A Guide to Nurturing a Love for Reading | JoAnne Saldanha aka Myth Aunty | Parenting Through Stories | Parenthoot Spotlight - Parenthoot with Neha

Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Hello, beautiful people, and welcome back to another episode
of Parenthood Spotlight. This is our little corner to
slow down, breathe in stories, and listen to voices that shape
the world's our children grow upin.
Today's guest is someone I've admired for a very long time, a
library educator, a story educator, a trainer, and a

(00:26):
consultant. Joanne Saldana, many of you and
your children might already knowher as Myth Aunty.
That name carries with it not just stories, but also the
warmth of someone who has been bringing myths, books and
libraries a life for children for more than a decade now.
Joanne believes deeply in the power of reading and

(00:48):
storytelling in children's lives, and she also believes in
something I hold close to. That knowledge must be shared
freely. Over the years, through her
workshops, her writings, her presence in school libraries,
she's been doing exactly that. Joanne, I'm just so delighted to
have you here today. Thank you for being here and

(01:09):
welcome to Parenthood Spotlight.Yeah, thank you.
That was such a generous introduction, truly.
Thank you. I feel quite special, and it's
very special to be here and to meet you like this again after
so long. Fellow library educator, thank
you so much. Thanks.
Thank you. And I'd love to start at the
beginning with you. You've had such a fascinating

(01:31):
journey wearing many hats as an educator, A consultant, and a
storyteller. Can you take us back to the
time? What to what first drew you into
this world of stories, books, and libraries?
So, you know, I often forget that my mum ran a library and
it's not really part of what I remember.

(01:53):
But recently when I've been writing about books, people who
knew me when I was younger and who knew my mum at that point in
time would say, hey, you know what?
We used to come to your, to yourmum's library.
So it was just typical circulating libraries.
She was obviously, I mean, she, my mum is still alive.
She's obviously used to be a reader.

(02:14):
Now she, you know, is quite old and all the old age-related
concerns, so she's unable to concentrate on her book.
But yes, we had a library. I don't know whether I get it
from that, but my dad was a great storyteller.
So he, you know, he always wouldspin stories, make up, song,
sing all kinds of stuff. So we grew up with a lot of

(02:39):
stories that were not necessarily religious stories
or, you know, from a book or something.
It was stuff that he would just make up on the spot.
And I would read a lot as a child.
But you know how it was. I mean, I'm much, many decades
older than you. So we were limited to Enid

(03:00):
Blyton and things like that, right?
That was the extent of our reading the classics and Enid
Blyton. PG Buddha was maybe here and
there and then when I was expecting my first child, like
all of us, right? You want the best for your
child. And one of the things that stuck

(03:21):
with me was that I must read to this baby, read to the baby in
the womb. And so I had no idea what to do.
I went out and bought some, I think maybe Pancha Tantra, some
fables or something, and I couldgo on reading this.
And then I began looking up books to buy.
And this was the time of dial upInternet connection one hour a
day or something. But in those readings, my

(03:44):
knowledge about books group and felt close to my house.
Actually, it's still there was the scholastic go down for
Scholastic books and somebody told me about it.
So I used to go there. It's just this go down from
where they then take books to the school book fairs and stuff
like that. So this typical aluminium

(04:06):
shelves and they would give me aladder and I could climb up and
explore the shelves and so lovely Eric Carle and things.
At that time, I didn't even knowabout Eric Carle, but you know,
reading the books and I was like, Oh, this is delightful and
I would buy them. So I, some of my treasures that
I have are from that time that Iwould wow this very dusty

(04:26):
scholastic shares. Of course, all the Indian
published, the books that they published in India were at the
lower levels. Yeah.
And these few that they would get imported, they would stack
away thinking that I guess it's not so great.
It wouldn't be in the order forms and stuff.
So slowly my knowledge about books, even then it's it's
almost like 1% compared to to now.

(04:49):
And then as our kids grew up, wewere this group of moms and our
kids were not even 2 or 2 1/2 and we felt where to send them
to classes, you know, classes they had to go.
So we very endfully, I had heardof somebody, I'm from Bombay, I
live in Chennai, that someone from Bombay had moved to Chennai
and she was doing grammar and elocution for children.

(05:12):
Now we've taken this 2 1/2 yearsold who got barely babbling
something sensible and we've gone for elocution and drama
class. That's a complete sham, OK,
Because obviously I don't, I'm not going to blame that poor
lady, but I think our kids couldbarely speak properly and we are
trying to get them to elocate. So then we realized how silly we

(05:35):
were. We were a group of about four or
five mums, and we realized we had an architect among us, an
artist among us, you know, somebody who was in rural
development. So everybody was qualified.
Everybody knew let us do things with our kids.
We're so desperate for, you know, them to go to classes.

