Pratham Books, a non-profit publisher of Children's books, conducts an annual event called 'One Day, One Story.' As part of this event, they encourage interested people (called by Pratham as 'PBChamps') to go out and tell a story to kids on International Literacy Day.
This is indeed an enjoyable experience, as Yashu and I had found out last year by telling the story of 'A Cloud of Trash' to a lot of kids at our daughter's school.
This year, when the invitation to join the event arrived, we were not very sure. As neither of the two stories ('Gappu Can't Dance' and 'The Weightlifting Princess') selected for this year were STEM-related, we decided it would not be appropriate for Ejnana Trust to get involved like the last year. To add to the problem, the chosen day was a Sunday!
Pratham requires that PBChamps should share the stories with children (by way of reading, narrating, enacting or any other approach) on the chosen day. While thinking, we got an idea to twist this requirement a bit. Why should children always be on the receiving end? They can be great storytellers too!
The plan was confirmed when our daughter looked at the two books sent by Pratham, and told that she will read one and tell the story to us. Raghu and Shree's son looked at the second book, and agreed to tell us that story too!
So on September 8, International Literacy Day, we were all set for the storytelling session. Parents and grandparents sat as the audience, while the kids took control and told us stories. Inspired by the elder kids, Raghu and Shree's daughter also pitched in with an original story that she made up on the spot!
I am thankful to Pratham for running this program which allows us to become one among the kids, and try out different ideas every year. My second time being a PBChamp was a memorable experience just like the first one, and I am looking forward to the next time!
You can read thousands of stories for free on Pratham Books' StoryWeaver
