finalist in the Google Impact Challenge. Our idea is to create an open source platform for children’s books. We need all our readers and supporters to VOTE FOR OUR PROJECT IDEA so that we can win this grant and make this dream a reality.
Our project will build collaborative web platforms that solve the three major problems that affect children in India – a very low number of books available for them, a lack of linguistic diversity of books and a lack of access to funding for libraries and books so that children can experience the joy of reading.
The ‘I am …’ series written by Mala Kumar will give you an insight into how this platform can be useful to you – as an author, an illustrator, a storyteller, a publisher, etc. Today’s post is from the viewpoint of a person who wants to exercise his/her creativity.
I am creative – how can this platform help me?
You are exactly what this platform needs to be a super cool resource! A creative person can do wonders with all the stories available here. Make apps, create games, turn a story on its head and make it a more funky story. Use the illustrations in derivatives like films, music albums, photo-montage, new storybooks, cheerful worksheets for summer camps and after-school activities. And if you want the community to try your derivative work and give you feedback, upload your work right here. Make an audio book, convert a story to a format accessible to the visually-impaired, give a character extra fittings like a beard or a funny hat. The openly licensed content can be used freely and prolifically so there is really nothing to stem your creative juices. And if your derivative work – say a storybook app – is liked, you can be discovered by a big company. Creative people – author, illustrator, designer, product designer, game designer, app developer, or any such person – can not just use the platform to create things to be shared by the community. they can also create a great future for themselves using these resources. Good luck!
The posts we are sharing about the project will help you understand our vision as well as the scope of this project. Related posts:
1. Introduction
2. Let a Thousand Tongues Speak – Increasing language diversity in children’s books
You can also spread the word by :
4. Writing a post on your blog about why you believe in our mission and why you want readers to vote for us. Here’s an example from one of our champions.
Illustration courtesy : Tanvi Choudhury ( from the book ‘Little Painters’)