(05:55):
So I thought, I'll do cooking. That was my fourth day.
And another friend said, no, I want to do cooking.
The architect said, I want to docooking with the kid.
So I was like, OK, I have this huge selection of books.
So I said, OK, let them come. I'll do storytelling.
So to me, I didn't know the difference between read aloud
and storytelling. This was.
And then as the weeks passed andthe kids would come, they

(06:17):
decided, the children decided that they liked my sessions the
best and they only wanted to come to my house every week.
And as they started coming slowly, their friends would ask
and you know, so that's how it grew.
And then I, the mom started saying, you know what, you, I
think we need to pay you now because this has become regular

(06:38):
and there are other friends coming in.
And I also needed to buy books. So I said, OK, you know, feel
I'm going to start charging withlike some ₹250 a month or
something. But I used to have great fun
with them. And the children still remember
it. You know, they were like, oh, we
used to come to your house and, and I mean, I'm blessed to live

(06:59):
in Chennai because we have threeof the biggest children's book
publishers here, Tulika, Tara and Kara Details.
And Tulika at that time was justset up there, a sort of a store.
I mean, they probably had started just a little before
that and they had a store and they, I don't know if you know
some of Tulika's older books, which was written by a

(07:21):
storyteller called Kathy Spanioli.
And she has a lot of these sort of teacher resource books based
around Asian tales, around Indian tales, very good books.
And she was an excellent storyteller.
She was married to an artist from an and they lived in an art
village just outside on the edgeof Chennai.

(07:42):
Both of them also have books together making toys and
puppets. The I think I don't have that
particular book, but most of these books are out of print
now. So Tulika would have workshops
with Kathy and I had attended a couple of them.
Every time there were workshops,I would go and that's where I

(08:02):
learned the difference between storytelling and read aloud.
She was very, very particular that a book stay true to a book,
not taking a book and spinning it off as a story where you put
in your own words, you know, because she felt that was
disrespectful to the author. Smith or folk tale that you

(08:25):
never tired of telling What? So I love this folk tale, which
is also a book. Buy me a song, buy a song, buy
me a song. You know, the, the code Kara,
Kara and I, I enjoy telling thatone.
And I love stories from Greek mythology.

(08:46):
I like Pandora's box. I do.
I use these myths a lot with older children, with secondary
children in workshops. So I go to other schools also to
do workshops like exploring truestory, exploring creative
writing, exploring, just having discussions, looking at

(09:07):
perspective. So Pandora's Box is one of those
I enjoy. I love narrating the story of
Perseus, particularly in my school because their houses are
named after the consulate. So Perseus, andremida and
Cassiopeia all come in the same story.
And then they have an Orion house, so that that's just the

(09:29):
other story. So these are our favorites that
I do. And of course, the Odyssey, the
whole Odyssey for the Odyssey isalso a favorite.
So yeah. And I love to compare myths
across. And also it's interesting
because the children will make the comparison themselves or to

(09:53):
the myths they're familiar with,which will be Hindu mythology.
Some of the Christian myths willtake, Christian children will
take a myth and say, but this sounds like that in the mind,
you know? And because sometimes it's
opened it out for me. I thought, my gosh, I never
thought like that. But yes, what that child says is
absolutely. So Pandora's box.

(10:15):
For example, this child comparedit to Eve taking a bite of the
apple in the Bible. Are you familiar with this?
Yeah, And you know, then there was unleashing of all the evils
in the world. Yeah, when she took that bite.
So it's wonderful to see how sheand and there's A and I love

(10:35):
when children make that because that means they're
comprehending, you know, they'reconnecting.
Yeah, there's the power and that.
So to give that allow that spacefor these connections.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I want to actually
build on that. And I'm so glad you spoke about
it because this power of storiesin children's lives, I want to

(10:56):
talk about that how stories beyond just entertainment, you
know, how do they shape children, their imagination,
their empathy, even their relationship with the world?
What do you what do you think about that?
I feel to start with your own stories, you just talk about
your own family is enough. You do not need see today, not

(11:19):
all young parents know stories at the tip of their tongue to
just narrate, right? Talk about your own family
because then that is where it comes a certain rootedness and a
certain identity. Now to give you a very personal
sort of anecdote of this, I would talk a lot about my family

(11:40):
obviously because I moved from Bombay to Chennai.
I come from a community that is native to Bombay.
We come from the villages that made-up Bombay, OK.
So we have a lot of connection to that place and we, I take the
kids to my parents home couple of times in the year always for

(12:01):
some festivals. So then you know you, there's
some significance to what is happening.
Meet also at around Christmas time.
For us, there would be a lot of family and friends who live
abroad who'd come in meeting them for them to hear about our
own childhood, our own lives. What was it like growing up?
Very different from my life in Chennai now in comparison, my

(12:24):
husband's family, his mother didn't grow up in her native
place. She grew up somewhere in the
north. So she didn't have that
connectedness to either her mother tongue or her home.
So then she moved from the northdown South after she got
married, right. And so now you you have no.

