March isn't only about the madness of the March hare, or exam fever. It's #femmemarch month and a
time to celebrate women writers. And so, I spent this afternoon reading two
very interesting books on Storyweaver. Not only are they written by women, they
are about women too.
StoryWeaver is this amazing platform where at last count,
7313 stories have been published online in 109 languages! It is an offshoot of
Pratham Books and seeks to ensure that every child in India can read a story in
the language of her choice. The stories are not controlled by copyright, and
children, teachers, parents and librarians anywhere in the world can read them
online, download them, print them, make copies and circulate them. StoryWeaver
allows you to contribute in terms of creating new stories, contributing
artwork, translating or re-levelling existing stories. I cannot think of a more
noble, wonderful, or applause-worthy venture.
The two books I read were Anna’s Extraordinary Experiments with Weather by Nandita Jayaraj
and illustrated by the extraordinary Priya Kurian, and The Cottonwool Doctor by Michelle Mathews and illustrated by Jean de
Wet. The first is a Level 3 book and the second is a Level 2 book. Level 2
books deal with simple concepts and have upto 600 words, while Level 3 books
make use of longer sentences and can be upto 1500 words long. Both books are
biographies, based on real people and describe women’s accomplishments in the
field of science and technology.
Anna’s Extraordinary
Experiments is about Dr. Anna Mani, an Indian physicist and meteorologist
who built almost a hundred weather gadgets. As a child, Anna loved books and spent all her free time
reading. She cried when she was gifted diamonds on her birthday as she would
have preferred to receive books.
The
Cottonwool Doctor traces the life of Margaret Bulkly who lived in the nineteenth
century. Her parents spent all their money on their son’s education (sounds
familiar?) and had nothing left for their daughter. With help from her uncle
and a family friend, she dressed like a boy, changed her name and enrolled in
medical school.
Henceforth, she was known as Dr. James Barry and travelled all
over the world with no one realizing that she was a woman until AFTER she DIED.
What an amazing life this brave and determined woman must have led!
Do check out StoryWeaver.org.in for some interesting
children’s books.
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