By Faizal Khan
Mishti was angry when her grandmother’s cousin Munni came to live with her family. A stranger has been suddenly forced into her perfect life. She had to give up her room, her bed and, even worse, share her grandmother. The story of Mishti, a ten-year-old girl facing grave adversity, is the subject of Munni Monster, a book for young adults by Madhurima Vidyarthi published last year. As months pass by, the little girl and her cousin, who has cerebral palsy, come closer to create a bond of friendship.
Munni Monster, an endearing tale of love and compassion, is among the three Indian books nominated to the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)’s Collection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities this year. The nomination has ensured that children around the world benefit from books written in India that travel to international book fairs along with titles from other countries in the IBBY collection. The three Indian books, which help make lives better for many children abroad, are also aiding a remarkable transformation of the landscape of literature for young adults in the country.
In the past nearly a decade, several new initiatives in the public and private spheres, and sometimes together, have helped bring down the yawning gap in children’s literature in the country. The shortcomings in original content, quality literature, professional publishing, marketing and libraries are being addressed with an urgency that was found lacking before.
While original titles like Munni Monster, When Adil Speaks, Words Dance, and Our Library—the three Indian books nominated to IBBY Collection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities—important interventions in publishing like the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies in Hyderabad that publishes children’s books by authors from marginalised communities, have contributed to making a remarkable change.
Boost for Indian languages
“It is a very long way to go for children’s literature in the country, but there are enough reasons to be happy and draw some satisfaction, especially when it comes to Indian languages,” says Amrita Patwardhan, who develops strategic planning in the education sector at Tata Trusts, one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in the country. Patwardhan, who lives in Pune, Maharashtra, outlines the huge gap in children’s literature in the country. “The bigger gap is in original writing. There are multiple retellings of books, but not enough original publishing. We also have to look at the whole spectrum of wordless books for young adults,” she adds.
More than half of all books for children published in India are in English, followed by 25% in Hindi and the remaining for the rest of the languages spoken in the country. “It is a very long way to go for publishing for children in Indian languages,” says Patwardhan, who has worked on several central government committees on education. “We need a big shift in good quality books at a higher level for writers, publishers, and distributors. Children’s books account for a mere 5% of the total books published in India, with the majority of them being in English. Only one in three schools have operational libraries, with an average of one book for every 11 children in rural areas and five in urban regions of the country,” adds Patwardhan.
According to the Neev Literature Festival Report on Children’s Literature in India 2022, children’s and young adult publishing represent a quarter of the total publishing trade market in the country. The market for children and young adults grew by 39.5% in volume and 27% in value during 2021, the year for which the latest figures are available. The report by the Bengaluru-based festival for children revealed that the biggest demand is for early learning picture books, activity books, board books, and coloring books. It also found that most major publishers were not interested in acquiring contemporary children’s writing in translation from Indian languages.
Arrival of independent publishers
The entry of independent publishers in children’s literature in the country is steadily making a difference. Children across the country have endeared themselves to titles from several independent publishers like Pratham Books, Tulika Books, Kalpavriksh, Karadi Tales, Eklavya, Ektara, Duckbill, Talking Cub, Pickle Yolk, Good Earth Books, and Tara Books. While the Indian young adults market is dominated by Western authors, Indian authors like Devika Rangachari of the Queen of Ice, Queen of Earth, and Queen of Fire series published by Duckbill, outsell their Western counterparts. “At least in English and Hindi, more and better books for children are coming out each year, from creators across the country,” says Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar-winning children’s author and educator Mini Shrinivasan. “With more translations, these books can bring joy to children everywhere,” adds Shrinivasan, a member of the jury for the 2024 Parag Honour List, a curated collection of outstanding books for children and young adults published in Hindi and English in the country, from Tata Trusts’ Parag Initiative, which aims to promote a culture of reading among children.
Founded in 2005, the Parag Initiative, which supports the development cost of children’s books, funds publishers so that children’s books are affordable, has helped publish over 1,000 books in 16 languages through 19 publishers. “Some of these books are in the tribal tongues of Mundari, Bhilori, Pawri, and Santali,” says Tata Trusts’ Patwardhan. Ten years ago, the Parag Initiative set up the country’s first course in library education for teachers, librarians, and community facilitators on diverse literature for children. Parag’s work has also led to a network of 7,000 libraries in over ten states spread over schools and rural community centers in partnership with NGOs and organizations like the Free Library Network.
When Parag launched its first library in Yadgir, a district in Northern Karnataka eight years ago, school students were given book coupons so that they could choose titles of their own choice. “A few years later, we saw some girl students starting their own home libraries so that they could lend books to other girls in their neighborhood,” says Patwardhan. “That initiative by the girls in taking responsibility and spreading joy gives a lot of hope for children’s literature in the country.”
Faizal Khan is a freelancer.