(12:45):
So and also maybe it's a male female thing.
I I can't say that because my dad was the one who tell us a
lot of stories. Yeah, I'm not too sure.
And recently my daughter is a communications graduate.
And she said, you know, I know alot about your family because
you always were talking about it.
You were always sharing about it.

(13:07):
I actually, I forgot. I wanted to keep this on
standby. But there's a so she made a
book. Her project could be anything.
It could be a film, it could be a photo photography exhibition,
could be a publication. There are many things that that
they could. And her line was actually
fashion communication and branded, but it's completely not

(13:31):
fashion related. It's fine.
It was fine. As for the university you could
do, she started with a thing of aunties fashions.
You know, aunties in that area Igrew up in.
Yeah, they're very stylish, but they don't they don't wear
designer clothes or even brandedclothes.
It's typically you go to the tailor and, you know, stitch

(13:53):
some outfit and get it. She wanted to document that.
So she started by talking to a quite well known designer in
Bombay and things like that. But as she went on talking and
meeting people, she realized that there was a certain sense
and of course, people are telling her things of their
childhood, right? So how they grew up, Why is it

(14:15):
they got into the line of work that they got into and they all
careers like, like hairdressing,very creative careers, music,
event management sort of thing, fashion designers, very
different kind of things. And she realized that people
were living their bliss. So she made this entire book,
it's about 300 plus pages on this on this community that

(14:37):
lives around this particular area and that came from the
childhood stories. And that book was nominated for
a couple of of awards across theUK for, you know, the way it was
done. And that is the whole concept of
documenting a community that is not well known among the larger

(15:00):
idea of what India is. Even if you just take a
minority, Yeah, the minority within a minority, kind of, you
know, and I think a lot of that stemmed from her own experiences
in College in being in the Indian society.
But because you have a Western name not being considered

(15:20):
Indian, right. So you know that things like
that now and you don't realize this, how deep these sort of
chasms of differences that we create in the world by saying,
oh, you're from the North. But I thought all N Indians are
like this or yeah, the South. This is this is what I I think

(15:43):
all of it is. So I think a a great for me, it
was great pride to for her to acknowledge that this whole
effort of us, which was an entire year's work, stemmed from
the stories that were told to her.
You know. As a child growing up.
Yeah, yeah. Really, he's done a whole

(16:04):
chapter on my parents. They've had a tough life,
interesting life, but a tough life, and for her to sort of see
the value in that. Yeah.
And write about the experiences was beautiful and to see it
being appreciated by different people you know that it's
otherwise it becomes a very personal family sort of book.
This is being appreciated in in ways so there's such a power in

(16:27):
in telling stories. Start with the simple things of
of your own childhood. What did you do?
What did your parents do? And it's not only like, you
know, did you know how hard I yeah, to study?
And I was sitting under the lamppost and studying and all.
It's not about giving a less see, even talking about how

(16:49):
foolish you are, you know, at a certain time or how.
Well, it just I mean, because weare this this idea of us being
infallible, right? Like, oh, I did this.
I worked so hard. This is what I did when if my
mother called, I always said, yes, Mama and I did whatever she
said. And I mean, great if you did it,

(17:10):
but but it's not so with the with the younger generation.
I know I didn't do it. So it's kind of, I think it's,
it's good to share these things,the very real stories.
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I'm so glad you
spoke about that because I have been curious.
Like, you know, I mean, of course not as personally, but

(17:31):
when I see my friends and there are, there are some, you know,
very palpable concerns that people have.
Oh, I don't know how to tell stories.
Oh, my child doesn't know, doesn't like reading.
He doesn't like or she doesn't like books, you know, I mean, I
don't know how that happens because I have seen children

(17:52):
naturally gravitate towards booka book if you give them access
to it. But some children, I mean, I
have heard this from some of my friends and people I know
around. So what do you say to that?
Especially for those parents whomay feel this kind of lack
either of time or of, you know, this capability, how do they

(18:15):
start? So one of the things is we are
all storytellers. We all are.
I mean, you'll pick up the phoneand you'll call your sister or
cousin to bitch about somebody else at a wedding you saw.
Yeah, that. Is storytelling because we put
masala on the top of it, that little kothamali, you know, the

(18:37):
kothma, the, the, you know, to garnish it, right?
You are putting that chaat masala for that little Tang and
maybe even chili, you know, nice, right?
So we all do it. So it's the most natural thing
in the world. And there's there's this whole
sort of influenza brigade, rightwhere everybody's become an

(19:02):
expert. You have one is to just be
sensible about who is it that you're listening to great advice
out there, but also lots of not so great advice.
I don't really don't know how toexplain how to figure this out.
Secondly is you know, when they when they are workshops.

