Being a #PBChamp is addictive!

So, Aarti Srinivasan signed up to be a #PBChamp. She conducted her first storytelling session last year (read all about it) and she then got addicted!

In Aarti's own words....

The first time I entered BJ home( an NGO in Mumbai) on International Literacy Day last year and saw some hundred odd kids waiting to listen to a story I was going to narrate, I was both thrilled and anxious. But the moment I opened the book( Paplu, the Giant) I didn't have much to worry about. Little Paplu took over and he was enthralling the kids with all the fascinating things he did. I walked into the place as someone who was just 'giving it a shot' at storytelling but walked out quite amazed with myself. The experience made me realize that there's a storyteller hidden in each one of us. All one needs is an engaging story and a group of kids the story can engage with. Because, quite honestly, we're just the medium to bring the two together. Nothing more than that. 

The first 'PB Champs' experience I had was so fulfilling, that I became greedy for more and started going there every Sunday with a new story. Marathi, Hindi,English, I read out many books and many stories and became their Didi who got 'Wahi' they simply loved ('Wahi' means books in marathi) 

The imaginative questions they ask, the undivided attention they can give you, their reassuring nods, their sweet impatience in knowing the ending of every story, the honesty in which they accept their goof-ups, their love for pictures more than words- every behaviour of theirs only goes to say that the way kids can absorb a story, an adult would never be able to. When I read the story through their eyes, it always seems more endearing and more enjoyable.

This got me thinking how fantastic it would be if each of us could take some time out and spend an hour or so in the company of children and books. That would mean so many beautiful stories enjoyed by so many more children. Wouldn't that be great? Well, at the risk of sounding sermonizing, I would like to urge many more of you to become #PBChamps and be part of the fantastic 'Tentastic' initiative. Rest assured, you’ll get a lot more than you will give.

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Thank you Aarti for sharing this story and more importantly for sharing so many stories with the kids at BJ Home. We can't wait to hear more of your stories from this year's TENTASTIC campaign. More power to you and all the #PBChamps we know!

If you want to be a TENTASTIC Champion, register here.

Pratham Books Champion : Storipur

Priya Muthukumar kick starts the TENTASTIC Champions storytelling drive and sends us the first story of this year's campaign. Priya conducted this storytelling session as part of Storipur. As a student counselor and educator, she enjoys all her interactions with kids. Writing, telling stories and simply being with Mother Nature are few of the many things she loves to do! Storipur intends to fill up the gaps, through the ancient art form, storytelling. Sharing stories about environment, countries, societies, cultures and about all ourselves: it's Storipur's humble attempt to build responsible communities.

Telling stories in the outdoors is something I wouldn't give up for anything! Hence, need I explain about the insurmountable joy I had when I got an opportunity to tell a story in the beautiful backdrop of a lake (Kaikondrahalli Lake), with birds chirping , leaves rustling and the cool breeze toying with my hair! I, no doubt, ended up enjoying every bit of the experience.

The theme suggested by the organizers for the storytelling session -inclusion, diversity, sensitivity to the disabled community and conservation. Initially, as a storyteller, everything did sound a wee bit overwhelming to me! I completely fell for the cause, but, how was I supposed to seamlessly stitch inclusion and conservation together? That’s when, one of the organizers sent me a link to a book- the book immediately struck a chord with me. A simple, thin book with a neat storyline- Chuskit goes to school! by Sujatha Padmanabhan published by Pratham Books.

I had read the story over and over again, had discussions with one of the organizers who had lived in Ladakh, I worked on the right pronunciation for words like Ama-ley, Aba-ley etc. used in the story and tried to learn about the trees and birds in Ladakh.

The big day arrived. Kids and adults were eagerly waiting in the amphitheatre, with caps, umbrellas and water bottles to beat the summer heat! Introductions followed by a brief tapping- to- the- rhythm activity which I anchored proved to be a real ice- breaker! I began the story pretending to be little Chuskit looking from behind the curtain, outside the window. I took the audience through Chuskit’s journey, trying to connect with her dreams and aspirations, most importantly with her need, her craving of wanting to go to school, just like all the other kids in Ladakh. Good education is every child’s right! 

The kids were encouraged to interact during the storytelling session and spoke about how it would be, if they never got to go to school. Undoubtedly, the answers were a mixed bag- some said they would be happy, some said they wouldn't like the idea, because they’d miss their friends and their favourite teachers! Laughter, chaos, mischief everything found a place in this story -based discussion.

Now, problem solving…how do we send Chuskit who was in a wheelchair, to school, across the stream?? Yup, after a lot of critical-thinking, my audience decided, that the solution was to build a bridge!

Bingo! So I told them, ‘let’s build the bridge!’ Though, initially surprised, they bought the idea! Kids and few adults rushed to gather stones, twigs … here, there, they ran everywhere! 

There was a strong community feel amongst all of us which surfaced, together, as we made the bridge. Some got a rope, some logs…the bridge was definitely not real, but our efforts and good -will were genuine!

Now, that the bridge was done, some of the kids wanted to test whether the bridge was strong enough to bear the weight of Chuskit’s wheelchair… it was the trial session which followed next. Everybody, tried walking on the bridge, balancing themselves. There were others to hold the ones who were about to trip, losing their balance! Some parents eagerly involved in the making of the bridge, some showed their encouragement by cheering for the little ones! Overall, all of us were beaming with pride when we finished making the not-so-perfect bridge for Chuskit.

