This book publishing house helps kids fall in love with reading!2 min read

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A book in every child’s hand – that is the mission with which Bengaluru-based children’s publishing house Pratham Books has been functioning since it was set up back in 2004. Sixteen years on, and many awards and innovations later, Pratham has managed to change the face of publishing in the country. Started by Rohini Nilekani, Ashok Kamath and Rekha Menon, Pratham is a not-for-profit organisation which has managed to increase access to reading material that goes beyond just textbooks.

Apart from taking books of all kinds, in all regional languages, to schoolchildren across the country, Pratham has also used technology to keep up with the changing times, especially during the ongoing pandemic.

Story cards and e-reading

Some of Pratham’s innovations include Story Cards, which are mini storybooks that have proven beneficial to several children due to the colourful illustrations and easy format. Another initiative they came up with is Library-in-a-Classroom – a portable, wall-mounted unit of books that can be set up at any school across the country, encouraging children to read. StoryWeaver, a digital platform that provides access to multilingual books for free, has been a boon to children during the lockdown when schools closed.

The publishing house even joined hands with another company to launch ‘Missed Call do, Kahaani Suno’. The campaign is very interesting, and has given underprivileged children the chance to read, or rather listen, to stories when they can’t go to school during the pandemic. With education moving online, this campaign allowed children to listen to audio stories over the phone, and in a language of his/her choice!

Helping hands

Over the years, several individuals and organisations have joined hands with Pratham Books to take its mission forward. Through its Reading Champions movement, volunteers have been able to conduct reading sessions for children in their neighbourhoods. There are also plenty of opportunities for people to donate to any of Pratham’s campaigns, such as setting up of libraries in villages, schools, hospitals and more, and of course, distributing books.

Click on the link to learn more about Pratham Books! https://prathambooks.org/

Photos: Pratham Books