(19:25):
Maybe you go for a storytelling workshop or a how to read or
whatever. Choose a workshop that is gonna
help you understand rather than tell you how to do.
And now I'm going to copy. Yeah, right.
Because if I was a performance storyteller, I would naturally

(19:46):
do it. But if I'm not, no amount of
classes is going to make me get off the bed while I'm reading a
book and leap like a frog and call like a crow and you know.
Yeah. Dance around like a monkey.
It's not so do you? Yeah, don't be stressed about
how there's no perfect way to read a book.

(20:06):
The most important thing is thatyou read, right?
So keep the child in mind. Now, there are like many lists
that will give you, these are the 10 best.
These are the five must reads. You know the five must read for
that influencer, right? It worked for her children, but
you've got to so discover your own.

(20:27):
It's not cheap to buy books, so definitely look at library
subscriptions. That whole event of going to a
library is an event. Make it that outing as much as
you would to go to a mall or a restaurant or a movie.
Hey, what are we going to get from the library today?
Now, initially, if you're not a reader, you may have to fake

(20:48):
this excitement. But if you genuinely want your
child to be a reader, push yourself to fake it a little bit
and take them there. Because as a mom, you're saying
I know my child must read, so I need to take them to the library
or whatever space that you're going to.
Slowly you'll get into it because books are such, they're
magical. As a parent, you will get into

(21:11):
it even if you're not a reader. And books, again, are not only
for learning. I mean, you know that, Neha.
So very often I get parents who are willing to buy these tell me
wise and encyclopedia books, butthat learning your child is
gonna get from a textbook. Right.
But by reading story books, thatis what is going to open out the

(21:33):
world for them. Help them understand people who
are different from them. Help them really find themselves
in that book. Have a good laugh.
Books don't have to be serious. You know you want to enjoy.
Find those books that are humorous.
What is it that your child is interested in?
Are they interested in mysteries?
Are they interested in sport? Are they interested in animals?

(21:56):
Those are the books that you need to find get the interest.
The first thing is cater to their interest because they're
not going to. I mean, if you're, you know,
your child is like completely sporty and you're saying no, no,
no, you know, they only have to read some religious stories or
something. So I bought this like 500 page

(22:16):
religious storybook, beautifullyproduced or whatever.
They're not into it. They're not into it.
Those are not the only stories to read.
Right. So and our own models, I mean,
not just religious, just moral stories of we don't need them.
The morals are just coming automatically through any stage
we don't need. So definitely keep interest of

(22:38):
your child in mind. And two is to give them the
choice. So when you go to a bookstore,
if you're buying a book, of course, everybody has budgetary
restrictions and they probably will run for like a wimpy kid
or, you know, one of those, maybe a child needs them.

(22:59):
If you're going to say, no, I'm not buying you that and that's
all a rubbish book, you know, they're going to hold on to it
even harder. And then there's going to be a
huge, can you afford to buy thatand one more of your choice.
Maybe you pull out books and keep two books and say, OK, I
want to buy you one more. You choose between one of these.
Yeah, again, you don't just pullout the book and say, this is
the book that I came here to buy.

(23:20):
And so I'm buying still give them the choice.
Talk to them, explain to them, say this is what this book is
about. I think it would be really nice.
You know, I read somewhere that.Yeah.
Enjoying this book or this one is about this.
I found it interesting. What do you think?
You know, so have this conversation.
With. Them.

