Children’s books I love

Illustration/Uday Mohite

For years, I have been buying a lot of children's books, imagining I will give them away to children. But mostly, the books are so gorgeous, I simply keep them for myself. Most of the books I read as a youngster, included books like The Emperor's Nightingale, The Princess and The Pea, Gay Purree (on a posh cat who visits Paris), Enid Blyton's books, Aesop's Fables, comics like Archie, The Phantom, Amar Chitra Katha, and Russian story books in English. Most of these were fiction; I can hardly remember any literature that was docu-fiction, closely reflecting reality, let alone the contemporary reality of ordinary, real people around me in India.

But children's books have dramatically advanced, especially those set in India. Ever since I started teaching English and Life Skills to underprivileged teenagers at the Patuck Junior College about five years ago, I've been more interested in Indian children's literature and inspirational books, especially on Indian women. Tara Books is an ultra and permanent favourite of mine, with gorgeous collaborations between storytellers and Indian and indigenous artists, including Gond artists, Patua scroll painters, etc. These include Trash!, powerful, personal stories of ragpicker children and recycling by Gita Wolf, Anushka Ravishankar and Orijit Sen, and Hope is a Girl Selling Fruit, on the opportunities for an adolescent girl by Mithila painter Amrita Das, Gita Wolf and Suseela Varadarajan.

There's Aparna Karthikeyan's No Nonsense Nandhini, based on the real-life Chandra Subramanian, single parent and woman farmer in Tamil Nadu, and published through a collaboration between PARI (People's Archive of Rural India) and Karadi Tales. Naresh and Deepa's feisty mother wakes up at midnight and dons a miner's lamp to work in her field, harvesting flowers: will they be able to show everyone at school that she's a hero? Samina Mishra's Jamlo Walks and Nida Finds a Way are two superb children's books that thoughtfully reflect contemporary reality. Jamlo Walks is about an Adivasi Gond child who was forced to walk home 100 km during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Comixense is a new quarterly illustrated magazine aimed at youngsters (and adults), produced by Orijit Sen and team, whose graphic narratives include The Adivasi Will Not Dance, adapted from Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar's award-winning short story.

Some of these books use stories to touch on several issues. For instance, Mishra's Jamlo Walks is a deeply moving story about an Adivasi Gond child, Jamlo, who worked in the fields, and was forced to walk home far away when she lost her job following the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Very tired, she sleeps under a sal tree. In the next illustration, we see her parents waiting at home, disappointed, and all we see are Jamlo's chappal and a dead yellow leaf, leaving the rest to your imagination. A note at the end explains the context of Jamlo's story, drawn from PARI. Jamlo Makdam, 12, a migrant worker of the Muria community of adivasis in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, was sent to work in the chilli fields of Telangana. After walking 100 km during the lockdown, she died on the way home. Mishra's storytelling is rich and sophisticated, with marvellous illustrations by Tarique Aziz, that says little and leaves a lot to the imagination. She deals with issues parents don't know how to explain to children or shield them from - child labour, the lockdown, the terrible price paid by poor migrant labour and death. For Jamlo, the lockdown is a matter of life and death, while for middle class urban children Tara, Rahul and Aamir, the lockdown is merely something in the news, forcing them into online lessons. Kudos to Puffin Books/Penguin Random House for publishing such a compelling book, that enlightens adults, as much as children.

Mishra is an educationist and filmmaker, and her book Nida Finds A Way is another gem. It is about Nida, 7, and how her desire to ride a bicycle eventually leads her to the protests at Shaheen Bagh, along with her Dadi (granny), where so many Muslim women are also protesting in public. It is rare to see inclusive Indian literature for children, where we can also hear the dreams of a Muslim girl and her granny. It has delightful illustrations by Priya Kuriyan. Hats off to Duckbill/Penguin Random House for publishing such books. Mishra's insightful documentary Happiness Class is about the ‘Happiness Curriculum', that teaches compassion, mindfulness and inclusiveness, based on the Dalai Lama's teachings, which has been implemented in some Delhi government schools. The trouble with parenting is you don't need any qualifications for this critical job - but good books and films can light the way ahead.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com