Mangoes... MmmmmMmmmmMmmm... Alphonso, Hapus, Mundappa....is it raining mangoes where you are? 

Well it sure is at StoryWeaver. We have a wonderful mango-ey tale to share with you, so why don't you sit back with a bowl of your favourite fruit and read on?

'Mangoes for Moidootty' was one of 2015's most read stories on StoryWeaver. Created by Sreedevi Gopakumar, the tale of young Malu, Moidootty and their run-in with the terrible Aamasura was a big hit with our readers. It also happened to be one of the stories chosen for our Weave-a-Story Campaign, where we asked our community to help create 100 translations of a curated list of our stories. 

A few months ago, we received an email from an illustrator named Sahitya Rani. A graduate from NID, Sahitya loved browsing through StoryWeaver and its amazing illustration bank (3000 images from some of the country's finest illustrators) and wanted to contribute to the platform.

"...I was wondering if I could illustrate for someone else's story (honestly, I'm stumped for story ideas of my own). How would it be possible for me to get in touch with any of the writers?" she asked. 

Our digital content manager was wondering how to help Sahitya out, when she remembered 'Mangoes for Moidootty'. Sreedevi originally created the story with illustrations by the super-talented Greystroke from our image bank. We asked Sahitya if she'd like to illustrate something new for Sreedevi's story and connected her with the enthusiastic author.

Sreedevi loved the idea and the news inpsired her to go back to the story and tinker around with it. 

"I'm thrilled to have a second chance at weaving stories around mangoes and Moidootty. Spinning stories on StoryWeaver was fun, but working with and watching an illustrator bring your words to life is an exciting yet humbling experience."

The duo have been busy working on the project all through the summer: tweaking the storyline and experimenting with visual character sketches. And the good news doesn't stop there! Recently, a well known pre-school in Kochi - Sreedevi's home town - reached out to her expressing interest in planning to use 'Mangoes for Moidooty' as a resource for teaching! The school has planned an entire day of fun, hands-on activities for the little ones around the book. Lucky kids!

Here's a sneak peak at the eveolution of Aamasura...

We've been thrilled to watch this collaborative journey and can't be more delighted that a Community Story is growing from strength to strength.  Watch this space and our Social Media handles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for news about the book!

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