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Raising little readers

May 4, 2017
 
Raising Little Readers
You love books, you have books all over your house, you always wanted your little one to be fond of books, you have ensured to buy sufficient books for her, you have even taken up a library membership as well as the monthly book box subscription for him but still your little one is not as passionate for reading as you would want him to be? You have to remind her to read and it doesn’t come naturally to her. He was actually very fond of books when younger but as he grew up, he lost interest in books?
 
In this gadget filled world where your little one has option to hop from one screen to another throughout the day, it’s difficult to keep their interest alive in printed books. As against earlier, they have multiple options now to entertain themselves and unless reading as a habit has been inculcated in them since very early years, it might get challenging with time to keep their reading interest intact.
 
Mine is just 5 as of now and even though I have been reading to him since very early days, I can tell you with my practical experience that it’s not easy to keep up with this habit always. He loves books but of course there are days when he will insist to watch videos during bedtime as against story books and you have to keep telling him no or make the story time so interesting that he forgets the videos. Like many aspects of parenting, patience and persistence works when it comes to raising little readers too. Sharing few tips here that has worked for me so far as far as junior’s reading interest is concerned, not sure if these will continue to work when he grows up, but the mommy-me sincerely hopes that this habit becomes a life long habit for him.
  • Start Early: I mean really early. There is no lower age limit as to when a child can get acquainted with books. You know we all give in to the temptation of showing the child videos on mobile or tab while feeding. Instead try colorful board books, give it to the child to play and see. Starting early works, for sure!
  • Read Aloud: Grab their attention, help them with their language skills, make them a good listener – reading aloud has many benefits to kids but one of the biggest benefits as per me is it helps them concentrate and focus, skills that are rarity in this screen dominated age.  
  • Make It Fun: Get into the character, add a bit of drama, enact the story (come on, we all moms and dads have an actor hidden inside us :)) or plan some fun activities around the books that you are reading. The more fun you will make your reading sessions, the more engaged the child will be.
  • Read It Together: Cuddle & snuggle and bond over books. This I tell to many who assume that buying good books will naturally lead to interest generation for reading in their kids. Definitely not possible in today’s time when kids have so many other multimedia richer choices available at a click. Make it a habit to read it together and you never know what beautiful reading memories you will be creating for your child.
  • Read regularly: Even if it’s just for 20 minutes but read daily. Set aside a time for reading to your kids, it could be evening or bedtime but do ensure to follow this regularly. Once you will be regular, you will yourself observe that with time your little one will pick it up as a habit too. Remember, reading is not just a weekend or holiday activity.
  • Don’t bribe: If you will offer bribes like pizza-if-you-finish-that-book, reading will always end up to be an activity done only for rewards. We all end up doing it for some or other activities (in my case, it’s his eating where I had done this mistake of rewarding), just refrain it for reading in case you want it to be a life long habit. Instead try to make it fun and yes, patience pays. Keep at it.
  • Read what he /she loves: I know we all avid reader moms & dads have some choices of their own, the books that we think will be good for our kids. But let’s not force our choices on them as times have changed and so have preferences of our kids. For almost a month, my son insisted me to read him “Wolverine Vs Sabretooth” story book during bedtime daily. I mean daily! The mommy in me used to wonder why such action packed story at bedtime. But then that’s the only book my son was very fond of at that particular time. I gave in to his choices and kept reading him whatever he wanted. Thanks to Wolverine and Avengers, I must say that reading got established as a bedtime ritual on its own quite easily. Do I remember reading anything like Wolverine while I was growing up? Of course nah 😀
Hope these suggestions work for you. In case you have any other interesting tip, do drop it in the comment section below.
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– The Mommy who got all her reading skills by spending her childhood under a guava tree with books 🙂

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MOANA – Books to read to your children this winter vacation

December 28, 2016
Winters, Christmas, New Year & Holidays – now can there be any better time to laze around in sun curled up with a good book? And since this is a vacation time where many are traveling outside, how about a book for children that’s around travel and adventure?
So the first book that me and little one are reading this winter vacation is – MOANA by Disney

Moana is destined to take over as chief of Motunui one day. But when danger threatens her island, she sets on a mission to save her people. Will Moana be able to unlock the mystery of the sea and discover her life’s true destiny? Well, that’s for you and your little one to find out through this interesting book by Disney.

