The #PBChamps Programme is Back!
9 years ago
And… the champions programme is back! Last year 1300+ champions joined us to conduct 1500+ storytelling sessions across India and the world. How many champions will join us this year? We need you to spread the reading virus and we need you to get your friends and family to join the tribe of champions too.
The idea behind the campaign : The idea is to encourage children to fall in love with reading. This initiative is part of the Pratham Books’ Champions program where we encourage our community of volunteers to use one book to conduct reading sessions. These sessions are conducted free of cost and mostly with children from under-served communities.
We continue to celebrate the joy of reading around International Literacy Day. This year’s event is scheduled for 5th September, 2015 (as it is a Saturday and more people can join us to celebrate the joy of stories).
Season 4 of One Day, One Story
This year’s chosen book is The Boy and the Drum (written by Umesh P N and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe. This is a storybook and a play rolled into one. Written by an experienced teacher of theatre, it is an introduction to a new way of ‘reading’ a book. A folktale about giving and kindness transforms into a lively play! This versatile and adaptable piece can be performed on stage or in the classroom. Or tweak it a little to do your version of the story with tons of different characters and avataars.
We want you to take this story and use it in creative ways with kids -read it, narrate it and enact it.
Sounds interesting? Available on 5th September, 2015? Join thousands of others and do your part to make reading contagious!
*Registrations to receive a hard copy of the book end on 28th August, 2015. You will however be able to sign up to receive an e-copy of the book.
(We’ve also started a Facebook event group so champions can chat and share ideas with each other. Join the Facebook event page.)
So, how does this work?
Fill in the form. A copy of the chosen book and a banner will be sent by the Pratham Books team. You are free to choose the place and time you want to conduct the session. You can also conduct other activities that you think may go with the theme of the book.
After the session, send us a short write-up or send us some photos from the event and we will feature it on the champions blog.
Note: (1) For logisitical reasons, we can’t ship books to international destinations, but we will be able to share the PDF of the book with any international volunteers.
Note : (2) There are limited numbers of the books. If we run out of books by the time you register, we will send you an e-copy of the book.
If you have any queries, please mail champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org BEFORE filling in the form.
You can read champion stories at : http://champions.prathambooks.org
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will the book be sent for free or does the champion pay for it?
Answer : The book is sent to you for free (till stocks last)
2. Does the champion have to find the venue?
Answer : Yes. Identify places where you can conduct this event in your city – A government school, an NGO, a library, a bookstore, a park, a train, your building…any place with regular kids footfalls. Approach the organization and explain the concept to them. Most of them will be happy to host you.
3. This is the first time I am conducting an event. How should I prepare for it?
Answer : Read the book a few times. If you are reading to a younger age-group, see how you can tell the story without actually reading the book (to retain their attention). Think of activities that you can do after the storytelling to engage the children (example : can the story take on a skit form, can the story be a way to talk about an important issue, etc).
4. Can i conduct multiple events?
Answer : Definitely!!! The aim is to reach as many kids as possible. We’ve had champions who’ve conducted 2-3 sessions on the main day and then gone on to conduct sessions on other days too.
5. Should I document the event?
Answer : We expect all our Champions to send us some documentation about the event conducted by them. You can send us mini videos, pictures or a write-up on the event which will tell us [and the whole wide world] on the “real impact” made.
6. I really want to conduct a session but I am not free on 5th September? What should I do?
Answer : The aim of this campaign is to spread the joy of stories. Most people conduct the session on the chosen date. But just in case you are unable to, you can still conduct it on a day close to the chosen date. Because kids getting to hear a story is more important than the date, no?
(P.S- all the images in this post are of actual storytelling sessions conducted by our awesome champions).
