It makes us shudder to think what our collective childhoods would have been without a blessed lady called Enid! We followed a wooden boy with a nodding head, we scouted secrets by a group of seven, we trailed twins to boarding school, and thanks to Bessie, Fanny & Jo, we believed in magic.
While we learned so much about manners and mannerisms from these reads, we knew we weren’t very likely to get our hands on tuck boxes or walk by lighthouses. And literature closer to home was limited to tales of the jungles or a wise king and his trusted adviser.
Opening up a whole new world, here comes Delhi-based Duckbill Books. A publishing house that brings titles for young ones by local authors and illustrators, Duckbill transports our desi everyday into the stuff that stories are made of.
Almost three years old and with thirty-nine books published, Duckbill has picked up a few international awards along the way for its space-travelling pumpkins, singing monsters and timetelling superdogs. Their books tend to balance quirk and humour – which, along with brown paper packages tied up with strings, are a few of our favourite things when it comes to happy childhoods.
The books are classifed according to ease of read in three categories: for Younger Readers, Middle Readers and Young Adults. Since reading paces aren’t restricted to age, neither are the books. They correspond roughly in suitability for classes 1 to 12 {although, despite our best hopes, we suspect that Class 12 might have moved on to other interests. There is a Teen Zine for that beautiful age as well}.
Browse titles on the website or ask Anushka or Sayoni for help.
And we all lived happily ever after.
Editor’s Note: As an aside, if you search for ‘Naughtiest Girl’ on Google, the first hit is indeed Elizabeth Allen, her unruly adventures at school and her best friend Joan Townsend. The world is still a good place, people!
For more information: Click here
