Urvashi Nangia, an educator and parent based out of Mumbai, whose children aged 5 and 2 are members of Bookworm’s Long Distance Library Program, talks about her experience of discovering and re-discovering books with her children.
We have been part of Bookworm’s long-distance library membership program for over a year now, and it has been a beautiful experience. It has a rich and diverse collection of more than 35000 books, 85% of which are unique copies. But the numbers don’t tell the full story. It is the thought behind the selection and curation of their books which makes Bookworm a treasure trove.
Bookworm has a strong and unwavering focus on offering good quality children’s literature that is hard to find in most libraries across India. And they really know their books! Which means we don’t always have to ask for specific books and authors. Many-a-times we’ve requested them to send us something that they think kids might enjoy. Or at other times simply asked them for books based on specific themes. Like, recently we requested some books on friendship, and they sent us some great ones. The library has introduced us to some brilliant authors and illustrators like Leo Lionni, Maurice Sendak, Anthony Browne, Emily Gravett, Kevin Henkes, Morpurgo amongst others.
And there is an old-world charm to this long-distance membership. Of waiting, receiving, and posting back! Our kids are thrilled to receive the book-set every single time! We usually average about five weeks over a book-set. We read and re-read the books till our kids are ready to post them back. Some of the books have been read aloud more than fifteen times. Some have been held onto much, much longer. Repetition has so much magic and merit to it – children get time to process, build on their understanding, see things differently and make some stories their own.
What has also been most encouraging are my childrens’ responses to these books – sometimes visible a couple of months later. Interaction with the books has really inspired our elder son – to ask questions (unending), to push himself to understand, to make mischief, to see closely, to giggle with delight, to make songs, to read, to draw, to write! The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson even made him cry! It is a story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. No other book has done that till date. He asked me that night, “Why was his mother not there? She should have been with him.” “Why didn’t he hit back?”. Non-violence, as a response to attack, is a very difficult thing to understand, explain and truly believe in. This book is a masterpiece and really challenges the reader in many ways.
He also connected quite deeply with Be a friend by Salina Yoon and Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. These books are about finding friends and acceptance in school, without which school can be such a difficult place. Our son insisted we read them over and over again. He had so many questions. He really made us think as well. Weeks after posting back the books, he remembered characters from the story and asked about the music teacher and the boy who was different! He wanted to read those books again. Good books can be such a valuable resource for understanding and unpacking myriad emotions and themes.
As parents and educators, we want to offer our children the very best of everything. Why shouldn’t it be the same with storybooks? It is really hard to access good quality children’s books. We feel blessed to be members of the program. I really wish we could visit Bookworm every other day, and learn from their deep knowledge and experience of making the dialogue around books richer and more meaningful.
– Urvashi Nangia