Image: Illustration by Rijuta Ghate, for Pratham Books Tell Me Now series
Can non-fiction
be fantastic? Can it be written in a way that gets little readers
excited? Can you convert fascinating subjects into baby-bite-sized
nuggets for easy digestion? Would you like to be published by a
multi-lingual publisher that believes that every child needs good
reading material? Would you like to release your work under a Creative
Commons license that would allow us to put your work on digital
platforms for free downloads? If your answer is a resounding YES to ALL
these questions, do read on.
Pratham Books is looking for good non-fiction manuscripts
for young readers, specially those who do not come from a print-rich
environment. These will be Level 2 and Level 3 books, fully illustrated
and translated into many Indian languages. The word limit will be around
400 words for Level 2 (for children who are learning to read), and upto
1000 words for Level 3 (for children who are ready to read on their
own) . We would like the work to be cheerful, informative, and relevant
for today’s child. Up for the challenge? If yes, please do send in a
topic/topics and a short synopsis to info@prathambooks.org with the
subject line Fantastic Non-fiction and your proposed working title.
Example: Fantastic Non-fiction – Why can’t I fly like Superman?