Kids' books change taste, samosas replace bacon
SUNETRA CHOUDHURY

NEW DELHI, FEB 8: Indian children's literature may just give the Famous Five and Hardy Boys a run for their money. Not only are there a variety of writers in this genre but it seems that we can finally say goodbye to shoddy productions and second-rate writing. The Association for Writers and Illustrations for Children claimed that barely two days after the book fair opened they have sold 54,000 volumes. Their range of books cover everything from young children's fiction, non-fiction and novels for teenagers.

Volunteer authors and illustrators, who are participating in the fair, expressed tremendous confidence in this emerging industry. Neelima Jha, author of Once upon a Time and Manorama Jafa, author and secretary general of AIWA sat chatting with some children at their stall in the Theme Hall at Pragati Maidan. Now and then, some child walked up and enquired whether they could get the book signed by the author and Neelima would shyly oblige.

``Our objective is to make children aware of Indian themes andour rich culture,'' said Jaffna. She gets quite agitated when you mention that children in metropolitan cities were earlier brought up on Western literature. ``That is exactly what we want to change. It makes a difference when the stories are set in places which the children can relate to, so we have samosas and pakora instead of bacon and eggs,'' she said. Remember the long and sometimes puzzling description of food in Enid Blytons, with the tongues and roast dinners and midnight feasts?

The books displayed at the exhibition show some interesting trends. No longer do we have an overdose of patriotism and morality. ``You can't afford to use a didactic tone with children. They hate it when you use a morally high-handed tone,''said Jha. Another author, Nita Berry, said that mass media had influenced the tastes of children. ``Since they are working on computers and watching satellite television, they want something out of the ordinary,'' she said.

What the publishing industry also had to cater to was thedemand for action-packed or mystery books. ``Inevitably, young readers pick up our mystery series or ghost stories,'' said Jaffna. This is also reflected in Ruskin Bond's last book Season of Ghosts which he said had been released after a huge demand by his readers.

Two collections of short stories which were doing very well were The Roaring Monuments and other stories and The Ghost of Father Martin. According to Jaffa, they were sold out in no time and has also been translated into Japanese. ``Children from all kinds of backgrounds, public school-educated and otherwise, were all opting for these books,'' she said. These mystery stories were set in diverse backgrounds from flower valleys of Kashmir, the icy waters of the Teesta, to even the warm cotton godowns of the Hubli.

Some things which have maintained their popularity over time are the Panchatantra tales to the Premchand stories. We see various editions of them, with beautiful illustrations and slick packages. But Jaffa draws a line in giving in topopular demand when she frowns at an activity book that is displayed in the stall: ``We want them to do some proper reading, and not just play games.''

An important factor in the sale of these books is their price. They range from anywhere between Rs 15 to Rs 120. ``When we spend on the packaging then the price does tend to go up but it is still cheaper than foreign books,'' said Jaffa.

AIWA has a section which caters to children with special needs. Recently conceived, there are eight books in this series which have special illustrations. They use different materials to convey different textures so that children can read aloud and touch the pages themselves to get a feel of the stories. Priced between Rs 50-Rs 135, Jaffa claims that they are of such high quality that two of them are in the list of the 40 best books in the world for disabled children.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.