I am Rupa Shah (nee) Lavingia, an educator, a reader, a curriculum designer and a teacher trainer. I design language arts and reading programmes for schools. I also design and conduct customised teacher training programmes to implement more learning and learner-centered methodologies.

I believe that authentic, unabridged, unadapted, diverse and varied literature and literary genres work best to motivate learners and make learning engaging, interactive and fun. To this end, I believe school textbooks should be replaced with real books.

Books and reading are windows to the world we live in. They open our minds to what is, what may be, what could be, and what should be. They make us think, infer, analyze and empathize. Coupled with experiential learning, books can help us see the ‘method in the madness’ and build perspectives. However, for any of this to happen, I believe reading must primarily be for pleasure; edification and learning are incidental.

Internet has exposed us to diverse cultures, philosophies and modes of entertainment. We can relate with ‘foreign’ books, shows, attitudes and perspectives. However, in this deluge of foreignness that we crave for, consume and even aspire to, we often fail to see the beauty, ingenuity and novelty of what lies right in our own backyard. I feel we are forgetting what it means to be an Indian first and a global citizen later. You can’t be someone until you love and understand yourself first. To this end, I believe children and learners should be introduced to books from their own culture as much as books from the world.

In this blog, I will therefore showcase Indian books for children and young adults. By ‘Indian’ I mean either/and written by an Indian author or an author of Indian origin, published in India, set in India or about India. India is vast and contains multitudes. I hope to be able to showcase this diversity, even though I speak, read and write only Gujarati, Hindi and English!

I will share ways, tools, methods and glimpses from my experiences through which parents and teachers can use real books instead of textbooks to instil a lifelong love for reading and learning in the children they interact with. And yes, I know everyone is busy! So, I will try to post free resources and recommendations that you can use with your children.

Publication industry in India for children and young adults is as diverse and varied as the country’s history and geography itself. With a rich legacy and heritage, it is slowly but surely coming into its own. Come, join me! Let’s dive into these magical waters, explore the fabled lands, traverse its length and breadth and meet its wonderful people, and in this journey, find ourselves!