Our editor Mala Kumar shares a post about the little (and not so little) women in our books :
At Pratham Books, we love children – and that you already know! We love the women who allow kids to be kids in our books a lot too. Like the mother who encourages her kids to paint the gate in Little Painters, or the grandmother who gets her grandson to discover joy in Aaloo-Maloo-Kaaloo.
You may have met the lovable girls in our books. Rumniya is a brave young girl. Samira Goes Shopping, but comes back with a sweet-smelling gift for her mother, Ritu’s letter Get’s Longer as she learns to write, and Anu is a delight with her crazy imagination triggered by her Daddy’s Mo. Girls are observant as you may know, especially if you’ve read What does Anu see? And oh, how creative girls can be, even if they do keep saying ‘What shall I wear today?‘!
You may have heard of smart Mimi and the Buffalo, and of a girl who dreams of the day when Chuskit goes to School. Have you met the brave Bulli and the Tiger? And dreamt along when Mumtaz embroiders her dreams? We’re delighted to welcome Anaya and Anaya’s Thumb to this girl gang. And Richa the young detective who features in Grandma’s Glasses.
Storybooks leave strong impressions on young readers’ minds. We do believe it is good to feature strong, warm, loving, independent-minded characters in our books to reinforce positive attitudes. And that is why it was a pleasure to publish the biography of Kasturba Gandhi, We call her Ba.
We’d be delighted to hear about the the women characters in books who have inspired you! Do write in. And have a Happy Women’s Day!