What’s kid-lit like these days? New book traces its evolution over 4 decades

Arun accidentally gets locked in an ancient palace with his pet skink in the book Arun in Ruins His only way out is to build an electronic circuit Bhura a gigantic brown cloud threatens to devastate Mumbai in A Cloud Called Bhura So four preteens get together to stop itChildrenrsquos fiction lately is taking on everything from the climate crisis to STEM subjects gender biases and more Stories are centred around the childrenrsquos world but what they manage to talk about at times goes beyond what textbook pages coverChildrenrsquos Books An Indian Story a book edited by Dr Shailaja Menon and Sandhya Rao uncovers the many chapters of Indiarsquos kid literature Itrsquos a comprehensive study of the evolution and trends that have been witnessed in the last four decadesPriya Krishnan Dr Shailaja Menon and CG SalamanderEarlier childrenrsquos literature focused on mythology and stories of ancient India In the early years following Independence kidrsquos books were also used for national identitybuilding Young readers who could afford to purchase books or access libraries could access Russian and Chinese fables as well But postliberalisation India put its mark on kidlitldquoWe had very low quality printing presses and there were a lot of constraints on publishers and editors It is around the time the economy opened up in the late 1980s to the early 90s publishers like Tulika Tara Katha Eklavya Pitara and Karadi Tales started saying lsquoWe need to find innovative ways to tell our storiesrsquordquo says Dr Menon who also works as a consultant with the education theme at Tata TrustsAs Indiarsquos independent publishers began to experiment they breathed more life into childrenrsquos literature by experimenting with illustrations different ways of printing and bringing traditional Indian art forms to the mix ldquoItrsquos a period of experimentation and rediscovering the Indian ways of exploring the world of childrenrsquos literaturerdquo says Dr MenonChildrenrsquos Books An Indian Story maps the evolution and trends in childrenrsquos literatureChildrenrsquos writer and graphic novelist C G Salamander points out that apart from formats and beautifully illustrated books independent publishers like Tulika and Pratham are also responsible for experimenting with modern contemporary storytelling ldquoThese publishers pushed Indian contemporary stories You could read and get to know different parts of the country And they moved towards more characterdriven stories With comics too there was a power shift We moved away from Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle towards more modern comicsrdquo he says citing more examplesThe Songs of Freedom series by Duckbill Penguin for example puts children at the heart of historic events and the freedom movement The series reimagines history while still being authentic at the core fictionalising stories where children play protagonists For instance A Conspiracy in Calcutta by Lesley D Biswas transports us to 1928 where 10yearold Bithi grapples with multiple layers of injustice As a girl child her going to school is looked down upon and she witnesses British oppression Inspired by her freedomfighter grandfather she courageously stands up against police brutality often finding herself in dangerous situations Her journey from a feisty girl to a fearless fighter is an inspiring tale of resilience and inner strengthMore recently childrenrsquos literature has become environmentally conscious Picture books modern fables mysteries adventure titlesmdashall are seeing environmental themes ldquoWith evolving trends in childrenrsquos literature and publishers exploring genres such as graphic tellings children are keen to consume content that they havenrsquot come across beforerdquo says Priya Krishnan senior editor at Tulika Publishers They also have a graphix series that includes Unknown Heroes of Indiarsquo Freedom Struggle The Blockprinted Tiger Boom Boom and PNK Panickerrsquos Ghost StoriesStories for children are now centred around everything from environment to the freedom movementProgressive themes have segued into brand marketing as well Solar Square a rooftop solar panel installation company published a childrenrsquos book Ravi Savi amp The Solar System as a marketing exercise but to also teach kids the importance of solar energy and how solar panels functionSome other books like Salamanderrsquos Tiny Tales series in partnership with Scholastic India prioritise language learning in emergent readers Tiny Tales uses rhyme and rhythm to reinforce prereading skills and is set in the Indian environment ldquoThey are written for an emergent reader and focused on tier two and three citiesrdquo he saysBooks lately are also discussing heavyduty topics like manual scavenging Puu written by Salamander is a tale about a girl who faces discrimination at school because of her parentrsquos occupation But are children mature enough to understand such subjects ldquoIf kids read about discrimination they ask a lot of questions All they need is a support system so itrsquos always good to have a parent aroundrdquo says SalamanderCuriosity must be encouraged in children and books can help drive conversation around tough topics at home says Salamander adding that no topic is taboo when it comes to writing for children But as a writer he has to ensure that his biases donrsquot filter into his writingSo are serious topics such as these drawing children towards reading ldquoYoung readers have told me we do not have series books of the kind of Harry Potter Itrsquos one thing we have not cracked yetrdquo says Dr Menon adding that thatrsquos not all thatrsquos missing from childrenrsquos bookshelves ldquoParents also donrsquot spend time researching and understanding what is available It doesnrsquot look like therersquos a lot of awareness Parents seem to spend more time researching various other kinds of consumables for their children rather than booksrdquo she says But as someone who works with rural children she says that books from those and for those communities are missing tooldquoWe still need to have books written by authors from those communities for those children We need more voices from groups of people who have been historically marginalised who represent their culture for their childrenrdquo she says