December 8, 2002

When Rousseau was asked by a concerned parent when she should begin the education of her child, he inquired how old the child was. On being told, the child was five, Rousseau said, “Madam, you should have begun five years ago.”

So it is with books. Parents want to know when they should introduce a child to books. The answer is, “The sooner the better. For that we need many books to suit all ages, interests, tastes and reading levels.”

As far as availability of books is concerned we are unfortunately way behind other countries in the number of books we produce, especially for children. It is heartening to note that a committed effort is being made by the publishers and writers to fill this gap both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Today’s writers for children are fortunate in that so much help and guidance is available to them in many forms:

* Easy accessibility to needed information via books, the Internet and subject specialists who serve as data banks.

* Linguists and language teachers who have compiled word lists which begin with the 200-400 most frequently used words by the child and systematically add to them. True they are not easily available in Urdu and the regional languages but the English ones can be used easily and with great benefit. After all the child’s vocabulary needs are more or less the same universally.

* Comprehensive and well-researched categories of books graded into four reading levels:

Pre-school..... 2-4 years

Young readers.... 5-8 years

Middle-school level ... 9-11 years

Pre-teen and teenage.... 12-16 years

* Books by child psychologists and teachers provide valuable information on what generally interests children of different age, I.Q and reading levels.

* Specialists’ advice and guidance on illustrations.

* The innate curiosity of children which gives authors a wide range of subjects to choose from. The poet R.L. Stevenson has so aptly said that the children have ‘six honest serving men’ whose names are what and why and when, and now and where and who.

* Books that have stood the test of time. For a person undertaking to write/publish books for children some guidelines would be helpful. One thing is for sure, children are most interested in children — children at home and abroad; children like themselves and different; the famous people as children: children in happy times and sad, in adventurous situations and at home.

Of course if the stories are illustrated their attraction for the young reader cannot be over-estimated. Pictures add interest, besides simplifying and clarifying the text. A good picture often tells at a glance, what would take many a sentence to explain. But its most important value lies in the fact that it attracts the child. A good book jacket lures the child whereas more pictures, colourful and interesting, keep him engrossed and make him want to read the text, which of course should also be good and hold his attention.

Books for children, it hardly needs to be stated, begin with picture books whose contents are 90 per cent of colourful ‘telling a story’ pictures with 10 per cent of text. Gradually the former is decreased while the text is increased, but as far as possible some pictures (coloured or black and white), photographs, sketches, maps or even graphs should be retained.

Never eliminate the illustration altogether. I think we all agree with Alice in Wonderland, “What is a book without pictures?”

Another factor to keep in mind is the availability of children’s classics with which the author should be acquainted. In fact I would go further and say that friendship with the classics will make him a good or, if already good, a better writer. I have always felt that a good writer is usually an avid reader. The authors for children’s books and the aspiring writers should read these ever-popular books, and ask themselves what makes them “tick’.

They can profitably use them as ‘guides’ because they are excellent indicators of what children want, and consequently of what sells.

It is important and worthwhile to remember that children too, like us, have their likes and dislikes; they too have their moods and phases. Keeping this in mind writers when writing, parents when buying and teachers when teaching should provide them with an interesting ‘a la carte reading menu’. Its fare should be varied and include books which are fact or fancy; in local setting or a foreign or exotic one; of the present or past or even future; adventure or mystery; biography or fiction; humour or tragedy; the list of subjects is endless.

We can introduce them to literature and language at its best, through excerpts, condensations simplification and even translation. They should have books of stories and poems; dramas and information. It should be our goal to make children love books and reading. That should be the mission of parents and teachers, writers and publishers, in the public and private sectors. We can best do this by surrounding them with attractive books. they should have books at home and in their educational institutions, through school and class libraries. They should be able to borrow books from public and even mobile libraries. Book stalls should have books for kids at affordable prices.

If all this is there, children will find that they have readymade friends and guides, teachers, entertainers and inspirers.

What better gift can we give our children?

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