Picture Books for
Children is bleak in India
Pitch in to make
picture books for young children
Did you know that an average child, between ages
three and five, can read up to 300 books? But, the access to a wide variety of
picture books for children is bleak in India.
CHENNAI :
Did you know that an average child, between ages three and five, can read up to
300 books? But, the access to a wide variety of picture books for children is
bleak in India. “If you explore the shelves of every bookstore in the country,
you will be able to find less than 100 books for children. It's a struggle to
reach the 300 mark,” says Amrutash Misra, core member/promoter, MsMoochie
Books. For instance, in the picture book section of a typical bookstore, one
can find several versions of mythology, religion and folk tales, the rest are
books, adaptations from TV shows, and few books by independent Indian
publishers.
In an
attempt to provide access to more books for children, MsMoochie Books, a young
Indian children’s publishing house has flagged a campaign to raise funds to
create 10 world-class children’s book set/series, in a span of six months.
“About five years ago, as part of our library work with the Book Lover’s
Program for Schools (BLPS), we were hunting for a picture book under the theme
‘sibling love’ but couldn't find one. So, we decided to make it ourselves and
that’s how MsMoochie Books and the world of Ramu and Ramya was born,” shares
Amrutash.
Ramu’s Ride
and Ramya’s Snack Box, two of their books, made it to Amazon.in’s recommended
bookshelf for children. “While the reviews for the books have been great, what
we realised is that the market for children’s book in India is limited. It
takes a minimum of two to four years to recover the money spent on making a
book and we (children’s book publishers) are able to make only three to four
books a year,” he explains.
The
publishing house is seeking help to make the process quicker and double the
number of books that are being published in a year to aid in children’s growth.
“Our aim is to raise `20 lakh by the end of August. This money will be used to
create, print, pack and ship the books,” he shares. Here’s where it gets interesting. Patrons can
choose to pre-buy the books or pay the publisher to include a character based
on you, your child, or someone you know.
“There are
already five books in the pipeline which are ready to be edited, proofread,
illustrated and printed. We are just waiting for the funds,” he says. Independent publishers from other countries
have successfully crowdfunded for books in the past. But, this is a new step in
Indian book publishing. “If we are successful in our campaign, this will be the
biggest book crowdfunding in the country,” he says. For details, visit:
Kahanipuram.com or call 8122074401
Money for the trust
The money
will be transferred to The Kahanipuram Trust, a registered non-profit. They
will be collecting money for MsMoochie and giving it to them when the campaign
ends.
Regards
Mr. Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Mobile @
9665911593
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