 As a storyteller, I don’t believe in moralizing a story. When one shares a story with passion, right from the heart, the story itself manages to convey what needs to be shared! And that’s what happened during this storytelling session, when we joined together as a community to build a bridge for Chuskit. I am sure, in our minds it was a reminder for all of us to build bridges for inclusion despite diversity, as a community.

 And my dear Chuskit, now, it’s going to take a very long time for me to forget you!

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Thank you Priya and Storipur for helping us spread the joy of reading!

In 2014, Pratham Books is inviting people to become TENTASTIC Champions. This year's champions initiative is a year-long storytelling drive. Join our tribe of champions and commit to conducting ten storytelling sessions for children during the year (including the main one on International Literacy Day). Lets make reading contagious!

Register to be a TENTASTIC Champion.

Pratham Books is looking for TENTASTIC Champions

Yes, we are looking for champions once again. But this time, it isn't just for our International Literacy Day event. It is for a much larger and a much bigger storytelling drive.

Every year on International Literacy Day, our champions have shared stories across the world in multiple languages. We turned ten this year and wanted to turn the celebrations up a notch.

Join our tribe of champions and commit to conducting ten storytelling sessions for children during the year (including the main one on International Literacy Day). Imagine the number of children we will collectively reach through this massive storytelling drive. The number are boggling and the joy ... infectious!

Make reading contagious by registering to be a TENTASTIC Champion. Read about our previous champions here.

If you have any queries about the campaign, please mail champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books Champions : Deeptha Vivekanand, Sowmya, Aparna and Vikram Sridhar

Deeptha Vivekanand shares a report about the multiple storytelling sessions conducted by Sowmya, Aparna, Vikram Sridhar and her.

At Atta Galatta and Ever After, Bangalore

On 7th September, a group of three storytellers—Deeptha from Ever After, Sowmya and Aparna from Kid & Parent Foundation—came together at Atta Galatta, to perform stories from three Pratham books: Paplu, The Giant; Bhabloo the Bear’s Adventure and Grandpa Fish And The Radio. Around 15 children attended the session, along with their parents. They were an enthusiastic bunch and actively participated in all three stories with the same level of energy. At the end of the session, we engaged them in a quick game called ‘Ulta Pulta’ which saw them performing actions that were the opposite of what was being called out. The kids loved the activity, throwing themselves on the floor, laughing, tumbling and crouching according to the instructions. It was hilarious! They then drew their favourite characters from the stories they listened to and took their artwork home as a reminder of the good time they had.

On 8th September, Vikram Sridhar from Tahatto and Deeptha from Ever After conducted a joint storytelling session at the Ever After Centre. The heavy downpour just before the start of the session did not dampen the spirits of the people who had registered for the event. About 20 kids came with the parents; some brought their grandparents too! Deeptha narrated Paplu, The Giant while Vikram told Lion On The Loose. Children loved the part where Paplu’s clothes were ripped off; there was laughter all around when pieces of cloth were thrown at them as a representation of Paplu’s shirt. They vied with each other to grab a bit of Paplu’s outfit. During Vikram’s narration, kids were completely involved as he asked them to contribute their ideas to the building of the story. It was a lot of noise as they all screamed out their thoughts, eager to be heard. In all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable session.

Looking forward to next year’s session already!

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On International Literacy Day (2013), Pratham Books took 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. In 2012, Pratham Books initiated the One Day-One Story initiative on the occasion of International Literacy Day and we conducted over 250 storytelling sessions. In 2013, over a 1000 sessions took place across the length and breadth of the country.We will be sharing the stories of all our champions through our blog.

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 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 champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books Champions : Project Mala

This story was sent to us by Project Mala.Project Mala runs their own school and also provides free education, nutrition and healthcare to around 1200 children in 6 schools. Learn more about their work at www.projectmala.org.uk.

Number of children reached through the campaign
1. Project Mala School, Guria Village - 320
2. Bihara Village - 1000+ (Including villagers)
3. Project Mala School, Mujehra Village - 150
4. Mujehra Kala Village - 1000+ (Including Villagers)

In total around 2500 persons including children and villagers.

Four sessions at the following places in Uttar Pradesh
1. Project Mala School, Guria Village (Varanasi District)
2. Bihara Village (Varanasi District)
3. Project Mala School, Mujehra Village (Mirzapur District)
4. Mujehra Kala Village (Mirzapur District)

The sessions were conducted in Hindi.

Apart from telling stories, we did some extra activities in three centres as briefed below.
1. Project Mala School, Guria Village (Varanasi District) – Story Telling, Painting And Rangoli, Road Procession of 3 KMS with slogans
2. Bihara Village (Varanasi District) - Story Telling, Mehandi, Singing, Dancing and One act Play
3. Project Mala School, Mujehra Village (Mirzapur District) – Story Telling
4. Mujehra Kala Village (Mirzapur District) - Story Telling, Singing, Dancing and One act Play

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On International Literacy Day (2013), 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. In 2013, over a 1000 sessions were happening across the length and breadth of the country.We will be sharing the stories of all our champions through our blog.

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.