Think Like a Child!

By Vishal Tondon

My initiation into the field of illustration of books for children was a lesson in humility; I had to practically unlearn whatever I knew about drawing and painting. “You are trying too hard! Keep it simple!” chided the author. “Think like a child!”

Think like a child? 

Well, I have to admit I never realized it wouldn’t be easy to please kids. Since I had always seen them giggle at the behest of even the silliest of cartoon shows on television, I thought they were pretty dense. As it turned out, the joke was on me. The author ran me through a crash course on how the popular and successful illustrators for kids, Shel Silverstein, Quentin Blake and Dr Seuss get into the head of a child and work magic with their pens and paintbrushes. 

My friend, Dr Devdutt Pattanaik, is the author of the first set of six books that I ever illustrated professionally. Incidentally, he is quite an accomplished illustrator himself! 

Published by Penguin Puffin under the series titled Fun in Devlok, the books for kids aged 6+ introduce the young ones to the stories and legends from Indian mythology in an easy and palatable manner. 

Devdutt, who is a medical doctor by training, a leadership coach by profession and a mythologist by passion, had long felt the need for secular and entertaining books for the little ones. The books had to be simple yet authoritative. Dr Devdutt Pattanaik has done his postgraduate diploma in comparative mythology from the Mumbai University, and has managed to strike the perfect balance between the demands of his corporate job and the pleasures of creative writing.

His idea was to come up with stories for kids where the gods had as much fun playing and interacting with kids, as the kids had with them. With the culture of reading books on the wane, this is a small step in the direction of making books fun, especially those that intend to teach. 

So there would be in the series books in which Shiva played dumb charades with kids, while the kids learnt about the stories related to Shiva as a part of the game. There would be a book where the god Krishna would have trouble getting through security check at the airport for want of an identity card, and in another story, a little boy called Harsha would be able to teach Indra, the king of Gods, a lesson in humility and contentment. In another book Saraswati, the goddess of learning, would chide the schoolteacher for forcing the students to cram up things without understanding them.

There are also stories for kids on character building. Like Kama vs Yama. Kama is the god of fun and frolicking, while Yama is the god who teaches one to be dutiful. A little girl, through the course of her interaction with the two gods, realizes that she will have to eventually strike a balance between studying and playing, as both are important. 

Stories like An Identity Card for Krishna from the series have also appeared in episodic forms in Tele kiDs, a supplementary of the Telegraph, Kolkata, and we are happy that the kids are enjoying them! 

Well, it is hoped that the books are well appreciated and enjoyed by the kids, for whom Dr Devdutt has so lovingly written these!     

For more information on Dr Devdutt Pattanaik, visit:

www.devdutt.com

http://www.liquida.com/devdutt-pattanaik/

For more info on the books, visit the publisher:

http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/puffin/Authors/_Devdutt_Pattanaik.aspx

For parents’ reviews on the books, visit:

http://www.saffrontree.org/2011/04/fun-in-devlok.html

For excerpts from the books, visit:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110720/jsp/telekids/story_14260729.jsp

http://www.wap.telegraphindia.com/1110706/jsp/telekids/story_14200352.jsp

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110622/jsp/telekids/story_14142421.jsp