Pratham Books Champion : Falak Randerian

This International Literacy Day, Pratham Books has taken a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'

What started as a small step by Pratham Books to spread the joy of reading has become a movement. Last year Pratham Books initiated the One Day-One Story initiative on the occasion of International Literacy Day and we conducted over 250 storytelling sessions. This year we are delighted that over a 1000 sessions are happening across the length and breadth of the country.We will be sharing the stories of all our champions through our blog.

This story was sent to us by Falak Randerian. A trained story-teller, a Communication Trainer, a Parenting Blogger, a wife and mum to the most adorable 2.5-year-old – Zoe. Falak says that she tries too many roles, her favorite being Zoe’s Mom. She runs a story telling & communication workshop for kids My Little Chatterbox and a parenting website (www.momsters.in) along with her elder sister. You can also follow her on Twitter : mlchatterbox

I was so excited to be a Pratham Books Champion and spread the joy of reading on International Literacy Day. I chose a beautiful space called Kutoohala, an exclusive children's book and toy store; which also conducts workshops for kids and parents. When I entered the place on a pleasant evening to conduct the session, I fell in love with the place. That was it... all my anxiety disappeared and I became all the more excited. 

We arranged the place to conduct the session, for lots of children to sit comfortably and enjoy the story. I did a session for around 20 enthusiastic kids between 4-10 years and their equally enthusiastic parents. We started with a introduction and we were all ready to explore 'Paplu The Giant'. I narrated the story in English with some Hindi Punch lines thrown in for Drama and the kids loved it. I made sure the kids were constantly involved in the story, so I asked a lot of questions, got some amazing responses and we also sang together. 

Once the story was over, the kids were divided in 3 teams. Each teams also had parents, as we wanted to involve parents as well; and I must say the session became even more enjoyable with their involvement. We soon began our 'Mission Paplu' where we created a 'semi'-giant. Team 'A' pasted bits 

of colored papers on the kurta, Team 'B' on the Pyjama. Team 'C' loved playing with colors, and they 

drew scenery from the book on a huge sheet of paper. 

The kids were completely engrossed in story/activity for more than an hour. When I was leaving for the day, all the kids had only one question to ask, "When can they come for another story?"

Thanks Pratham Books for a Super-Dee-Duper evening...

Introducing the book

Working on the background

Working on the pajama

Working on the kurta

Parents participating

Our Paplu

 Thank you Falak for spreading the joy of reading!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations.

This blog contains stories sent in by all our champions. Browse through the blog for more stories. You can also go through the tags on the right side of the blog to find stories happening in your own city.

Note : If any of you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at web(at)prathambooks(dot)org.