Writers go online to introduce books to kids

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fancy getting introduced to books by their authors themselves? For their little friends out there, the Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature has come up with a unique initiative. The institute has started a Youtube channel to find books to the children. The children’s books are being introduced by their authors themselves thereby giving the children a rare opportunity to listen to authors talk about their books. 

The children’s books are being introduced through the YouTube channel Balasahithi which was launched for the initiative. The first episode aired on Tuesday which saw writer T Padmanabhan introducing his work ‘Poochakuttikalude Veedu’ on the channel. The episode saw him narrating the story behind the many tales in the book.

The next episodes will see writers B Iqbal, Perumbadavam Sreedharan, K V Mohankumar, K G Jyothi and so on introducing books. According to Palliyara Sreedharan, director, Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature, this initiative is an asset that will chronicle noted writers and immortalise them and the stories behind their literary work. “With this initiative, the children will be introduced to the books as well as the authors in an interactive way. The children will get to familiarise themselves with the writer’s version of the book and what better way is there to learn about a book than through its writer?” says Palliyara Sreedharan. The target is to complete at least 200 books in a year, he said.  

The move is also an effort to bring students back to books during the pandemic. With the children mostly being at home during the pandemic, the initiative aims to take the books to the children. “It is also an attempt to popularise the books and bring the children back to reading during these times,” says Palliyara Sreedharan. The Institute’s children’s magazine ‘Thaliru’ saw a dip in the subscriber’s count during the pandemic. “With the Thaliru scholarship exam of the institute, we could increase the subscription. Plans are afoot to increase the subscriber count by 50,000,” said Palliyara Sreedharan.