Get Kids Reading In The Lockdown

It’s a good time for children to renew the reading habit. Authors and publishers provide a reading list

- Antara Raghavan

These are days unlike any we have seen before. Everyone is confined to their homes, including children. While there are the distractions of TV and the internet, this is the best time for them to take comfort from the written word. MAIL TODAY has asked several award-winning publishers and children’s authors to recommend their pick of what books children should read.

These are available as ebooks and on Kindle. They can even be found on your bookshelves. As difficult as the lockdown is, without the compulsions of school, tution, sports, and other distractions and activities, this is an opportunity for children to be reminded of the wonders of reading. As Chiki Sarkar, Founder of Juggernaut says, these are books most don’t mind re-reading with their own children. “These are the books that I don’t mind reading again and again.” Adults benefit as well, as popular author Paro Anand says, “Books allow you to break free from the Lockdown.”

PARO ANAND (AUTHOR OF ‘I’M NOT BUTTER CHICKEN’)

For 8-10 year olds there is the fun of Natasha Sharma’s The Good Indian Child’s Guide to Eating Mangoes. (Karadi Tales) or Owlet Not Out by Ranjit Lal.

For older kids, you can’t go wrong with Jane De Suza’s Flyaway Boy (Puffin), Gravepyers School for the Recently Deceased by Anita Roy (Red Panda, Westland) or Queen of Ice by Devika Rangachari (Duckbill).

DEEPA AGARWAL (AUTHOR OF ‘CARAVAN TO TIBET’)