A year ago, on Children’s Day 2020, StoryWeaver and Pratham Education Foundation announced a collaboration to develop and grow a repository of free, openly licensed reading resources for young children. As the first step, 50 storybooks from Pratham Education Foundation were launched on the StoryWeaver platform.

 

Kahaniyaan hi Kahaniyaan -  A treasure trove of storybooks

To mark the first anniversary of this collaboration, we are delighted to share the progress that has been made since then, in creating, translating, and curating storybooks across many languages. This Children’s Day, over one thousand storybooks will be made available for public access across two platforms – StoryWeaver and Pratham Education Foundation’s Pratham Open School.

Storybooks in ten Indian languages and English

The Pratham-StoryWeaver collaboration now has uploaded more than 600 storybooks in Assamese, Bangla, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Telugu, and Urdu. This allows for open, and easy access to simple, interesting and fun storybooks.

Having these storybooks under the CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver makes them available to a larger audience worldwide, and the books are free to read, download and use. At the same time, these books will give the StoryWeaver community new stories to translate, giving children around the world access to more books in their own languages.

In addition to the collection of new storybooks on StoryWeaver, a rich variety of additional storybooks are also available on the Pratham Open School website. You can “read”, “listen” and use “highlighted” storybooks. What makes these packs special is that they are context-specific libraries with storybooks created by unique individuals from various backgrounds focusing on the local community and capturing the flavour of the region they represent. The packs include books from Himachal, Tripura, Assam, Bihar and Bengal with stories in the regional languages.

 

Campaign for celebration

Starting November 14, for a week, Pratham Education Foundation teams in 20 states will work with local volunteers, mothers, and community members to share one storybook a day through the ‘Kahaniyaan hi Kahaniyaan’ campaign and do a variety of activities like role-playing, drawing, and storytelling among others.

This partnership is a small step towards the goal of building a vast treasure trove of thousands of storybooks that will be freely available for children in their mother tongues.

Come join us on an exciting journey for the week of ‘Kahaniyaan hi Kahaniyaan’!

Follow us on our social media for campaign updates!

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Explore all the storybooks available for free on StoryWeaver here:  https://bit.ly/3wHyGf6

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Today is World Children's Day - a time to reflect upon and renew our commitment to protect children's rights.  Here is a selection of books that showcase some of the principles listed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We hope that these books will be a useful resource for educators, parents, and caregivers, and that they inspire our young readers.

 

Ikru's First Day of School | Article 28: The right to education

What will Ikru's very first day at school be like? This heartwarming, wordless book brings alive the unexpected delights and quiet fears of a child's first experience of going to school.

A Level 1 storybook written and illustrated by Sunaina Coelho, and published by Pratham Books.

 

Just Like Me | Article 12: The right to form and express views freely

It’s Rahah’s birthday party. Mum wants to know who she will invite. Will they all fit in?

A Level 2 storybook written by Hani du Toit, illustrated by Mary Anne Hampton, and published by Book Dash.

 

Your Body is Yours | Article 19 & 34: The right to be protected from violence and abuse

Your body is unique and it belongs only to you. Get to know it, and learn to take good care of it. A book that aims to start open and healthy conversations around our bodies, and our right to say no to anyone who does not respect boundaries.

A Level 3 storybook written by Yamini Vijayan, illustrated by Aindri C, and published by Pratham Books.

 

I Know My Rights | Article 42: The right to know and exercise your rights

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child lists out the basic rights that children have. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what colour your skin is, whether you practice a religion or not, what language you speak, whether you are a boy or a girl or haven’t decided yet – you have the right to these rights! This poster book lists out some of the rights of the child.

A Level 4 storybook written by Menaka Raman, illustrated by Sunando C, and published by Pratham Books.

 

SUPPORT STORYWEAVER

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that all children have the right to an education that helps them fully develop their personalities, talents, and abilities. The ability to read is the ability to learn, explore, and imagine.

StoryWeaver is deeply committed to the goal of literacy and giving children open and free access to the reading resources and opportunities they need to succeed in school and beyond. With your help, we can do even more. Visit https://storyweaver.org.in/donate.

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