(23:40):
And I think that conversation really comes from respect to
actually respecting them as an individual.
Right. That has the mind, the heart,
the capability of making their own choices and always empower
choice. Because sometimes our education

(24:00):
system is such that you know, everything is catered for,
right? The answers are there, but how
do you decide that I'm looking at this maybe in a different
way. Am I allowed to bring in this
different perspective? And if it's not happening in the

(24:20):
school that your child is in, you can definitely or help that
happen while you're telling stories and reading books and
saying, OK, so this is what thischaracter did.
Now, what do you think of that? Do you think that was a good
decision of his to do this? Do you think, you know, have
these conversations through the book, which means you are also

(24:43):
reading along with your child? When my son first started in
chapter books, he of course couldn't, didn't have the power
to sustain reading objects. So I would read to him, but I
would stop at a sort of cliffhanger.
And then I'd say, OK, now this is it.
Now the rest tomorrow, right. And because he was so desperate

(25:05):
to know it, he used to pick up that book and struggle to
deport. He's a voracious reader, he
still is. He was then as well, early
reader. And Mauritius, my daughter, not
so much. So if I but now as an adult, she

(25:26):
does read very much more non fiction, more in the subjects
that she's interested in and then she reads extensively on
that. But if I look at them as
children, they had the same amount of books.
But I think honestly, as a mom, if I had to think about it, I
don't think I gave her as much time as I did myself.

(25:48):
First child, Yeah. Maybe I'm really honest.
I think I didn't give her as much time.
She was reading this very, you know, some Tinkerbell fairy kind
of books, ballerina dancing books bugged the daylights out
of me. But that was her children.
I see it in school, you know. Yeah, there's something.
About those girls at 7-8, there's this little girly lot

(26:11):
and one goes and all of them arelike literally flipping around
the library. It was very books.
And it irritates me, you know, it really irritates because I'm
thinking, Oh my God, like, you know, that there's so much more
to read. What have I curated this library
for? But there's obviously a need at
that time. Yeah, and.
Allowing that need, I think allowing them to satisfy that

(26:34):
need is what is going to keep them reading and then build up
their stamina almost to read something that is a little more
challenging, whether it's the level of language or the level
of theme, you know, what is the theme?
That is featuring, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
So I think for me as an educatorall the time, I find that I'm

(26:58):
learning from the children and Ineed to also cater to what they
where their interests lie, right?
I think that's first and foremost their choice and their
interests. Yeah, yeah.
And talking about the families again, if they want to start

(27:19):
just one simple storytelling or reading ritual at home,
anything, anything small, what would you recommend?
So. First of all, I'd recommend
making a little corner. So by a corner it doesn't even
mean buying a big bookshelf or something.
Have a little chalky, have some books on it.
Have, you know, a little string maybe on the window that you can

(27:41):
just tie and you, you know, you hang the books and which one is
next thing? So I'm just showing you, you
hang it like this, right, Right on the screen.
Yeah. So put out a small collection of
books, maybe 5 or 6 to begin with.
Put a little cushion. Make it cute if you have
puppets, may put a little rug and then of course it may be

(28:04):
space for you and the child. It could be a simple tent made
with a bed sheet. Right under.
Which they could be reading, make it exciting.
You know, reading is something special.
We want to make their birthday party special and that birthday
party is over in a day. I'm not saying don't have the
birthday parties, but when you're doing these little things
like a reading corner, creating this reader for life and you

(28:27):
need to make them make this reading special.
Because as humans, we all go back to things that we associate
with pleasure, right? We, we will go to the
restaurants that we like. We will order the kind of coffee
your child that we enjoy, right?So whether you're a lemon tea

(28:49):
person or you're a masala type person or you're a black coffee
person, you know you will order only that because now why I'm a
black coffee person, this is what I need, right?
And it makes me feel good. I'm tired, I'm whatever, I'm
coming back for my cup of black coffee.
I go to the same restaurants where people have made me feel
good. This waiting staff is good, the
food was good and maybe value for money is important to me.

(29:12):
So these are the things that I'll go back.
I will go to meet my family, that is uncle's, auntie's
cousins who make me feel good about myself.
I'm not going to the one who's you're very reluctantly will go
and avoid going to somebody who's taking digs at me all the
time. Yeah.
So these so that that way make this whole thing of reading it

(29:35):
does like require an effort put in that little effort.
Pinterest is full of ideas. Just go get ideas if you can't
think it up, create this little reading corner that is small and
cozy and really nice. You can have a stuffed toy there
that could be a reading companion.
If you have a pet at home, have the, you know, your child read

(29:56):
to a pet. Bring the pet in.
And this is actually stuff that that's proven to be late for
children who are, you know, slower readers, backward
readers, not able to read as well as the others to get them
practice reading to to a pet. So simply works for a a pet.
I, I must show you this, but I have too many books to show you.

(30:19):
So then that is the danger. But there's a lovely book called
Negative cat. It's all about children going to
the shelter to read to cats. And so wonderful.
You know, there are lots of rates to start, but put in that
effort to make this little spacespecial.
Then time you have to read everyday to your child.

