News & Review

Interactive session on children’s content!

An interactive session with an eminent author Dr Ken Spillman, from Australia and well-known illustrator Suvidha Mistry from India, was organised by National Centre for Children’s Literature (NCCL), National Book Trust, India. During the event, the guest speakers interacted with makers of children’s content, school children and teachers.

The first session was attended by students and teachers from ‘Dwarka International School, Dwarka’ & ‘Alcon Public School’, Mayur Vihar. Mithlesh Anant, librarian-cum-documentation officer, NCCL, gave the introductory address while Dr Rita Choudhry, director, NBT welcomed the guests. She said the stories we tell to our children carry the human values and the teachings relate to day-to-day problems of humans in their daily lives. “Children should read good literature and imbibe it in their lives,” she said. While, Baldeo Bhai Sharma, chairman, NBT, India, also stressed upon on the need of reading good literature.

Dr Ken Spillman said that through reading, one can learn more about people than one will ever learn through talking to them. He also read his book ‘The Rahul and the Dreambat.’ He also talked about the writing process and about his books. The children were very enthusiastic and he was very crisp at answering questions to everybody’s satisfaction.

While, the creative writing session was attended by creators of children content. Dr Spillman interacted with authors and mentioned that it is easier to write engaging tales for young adults as he enjoys writing. “It is important to stay in touch with the child that is in all of us,” he said.

It was the first time Dr Ken Spillman had visited NBT, India and met children and the makers of Indian children content. He was a man on a mission, bent upon connecting children with the magic and the power of imagination and writing.

Akbar and Birbal

Publisher: Edu Hub Publishing

Birbal or Mahesh Das was born to a poor farmer in 1528, in Trivikrampur, on the banks of River Yamuna. He was appointed as an administrator and a military advisor in the court of Akbar. It was his wit, wisdom and courage that brought him close to the Emperor and he was assigned as one of the nav ratnas.

Akbar often employed difficult tasks to test Birbal’s skills and each time, Birbal won his heart with his exemplary astuteness. Birbal also advised Akbar in matters of justice using amusing parables. Over the years, Akbar and Birbal had become an inseparable pair, despised not only by the courtiers within the kingdom but also by rulers of countries far and wide.

The interactions between Akbar and Birbal have been recorded as gems of Indian folklore that have been passed on for generations. They are a storehouse of knowledge for the young and the old.

Birbal also wrote a collection of poems under the pen name Brahm, preserved in the Bharatpur museum, Rajasthan, India. Edu Hub Publishing Company brings the same collection in a narrative version to interest the young and old readers alike.

—Nidhi Kundra

Dictionary – an essential tool of language

In simple terms, a dictionary is a compilation of words ranging from letters A-Z. For systematic study of any language, a dictionary of that language is a prime necessity. Primarily, its purpose is to give meanings to words. However, there are many advantages of using a dictionary, which include correct spelling, right pronunciation, and parts of the speech. Truly, a dictionary is of great help to everyone especially to students who are learning a language. It is also helpful in enriching our vocabulary.

Dreamland Publications will unveil its dictionaries at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2016. Dreamland’s Concise English Dictionary, with 1600 pages, is specially designed for children who are curious to build a great treasure house of vocabulary. Concise English Dictionary has ample of entries covering science, literature, nature, cultural words, phrases and their meaning. Numerous examples of usage, separate notes on grammar and vocabulary building are the prominent features of this dictionary that gives clear explanation.

Dreamland also prides itself on creating another Mini English Dictionary to cater to the needs of children at home and school. Being compiled in simple language, easy-to-understand definitions and examples, this handy dictionary could be of great help to everyone.

As well as offering a treasure of information about words, Dreamland Publications’ Dictionaries include a wide range of additional features like: quick notes on grammar, pronunciation, spellings, idioms and phrases with usage, popular quotations, etc.

Unique & user-friendly, these dictionaries will definitely enrich your treasure-trove of English language, expand your understanding of words, and ensure you are using them correctly.

Kids love to read…it’s official!

The 5th edition of Kids & Family Reading Report, conducted by Scholastic and YouGov, says that 91% children aged 6 to 17 love being read aloud to. And while the survey also found that most parents stop reading aloud to their children as they get older and can read independently, 40% of children ages 6–11 say they wish their parents would continue to read aloud to them because “it is a special time with their parents.” To guide parents on reading aloud to their children, Scholastic released an infographic about the importance of reading aloud and Scholastic Parents online has created a free resource guide featuring read aloud book lists for all ages.

Few other findings say that more than three-quarters of children aged 6–17 (77%) believe reading books for fun is extremely or very important. While, eight in ten children aged 6–17 (81%) say they love reading books for fun or like it a lot, with girls being more likely than boys to say they love reading books for fun. One-third of children aged 6–17 (32%) report they are frequent readers, but overall, nine in ten kids (92%) say they read books for fun at least one day a week. Across ages, close to nine in ten children (87%) say they know they should read more books for fun; the same number of parents (86%) wish their child would read more books for fun. As children grow older, reading competes with many screen-related activities and 85% of parents with kids aged 6–17 agree: “I wish my child would do more things that did not involve screentime.” Parents and children agree by a wide margin that strong reading skills are among the most important skills children should have.