So, here’s my quick take on this book:

  • The story is quite fascinating, I am sure younger kids would love this adventurous tale of princess Moana.­
  • Its not gender specific and suitable for both boys and girls. My son who is in general a big fan of superheroes quite liked it.
  • Visually very, very rich. I mean the pages are literally treat to the eyes, something that totally helps in keeping the attention of kids intact to the pages.
  • It has a very good message for kids around traveling, exploring and finding your destiny on your own.  It’s dreamy but at the same time not very old generation fairy tale type of book.

I strongly recommend this book for kids below 10 year age group. And in case your child loved reading this book, you can make him / her watch the movie too that got released earlier this year or vice versa. After all what’s a vacation without some good movies 🙂

The book is available for purchase on both amazon and flipkart and I am sure it will be available for rent in your nearby library too. So, what are you and your little ones reading this winter break? Do let us know in the comment section.

9 books you may like to read to your kids this Dusshera break

October 7, 2016
9 different books on 9 different days! Can there be any better way to celebrate Navratri with kids :)? At least that’s how me and my little one are spending his Dusshera vacations. Of course there are lots and lots of unplanned masti, festival special cooking, some TV time and maybe some traveling too but then what’s a vacation without some new stories :)?

And stories definitely work for me when it comes to explaining something new to him, be it about our culture or festivals or general day to day things like values or habits. To add to that, with time we have reached a stage now where he himself asks us – which story will you tell me today? This makes my task of curating a list of books that we plan to read during vacations or travel all the more exciting and fun.

So here goes the list of 9 books that I am reading to him this Dusshera break. He loves to know more about Indian Gods and mythology (thanks to his fascination for action & adventure and animated television series like Bal Hanuman or movies like Oh My Friend Ganesha), he somehow is hooked on to them as much as Superheroes or Avengers.  I have already read these books myself,  from his initial excitement and curious eyes I think my four year old is going to enjoy it all. This list is not only specifically on Goddess Durga or Dusshera but also on other characters from Ramayans (after all little readers like variety, isn’t it :)?)

  • Tales of Durga by Amar Chitra Katha
When it comes to reading something on mythology, Amar Chitra Katha has to be our default choice, after all it’s the publication that fed our generation with lots of interesting content. While the visual taste or preferences of the new generation might have changed but I think when it comes to the vastness of content available with ACK, there is just no comparison. Tales of Durga is yet another interesting offering from ACK that tells the story of incarnation of Durga and her victory on Mahishasur in a crisp and simple way. My son is anyways fond of action stories a lot, so he loved all the fight sequence of Goddess Durga & Mahishasur and her final victory over the demon.
  • Amma, Tell me about Durga Puja by Bhakti Mathur
Just spotted this book on Amazon and somehow loved the cover and the title. Ordered it on impulse and I’m glad I ordered it. Quite a nice book on story of Goddess Durga presented through lively visuals. I especially loved the storytelling style of this book, it highlights the whole concept of Mahalaya to Viajaydashmi in a very interesting way. Look at one of the pictures from the inner pages, the illustrations are nothing less than visual treat for the little ones!
We totally loved this book and I am planning to surely try more books in “Amma, Tell me about…” series.
  • Festivals of India by Om Books International
Amazing book! It covers the different festivals of India in a very comprehensive way. The descriptions are apt in length to hold the attention of younger kids along with colorful visuals. For Dusshera / Durga Puja, it has three separate chapters – one covering Navratri, second covers Durga Puja & third one is on Dusshera. the Dusshera chapter also interlinks the significance of Goddess Durga in Rama’s vitcory over evil. I just read all three of these to my little one 🙂
  • Rama by Amar Chitra Katha
Another content rich book by Amar Chitra Katha. Presents all aspects of Rama’s fourteen years exile, his fight with Ravana and his relationship with different other characters from Ramayana in the form of a visual story. As I said earlier, when it comes to mythology, there is no parallel of Amar Chitra Katha’s length and depth of content.
  • Chota Kumbhakarna by Arundhati Venkatesh
It’s actually a cute book. Yes cute is the word that will aptly define the visual and the story of Kumbhakarna narrated to the main character in this story Kukku by his father. Now, how can Kumbhakaran be cute! Don’t believe it? Check the visuals below. My son just loves this book, we have gone through the pages many times and he doesn’t seem to get bored of it.
This book is available in English too but I picked up a Hindi version as it was the only book left at a book reading session by the author that me & my son had attended earlier this year. And I also consciously wanted to start reading him some Hindi books too.
  • Shiva by Om Books International
While the title reads Shiva but it’s actually more of a story around Goddess Shakti and her fight with demon brothers Chanda & Munda.
This book comes in an interesting shape with rich visuals that easily attracts the attention of younger audience. To add to that, length of the book is such that even my four year old can easily recall the stories page by page.
  • Kumbhakarna by Amar Chitra Katha
Oh yes, another book on Kumbhakarna :). As I said my son loves this character for the luxury of long sleep that Kumbhakaran could afford :). Of course, he knows the connection with Ravan, Lanka etc. This book apart from the sleeping story of the character also focusses on the whole Lanka fight with Rama & his army. Action yet again and here we go, he loved to listen to it. I think the mommy in me thinks my son loves to read these mythology stories because of all these fights and actions scenes in them :).
  • Hanuman by Om Books
Another lovely book for bal hanuman fans like my son. He is fascinated with Hanuman since his toddler days. In fact there was a pahse when his favorite gift used to be only & only “gada”. So considering his craze for Hanuman, I knew this book would be totally loved by him. And I was just so right, he loved it. And to add to the charm of the character were those sweet pictures that told us the story from his birth to his part in Ramayana.
  • Dusshera by Diamond Comics