(30:42):
I know you're working, I know you come home, you probably has
household chores to do, but it'sboth Parents take responsibility
for this. What is the easiest time for
you? Is it the morning drive to
school? If you have a driver, can you
know somebody else is driving? Can you read at that time and

(31:02):
read to them? I personally found bedtime to be
very effective, but I was also strict on bedtime.
So bedtime was by 8:30. So you did not done and then
bedtime. So you you go in this time.
What also happened there, Neha, is that the defenses are down at

(31:23):
bedtime. Right.
Another third place when defenses are down is when you're
driving and your child is at theback and you can't see their
faces right, So bed. Also, you're lying and they're
just talking and a lot of stuff comes out at that time.
So reading to them or singing, you know, just language,
singing, any language, whatever your, you know, mother tongue

(31:47):
may be. You have certain songs that you
can sing to them. All of these are very soothing.
So telling them stories, just lying in bed, and then their
stories will come out. Right.
And I've, as a mom of adults now, I cannot emphasize how
important it is to open those channels of communication.

(32:10):
And opening those channels of communication begin right from
when your child is very young for them to be able to tell you
anything without judgement. Because then in the teenage
years, you're no longer the mostimportant person in their life,
you know, and everything has to do with the peers.
And it's not necessary that the peers give the best support.

(32:35):
Yeah. And can are those channels of
communication still open in themfor them to come and tell you
the very worst? Yeah.
And we are living in a time whenmental health issues are on the
rise in younger and younger children, right?
So that that need for constant conversation.

(32:58):
And by conversation I mean it is2 sided.
It's. Not me speaking at my child, It
is me talking with my child. And when I talk about stories
and storytelling, it is really conversation, you know, even
narrating my day. For me to be able to come back
and say, you know, I had a had abad day because this is maybe

(33:20):
where I goofed up. My boss was mad with me.
Simple things, they're not beyond the child's
comprehension. And for them to be able to say,
you know what? I had to say similar kind of
thing. This child picked on me, my
teacher picked on me. I wasn't able to do this or this
is how I messed up. Just to have that sounding
board. Yes, I think conversations and

(33:42):
stories go far deeper than than just the entertainment or even
the educational value. Of yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's that's so insightful. You know, I'm so glad we are
having this conversation becauseI am taking so much back from
you, Joanne, because we don't get to talk.
I mean, I would have never reached out to you if it was not

(34:05):
for this podcast. So it's like I am soaking it all
in and. It's not not that it's perfect,
OK. It's it is not perfect.
I'm not saying that, hey, you know, this is what I did.
And so my kids do this. It's it's nothing like that.
But and they still will go to their friends for certain things

(34:26):
and definitely not on their close friends on Instagram.
You know what? But I, it's just, I, I think for
me also some of it is a little bit in hindsight, you know,
where you, you need that there'spressure on all sides, social

(34:47):
media pressure, pressure on performance, the kind of
pressure then definitely, I mean, I'm in my early 50s now.
We, I didn't have at my age, youknow, when I was a young child.
So there's a lot, lot more that that we need to then be within
our own homes that that comfort that can hold, hold a child.

(35:13):
Yeah, yeah. And now I want to talk a little
bit about the library, a space that's so often, I would say,
misunderstood or underutilized in schools.
From your experience, what role can or should a school library
really play in nurturing not just readers, but like children

(35:35):
in totality? So where, you know, the library
is one of the most underestimated places in the
school. I'm sorry, I have a sneeze
coming on at me. It has to start with the
management or let me take it back to the person in the

(35:55):
library for the person in the library to actually believe that
that's an important space to believe that the work that you
are doing holds value. Now the library library period
will be taken away for X number of things.
Yeah, in most spaces, the librarians I know, Chalo, let

(36:16):
her do invigilation duty, let her, you know, him, do some
outside work. It's constantly like, what is
the librarian doing? I don't blame this sort of
understanding on anyone because that is how how I think maybe
librarians also in the past tooktheir role.
Yeah. You know, you just got a degree.

(36:39):
How many librarians are reading?And this is a very pertinent
question because now, you know, there are all kinds of awards
and competitions and things for school libraries.
It is all about what you're doing.
Everybody can make great charts,put up these activities and do
different things. But the crux of the matter is I

(37:00):
feel the power in my role comes in my conversations.
With the children round books. With those conversations, a lot
of other things come up as well.If I do not know the books, how
am I going to recommend the books to the child?
If I do not know what happened in the book, how can I have a

(37:20):
conversation around that book and recommend the next one?
You know, so main thing I think to be able to get that respect
as a librarian or as a library educator is to know your work
and know your books. Yeah.
And for schools to see the valuein it.

