This April, the city will see the launch of a new children's book publishing house that aims to generate diverse content, with animals as protagonists.
Daffodil Lane Books' suppliers and materials have been ethically sourced. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar
There's no avoiding the fact that children's literature has a whiteness problem. We've all seen it. If not, just Google "popular children's books" and glance at the covers of Charlotte's Web, Matilda, and Alice in Wonderland. That's why when a publisher maintains that they will stick to animal characters to keep their stories culturally neutral, it's a big deal — even if you don't entirely agree with the approach. Come April and Mumbai will see the launch of a new publishing house that aims to do exactly that.
Including animals as protagonists doesn't imply that the narrative is just about their physiology, the same way George Orwell's Animal Farm wasn't about agriculture. The titles by Daffodil Lane Books are a lesson in probing into the humaneness animals can bring about and the humanity they ought to be shown. "I grew up reading books that I was unable to relate to as an Indian. So, it was an organic decision. As a new entrant, I wanted to eliminate racial and cultural differences," shares Sanya Podar, founder of the Parel-based publishing house. A London School of Economics graduate, she came to Mumbai in 2013 and pursued a career in content creation. But the idea to start the venture named after the nickname her father had for her, Little Daffodil, was always on the cards.
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Cat's Diwali hightlights the impact of pollution on animals
With Podar Education Network as the parent company, each book is handled by an all-girls team of four, and is created using recycled and ethically-sourced paper. "People think it isn't difficult to delve into children's literature because it is short-format and seems easy. It is not. The challenge is to reach out to both the children and the caregivers," the 28-year-old says. The launch will thus see a line-up of four titles that touch upon themes ranging from self-confidence to deforestation, while one will be a sticker book.
Try Your Best, Patrick, for instance, is a story about a little chicken who is struggling to find his talent while his friends ace math problems and write imaginative stories. Authored by David Howlett and illustrated by Urvashi Dubey, Patrick's story is one that resonates with you irrespective of whether you're four or 40. The message in it is perseverance, which is the summary of Malcolm Gladwell's best-selling Outliers, though this doesn't take 300 pages to convey the same and frankly, we aren't complaining. Cat's Diwali, also illustrated by Dubey, on the other hand, hits home. It shows how pets aren't affected by our festival of lights as much as our festival of sound. Firecrackers are a menace and the protagonist, a feline named Cat, decides to take action. Thus, in a way, the title emphasises confronting the authorities to bring about change; it's what kids need to know, especially in today's political climate. The book is authored by a ghost writer Sarah H Paul — "some might even say it is me," Podar quips.
Sanya Podar
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