![]() The day a cute picture book gets shelved can only lead to a dark, sleepless night. Here’s a little brief to get you up to date:
Natasha Sharma is a Sikh and grew up in Amritsar. The idea behind this story came from childhood memories of seeing her father tie his turban every morning. She teamed up with Priya Kuriyan over a period of two years, where she would send videos of her father tying a turban in order to get the details right in the illustrations. But, is this really the point? I believe there's a larger concern at hand. According to Wikipedia, Freedom of Speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. Everyone involved in the making of this book has had their freedom of speech stripped away from them. This episode has elicited fear within the Indian children's writing industry. I am worried about what this means for authors, illustrators, publishers and the kinds of books we will release going forward. When other countries are advocating more the need for diversity, we will be taking several steps backwards. I wonder, isn’t a sentiment that forces the publisher to remove the book from their catalog only going to lead to more intolerance? I stand with #bringbackthepug and hope you do to!
0 Comments
Hello, Today, I am sharing a list of books that I think would be apt for 1.5 to 3 year olds and the key words for this age group would be: Repetition & Rhythm. At this age, children like repetition, especially as they are just learning how to talk. Repetitive text and words help them retain new words and concepts in their mind. Another reason I like repetition is because it allows children to partake in storytelling. My favourite activity to do with N when she was younger (and even now) is to read a new book to her a couple times and then leave out words for her to say. Rhythm is another great way for children to guess what word will come next. It also teaches them the concept of rhyme, laying a solid foundation for spelling. Of course a lot of these is intuitive and as you read more, you’ll figure out what works for you and your child, but I thought I would share my own experiences if they would be of any help! A couple of cautionary words: * The age bracket is flexible. I still read a lot of these books to my almost 4 year old and will probably start reading some of these books to my son BEFORE he is 1.5 *The books listed below are books that I have found great, but by no means the only list that you should follow. *Somehow, I feel the joy of chancing upon a book while browsing through a library or bookstore is incomparable to any list you will find, so do visit book stores when you get a chance! * Most of these books should be available on Amazon, but if you cannot find them, please get in touch with me – happy to share my own copies *I have avoided listing too many OBVIOUS choices and starred ones that I really love! ![]() One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Dr Suess ABC * Dr Suess Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? * Eric Carle One, Two Tree Anushka Ravishankar Owl Babies * Martin Waddell The Animal Boogie Debbie Harter Eyes, Nose, Fingers and Toes Judy Hindley It’s A Bear Jez Alborough Days With Thathu Geeta Dharmarajan Each peach pear plum Allan Ahlberg Llama Llama Red Pajama * Anna Dewdney Corduroy Don Freeman Moo, Baa, La La La Sandra Boyton Tip, Tip, Dig, Dig Emma Garcia Goodnight Goodnight Construction Sight Sherri Duskey Rinkey Whistle For Willie Ezra Jack Keats The Colour Monster Anna Llenas To Market, To Market Anushka Ravishankar No Matter What Debi Gliori The Kissing Hand Audrey Penn Whoosh Around The Mulberry Bush Jan Ormerod The Tiger Who Came To Tea * Judith Kerr Rosie’s Hat Julia Donaldson We’re Going On A Bear Hunt * Michael Rosen Press Here * Herve Tullet Goodnight Moon * Margaret Wise Brown Guess How Much I Love You Sam Mc Bratney Eating The Alphabet Lois Ehlert The Pout Pout Fish Deborah Diesen Handa’s Surprise Eileen Browne ![]() Black, White and Wrinkly! Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby and welcome to the chaos that is parenthood! Though reading with your little one may seem like an awkward exercise in the first few months, there is no such thing as starting too early. In fact, it is an excellent way to bond with your child and create a lifelong love for reading. The gentle sound of your voice and the comfort of being in your arms during a storytelling session is a guaranteed way to soothe your baby. You need not worry about comprehension at this stage, the experience of going through a book is what counts. Of course, this shared activity will also help you pass those initial countless hours at home! Did you know that newborns have very limited eyesight and they cannot see much further than their own face? Books that have black and white images with strong outlines are perfect for the first few months. By three months, babies can coordinate their hands and eyes so use tummy time to allow them to engage with the books. Between four and seven months, your child can sit in your lap for a reading session. The combination of cuddling up with your child and reading a book, while allow babies to associate reading with a pleasurable experience! At this age, reading should be introduced as a bottom-up and top-down activity. By this I mean, we should aim to provide books and activities that are developmentally suited for the child (bottom-upà black and white books), but also stories that they may not understand (top-down). The latter approach will open up your newborn to the wide array of sounds and rhythms of speech, as well as the concept of stories. I would suggest reading books with ‘stories’ at bedtime. By six months, your little one “wakes up” to the world around them and this make them an entirely different reader! They can respond, connect and interact with books so it is essential to provide them with opportunities to do so. Ideal for six to 1 year olds, expose your baby to lamaze books and peek-a-boo books. Lamaze (tactile) books are great for teaching them around the world around them. Using their senses, they can discover what ‘bumpy’ feels like, the look of shiny surfaces and the sound of something crinkling and so on. These soft books that are bright and colourful are great to hang on car seats and strollers. Peek-a-boo books are also great to introduce your child to at this age. You can peek through a hole to see what's on the next page or peek under a flap to see what's hiding underneath. Babies will have great fun trying to anticipate what comes next or what's hiding. Great develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills! As your baby will be able to sit up without assistance now, it’s the perfect time to give them small books to explore on their own. Use a combination of cloth books and board books. Here are some great titles, but if you cannot find these particular books, just stick to the above brief and you’ll be fine :) On The Night You Were Born Nancy Tillman Ten Little Fingers And Ten Little Toes Mem Fox Twinkle Twinkle Bobbi Fabian Sleep Book Dr Suess Black on White Tana Hoban How A Baby Grows Nora Buck Textures Joanne Barkhan Look At You Little Gorilla Ruth Bornstein The Runaway Bunny Margaret Wise Brown Peek-A-Who Nina Laden Where is Baby’s Belly Button Karen Katz Black and White Jane Foster Are You My Mother P.D. Eastman Where is Spot Eric Hill Who Said Moo Hariet Ziefert A Tiny Little Story: Zoo Lisa Jones Flip Flap Pets Axel Scheffler Happy Reading! I have found receiving and giving feedback to be one of the most helpful ways in advancing my writing. I have been blessed to have some very thoughtful and kind critique partners.
The reason I like to critique is because it gives me insight into how other people would see my work and makes me more conscious of my own writing. Moreover, if I am comprehensive in my critiques than my critique partners are likely to do the same for me. This is my critique process:
My role as a critique-r is to help advance the story and make it a better version of itself. Some challenges I have faced and how I have resolved them:
|
Categories
All
Archives
December 2020
Categories
All
|