(37:42):
Now, I think what is happening in many places, you are having
your librarian and then you're having your library educator or
what they term in the US and allas a teacher librarian coming to
do the sessions, which is very much like what I do.
But even in that, know your work, know your students, make
that effort to know them. Come up with interesting books,

(38:05):
interesting ways to read books, interesting ways to extend the
book, interesting conversations to have.
How can you support the rest of the school?
Right, so. The need in the school I work
with, it's in a Montessori school, and it's a Montessori
school all the way up to grade 9, which follows the Montessori

(38:26):
philosophy. I mean, it goes up to grade 12,
but the plan, but not this grade, grade 9.
There are a lot of requirements in that kind of school where the
children come in, out of their classes to do research in the
library. And as a school, the policy that
they've taken is that the research happens from books, not
off the computer. So they're coming into the

(38:47):
library now. How can I support the teachers
in their lesson plans? If a child comes looking for a
book, how can I support it? How can I say, hey, you know,
this is the topic that they're looking for.
We don't have quite all the information.
I need to sit down and research more on the net, figure out
whether the book I found is worthwhile having because these

(39:08):
research books are not cheap to buy, right?
Even though the other thing thatwe worked with quite
successfully in the past has been with the school
counsellors, we actually had a whole selection of books around
SEL, social, emotional learning,any topic that I felt could help

(39:32):
the counselors address issues with children through a box.
I don't need to. Yeah.
The child, because the counsellor is working with them
one-on-one. So they will, but they need the
awareness of that, right? So then to create that
collection, to build on that collection based on issues they
were coming across with children.

(39:53):
So definitely most schools will have children who are adopted,
children who are single parents,homes, you know, going through
divorce, children with disability, learning disability.
These are common traits that you're finding around you.
Yeah. So are you then catering to your
school community? So you need that awareness of am

(40:13):
I have, I kept books there that are catering to my school
community and it it makes a hugedifference, Neha.
I mean, I have had, I think it'sNandini Naya.
Sometimes Mama, sometimes Papa. I think it's Nandini Naya.
I'm not too sure if it is. Yeah, I just, and it was a book

(40:40):
that came up in this, you know, the Jarul Book Awards.
Have you bought the Jarul Book Awards?
Yes. So where three books are chosen,
librarians across the country read out these three picture
books to children, and children vote for their favour.
Right. There's this book, sometimes
Mama, sometimes Papa or a child whose parents are separating,
and sometimes she's with Mama and sometimes she's with Papa.

(41:00):
So when I saw that book, I was like, OK, now where am I going
to read this out right to the children, I mean, but I thought,
OK, there are children going to through, you know, my parents
are going through divorce. So I kept it on the shelf, but I
didn't ever think I could read it a lot to my class because now
there are children at a younger age who are unaware of divorce,

(41:21):
right, right. So I don't want to be the one
explaining what. Yeah, yeah.
But it came up in this general book list, and for years our
school has been participating inthe general book award.
I was very upset with this choice.
And I was like, now I'm stuck reading this book right to the
children because I have to read it to them.

(41:43):
And so the first class and it, you know, every page ends with
this sort of refrain. Sometimes Mama, sometimes Papa.
So I read the first class. The first class was like they
made it into a song. Sometimes Mama, sometimes,
sometimes. Sometimes I'm like, OK, now I'm
not going to get deeper. Let them take it.
And I'm leaving right in the second also.

(42:08):
So I tried to change it and there was a little bit of talk
on parents sort of separating and things like that.
And we have mixed age group classes in my school this
together use the seconds are quite cookie a little compared
to the yeah, 4th gradient. So I was like, my gosh, okay, in
what class I see these two children come in who I knew were

(42:30):
from single parent homes and I just froze and I was like, now
what do I do? Like this is just not OK.
I, I was really panicking a little bit and I just got into
it like, like it's a usual session and I read it and, you
know, just sort of got through. And at the end of the session,

(42:51):
this one child puts up a hand, the child, one of the children
homes and she stands up in frontof the class and she says, oh,
this is my life. You know, it used to be like
this sometimes Mama and sometimes Papa, but now it's
just Mama. And that's OK.
I'm just very confident. And this other little boy who
the counsellors had told me was really struggling to accept

(43:14):
this. He couldn't acknowledge that
this is happening. He stood up and he said, Oh, my
life is also just like her life.And I was like, Oh my God, I've
got to get to the counselor happened right?
And meanwhile in the corner, I see this group of like 4th grade

(43:36):
girls who are now the oldest in the class and you know, lot of
little whiles and, and they're all like touching one of the
girls and I can see them mouthing, are you OK?
And what is going on in that corner?
I, that particular child, I knewher grandmother and so I was
aware of her life and I'm like, you know, OK.