Yet another book that focuses on victory of good over evil through Ramayana story, Rama’s vanvaas, the main fight in Lanka and then Vijayadashami. While the story remains the same but it’s amazing to observe kid’s excitement when it comes to varied visual representation.  Definitely works for me   when it comes to reinforcing same story in different ways to my son.

So, what are you or your little ones reading this festive season? Do share your recommendations with us in the comment section. And in case you liked this list and would like me to curate some more, drop me a comment or mail and I would love to share what I am reading with my curious little reader :).
 
Wish you all a great Navratri / Durga Puja & Dusshera! May the Goddess bless you with health and happiness always.

Alphabet Dress-Up: Children’s Book

November 7, 2013
Ok, I’m late in doing this post about “Alphabet Dress-Up” book by FunOkPlease. Got it few weeks back by the publishers but got the time to check it only last weekend. And man, was I really impressed? Yes and a big YES! I immediately thought to jot down my feedback on this book as its one fantastic piece that deserves more and more mentions all across. I can’t tell you how impressed I’m with this “FunOkPlease” group. Every book that they come out with is actually better than the previous one. Simply put, to me this is one publishing house that just outperforms its own creativity with its each new launch. 
The book written by “Nalini Sorensen” and illustrated by “Shraddha Pimputkar” is a brilliant visual treat for kids! The whole alphabet series is presented in the form of dress-up options with a puzzle on each page to find another word with that same alphabet that’s there on the page. Total fun, isn’t it? But that’s not all. There are many other things that I loved about this book as a Mom. Here goes the list of few of them:
  • Interesting yet engaging! Not only the bright, colorful illustrations draw attention to the pages, those puzzles actually keep you glued on to the book for long. A good fun exercise for kids!
  • Unique! When I say unique, it’s actually unique. Trust me on that! These days, since I often browse books for the little one, I have actually got a chance to see many other alphabet books including the ones from international brands but this one is indeed different.
  • Attention to details! 13 characters are girls in that book and 13 boys. Now how cool is that! Isn’t it? And the professions have been depicted in a way that breaks the gender stereotypes. For e.g., the astronaut in the book is a girl and the teacher is a boy.
  • Stimulates imagination! It’s not only about bright colors and cute characters, it actually lets you imagine and opens up possibilities to think of other professions as dress up options from things around you. In this age of fancy digital screens & high-tech apps, anything that lets kids imagine of possibilities with day-to-day regular things is such a welcome change. The book also comes with a flash card game at the end and all of this at Rs. 199/-!
Overall, a book that I totally recommend as a Mom. My toddler has yet not reached the stage of understanding different professions shown in this book but I have added this book in my ‘read-out-loud’ list to teach him alphabets and different words that’s possible with each alphabet. In case you’ve a kid at home who is at alphabet or word learning stage, then do check out this book. I’m actually quite confident that you will love it!
To know more FunOkPlease, click here and to buy this book online at Flipkart, click here.