Late summer mornings and afternoons, when it’s uncomfortable to get your dose of sunshine, the attention shifts towards movies and books. Though the diminishing reading habits are often lamented upon, there’s still a sizeable section that draws up a list to read during summer vacations and ticks them off, one book at a time. At first egged on by parents and then on their own, children and young adults have a wide choice of books, new and old.
Vrinda Singhal, 12, likes more than a hint of mystery and adventure in what she reads. She pores over ‘Percy Jackson & the Olympians series’, ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy, besides revisiting J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. “I got to know about ‘The Hunger Games’ through my friends and enjoyed it,” she says. Vrinda finds herself tilting more towards contemporary bestsellers than classics. “I’ve tried reading a few classics but they didn’t interest me as much as the newer titles,” she says.
Children’s fiction and young adult fiction have gone through a churn. Classics like Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ and ‘Secret Seven’ series, volumes of Amar Chitra Katha, R.K. Narayan’s ‘Malgudi Days’, books by Ruskin Bond, Tinkle and Archie have stiff competition from contemporary ones like ‘Captain Underpants’, ‘Animal Ark’, mystery and fantasy volumes such as Eoin Colfer’s series of eight science fiction featuring Artemis Fowl, Suzanne Collins’ ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy, Rick Riordon’s ‘The Heroes of Olympus’ and ‘Percy Jackson & the Olympian’ series, to name a few. The bespectacled wizard Harry Potter is still in reckoning.
Contemporary fiction has also spawned television and film series to grab more attention. Vrinda points out, “I like to read first and then watch the films, because there are changes when a book is adapted into a film.”
Vrinda’s father Anil Singhal appreciates her appetite for reading but also wonders how many children read classics. “We tried introducing classics time and again but found her happier with ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’, books by Roald Dahl and because she studies about Greek mythology in school, she likes the Olympus series.”
But in the larger reading space, classics do have their charm and some parents make an effort to introduce their children to both international and Indian works. Sowmya Sriram, mother of an 11-year old, says, “Amar Chitra Katha is a great way to introduce children to mythology. My daughter loves these books as much as ‘The Lord of The Rings’ trilogy, Percy Jackson series and I also find her re-reading Enid Blyton titles,” she says.
If the first challenge for parents is to inculcate a reading habit, the next lies in picking up good titles. “It’s not enough if your child is reading. Observe what he/she is reading,” says Sowmya, a former teacher and now a marketing professional with an education portal.
The hugely popular ‘Geronimo Stilton’ and ‘Junie B’ series, for instance, come with niggling issues. “Since Geronimo is a mouse, at times you find ‘famous’ spelt as fa‘mouse’. Junie B uses words like ‘thinked’. This is the age when children are picking up spellings and usages and I’m not sure if such deviations will help unless the child can understand the fun,” she says.
There’s also been an influx of titles from Indian publishers such as Tulika, Pratham and National Book Trust for young children. These books narrate stories set in an Indian context. Plum pies, scones and bacon served with eggs sure seem appetising as one re-visits Enid Blyton titles but it’s also imperative that young readers are acclimatised to stories narrated in an Indian context. “Some of these books have pattachitra and warli illustrations and it’s a good idea to introduce children to these art forms,” adds Sowmya.
Reading list
Amar Chitra Katha
Animal Ark
Archie
Artemis Fowl
Asterix
Books by Ruskin Bond
Books by Roald Dahl
Captain Underpants
Famous Five
Geronimo Stilton
Harry Potter series
Junie D
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
The Hunger Games
Tintin
Tinkle
The Lord of the Rings
R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi Days
Secret Seven
