Encyclopaedia Britannica defines children’s literature as “the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced to entertain or instruct young people.” In the term children’s literature, the focus word is literature. For the most part, the adjective imaginative is implied to precede it. It comprises a vast and expanding territory filled with fantasies, emotions, and mythical characters recognizably staked out for a junior audience, which does not mean it is not also intended for older readers.
Historically, adults have written stories, poems, fables, lullabies, folk songs, and a range of materials intended for children, collectively termed children’s literature. Before the 18th century, didactic and preachy materials were written for children with the aim of their spiritual and moral development. The 19th century saw a thematic shift in children’s literature from the holy to the imaginative. This alteration was fueled by the works of Hans Christian Andersen and the popularisation of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers. The following century saw more writers becoming interested in this genre, and works such as Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, and the works of Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton began gathering admiration. But this remained largely restricted to the West.
In India, across generations, children—especially in their formative years—have been exposed to a staple reading diet that primarily comprised translated Western classics such as English, German, Russian, and Greek fairy tales, myths, and fables. These were coupled with Indian folk tales, epics, and myths in regional languages, translated into English, such as the Panchatantra and the Jataka tales. The more ingenious readership gradually drifted towards contemporary Indian writing in English. For a long time, the enduring names in children’s literature in India were Ruskin Bond and R.K. Narayan — who even featured in the CBSE/ICSE/State Board curriculum.
Chitwan Mittan, founder of AdiDev Press, opines: “Apart from storybooks, another form of storytelling and presentation that continues to be rather popular among children who are independent readers is comic books”. “However, aside from the Amar Chitra Katha series that sought to package Indian mythology, and later history, in comic format to make these themes accessible to a younger audience, there is scant little India can boast of. Similarly, while there are others, such as Tinkle with evergreen characters like Suppandi and Shikhari Shambu, and Chacha Chaudhary, which entertained and educated in equal measure, little noteworthy has happened in this space ever since their creation.”
Fighting centuries of cultural guilt, 21st-century children’s literature has been revamped. Indigenous publishing houses such as Tulika Books, Pickle Yolk Books, and Pratham Books have taken on the responsibility of bringing out stories from every nook and corner of the heartland with a renewed focus on local languages and dialects, bolder themes, a rethinking of stereotypes, and settings rooted in distinctly Indian contexts to foster inclusion and sensitivity. This change also stems from the fact that today’s parents are far more aware and recognise the need for their child’s cognitive development, rather than merely educational instruction. Radhika Menon, Director of Tulika Books, says they select stories that offer a range of experiences inclusive and representative of different childhoods, social milieus, cultures, and contexts.
But the larger question is how to integrate “reading” into routines so that children become critical readers from an early age. Here are some easy and proven strategies to develop the practice of sustained reading and help children find their voices through the written word:
Establish a Daily Read-Aloud Routine
Begin as early as 6 months and dedicate 15–20 minutes each day to reading aloud with your child. This practice not only strengthens parent-child bonding but also helps develop skills such as listening comprehension, inference, and creating a consistent space for shared exploration of texts. You can gradually shift to self-regulated reading time as children grow older.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
While reading, begin by pointing out the pictures and ask children to identify the objects and characters. At different points in the story, ask open-ended questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” or “What should [character name] do now?” Such questions require extended responses, foster deeper cognitive engagement, and create a participative reading experience. You can also go a step further and teach them to annotate texts or create visual elements such as character webs or story burgers to sustain their engagement.
Use Picture Walks Before Reading
In addition to asking questions, you can preview the book by flipping only through the illustrations on the first read for very young readers. Taking the child on a visual journey through the book and discussing the events of each scene is a good way to build prediction skills, print awareness, vocabulary, and visual discrimination—all essential pre-reading skills.
Help Children Make Connections
After finishing a story, help children make three important connections: text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text. These encourage them to recall related events from their own lives, connect themes to the world around them, and link the text with other stories they have read. This increases engagement and enhances their ability to analyse and synthesise information more effectively.
Foster Independent Reading Habits
Older children can be encouraged to make wish lists of books they would like to read, be gifted library memberships or new books on birthdays and festivals, write book reviews for school magazines or children’s newspapers, and maintain reading journals with reflections on the texts they have read. They can also form story circles and book clubs with friends to constructively discuss their reading reflections at regular intervals or participate in reading challenges.
Employ a Variety of Reading Strategies
Keep in mind that children have different learning styles and preferences. Therefore, it is important to try different strategies for everyday reading sessions. Some interactive methods are:
- Choral Reading: A group of children reads a passage aloud together, promoting fluency and confidence through shared rhythm and repetition.
- Echo Reading: A fluent reader, parent, or teacher models a sentence or passage, and the child echoes it back, reinforcing pronunciation, intonation, and comprehension.
- Paired Reading: A stronger reader is paired with a developing reader, allowing for supportive practice and shared learning through alternating reading.
- Performative Reading: Children read scripts aloud as a performance with gestures and dramatization, which encourages expressive reading, character analysis, and improved fluency.
Model Critical Reading Yourself
Children learn best by absorbing what they see in their immediate environment. Parents must demonstrate a consistent reading routine where they read their own materials in focused sessions. They should also express agreement, disagreement, or concerns out loud. There should also be a designated cozy corner or an inviting space for reading so that children look forward to it every day.
Rotate a Variety of Genres
Since there is no shortage of children’s literature today, it is vital that children are exposed to a variety of genres—fiction, non-fiction, poetry, news, and even newer ones such as cli-fi, text-talk, hyperpoetry, doodle fiction, and more. You can also tell them about the author, the purpose of writing, and provide background details to pique their interest. Make good use of the bold new children’s literature being published today, which experiments with form, tone, genre, vernaculars, and diverse subjects.
Restrict Screen Time
Unfortunately, children live in an epoch that relies on fleeting content and instant gratification, with diminished attention spans, constant distraction, and exposure to multiple streams of information. Thus, it is important to reduce their screen time and consciously elevate the role of books in their everyday lives. Reading teaches them to slow down, question what they consume, and navigate an increasingly rapid and complex world.
Set the Reading Purpose
Involve children in text selection, set realistic reading goals, and explain the purpose of reading—skimming, scanning, reading for gist, or reading for the author’s intent and tone. This helps reinforce motivation and builds autonomous readers. You must also celebrate reading milestones to make the process wholesome and joyous.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can safely be said that the perspective of writing children’s books and the lens through which the stories are told have undergone a drastic change. Many authors such as Sudha Murthy, Ramendra Kumar, and Benita Sen are coming to the forefront to shatter myths, break boundaries, expand horizons, and add nuance to the genre. With the way reading is changing through e-books, audiobooks, and more, books have become more of a necessity than a luxury. If we want to raise informed, perceptive, and empathetic individuals, we need to prioritise reading and weave it intentionally into children’s everyday lives so they can engage with today’s information overload meaningfully, actively, and deeply.
Sanjhee Gianchandani is a senior editor, materials writer, and an author of textbooks in the K-8 space.
