Pratham Books is committed to bringing joyful storybooks in many languages to children across India. We are incredibly sad to say that, on the request of the author-illustrator, we are withdrawing the picture book, हे कोणी केलं? (Who Did This?) by Madhuri Purandare that was published on StoryWeaver on January 24, 2020.
Madhuri’s decision ensued after readers on social media felt that the book was similar to Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch’s book, The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit (German, “Vom kleinen Maulwurf, der wissen wollte, wer ihm auf den Kopf gemacht hat”) .
In an effort to be transparent about the editorial process, we are publishing her open letter below.
It has been extremely difficult for all of us and we respect Madhuri’s decision to withdraw her story.