(43:57):
And I just ignored it. I said I chose, let me ignore
it, let it just run it's course because now I'm bothered about
this boy who was here and I'm like itching to go to the
counsellors because this was a big, big breakthrough that is
happening. And at the end of the session,
I'm sort of helping the childrenwith their borrowing.
And this child who is in the corner comes to me and she says,

(44:18):
oh, Auntie, I wanted to tell youthat, you know, this is what is
happening with my parents now. And it's a very grown up sort of
way. And I was like, oh, OK, I'm,
I'm, I was unaware. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it's all OK. And all their friends.
And she had her own little way of, you know, making the whole
thing out to me. And I was like, wow, you know,
now she. And what I loved is that her

(44:40):
friends were aware of it. And they were trying to comfort
her and say, oh, my God, this book, this teacher's reading and
he's our friend. So there's this whole, the drama
unfolding over this little book that the first class was singing
along like, right. Sometimes I'm.
So you really don't know where books take you.
Yeah. To me, this was one because I

(45:04):
myself never would have opted toread that book aloud.
Never read aloud. Maybe we were addressing family
structure as a theme or something.
I would have said, OK, you know,some people grow up with just
one pairing. So the power of this is, is
quite something. And I later spoke to that

(45:24):
child's grandmother who I knew, and she said, yeah, you know, I
haven't yet had it in me to share with my friends.
What is happening? But yes, this is happening and
and I'm so glad that she was comfortable enough to, you know.
Yeah. To talk about.
Yeah, yeah. You know, hear that her friends
are so supportive. So that for me was really quite
an unfolding. Yeah, yeah.

(45:46):
And. So, so yeah.
So when you going back to your question, I'm sorry, is is there
different ways the library can engage with, you know, the
school throughout, not just to the curriculum?
Yeah. There's also this whole trend of

(46:07):
connecting books to the curriculum, which is good,
supporting the curriculum with the story, but it needs to be
done with a certain responsibility and
understanding. And I do not believe that a
story can completely replace a factual text for this.
Like you know, we also need thatthe story can enhance it.

(46:27):
Can enhance. The understanding.
So this is certain responsibility that comes with
saying that, you know, we have stories that align with the
curriculum we have to be carefulabout.
It. Yeah, yeah.
And in the time that you've started your journey till now,

(46:48):
have you observed any big changes in the library spaces in
schools so. My library journey, Neha, I can
say it's about nine years or so.That's the long time, but so I
think what is our mark difference is definitely between
the IB school libraries and the other libraries because IB

(47:11):
school libraries become media centers.
It's very medium focused. They need to teach responsible
use of the Internet and all that.
They have these makerspace things as well.
I am very much. My personal thing is that I
still see the library as a spaceto.

(47:33):
Then I feel the main space is toconnect children to the love of
reading. Yeah.
And I feel everything else takesaway from that.
So I feel a library needs to be open for children to come in,
for school managements to say, yes, it's OK for children to
just go by in the lunch break. You know, give the librarian

(47:53):
another lunch break. Yeah, let them be there.
So children come in, just hang out and read.
I mean, I have children who comeand just sit there because they
have no friends. Yeah, I don't.
Maybe they're being picked on and that library is a refuge for
them at that particular point oftime.
They're groups that come in to share their excitement over
blogs to have free access in thesense obviously content is

(48:18):
limited. I can't let my second standard
or 4th standard for a young adult right So that a limitation
is there, but to otherwise within the section to have free
access and choice, which is important for them to have.
But to also I do have limitations on the book based on

(48:39):
the value of the book because sometimes the books out out of
print, not just the monetary value of them, but that I'm not
going to be able to source them.So if a child borrows it and
takes it home if they lose it orif you know something falls on
that book, yeah, parent is not going to be the policy for us is
that the parent replaces the book.

(48:59):
It's not going to happen becauseit's not available.
So those books I immediately we have a special sticker.
By all means, you are free to access it in the library and
read it, but not take it. Yeah.
So I think for me, I feel the core of the library definitely
should still stay with books. The trend is changing also,

(49:20):
maybe it's a minority, but they're libraries that are
opening out fabulous discussionsand dialogues.
And for that, your librarian or library educator should be able
capable of holding those discussions.
Yeah. And in which case it means that
you need to constantly learn, constantly read, constantly

(49:41):
attend talks around things on these sort of topics that are
dealing with diversity and equity and inclusion.
These are the ones that we need to talk about at the moment.
It's so much the world is, you know, up in flames, literally,
right little flames at the moment.

(50:02):
And so everybody's so sensitive to everything.
Yeah, there is the space to to allow the questions or or to
have a child who's very sure of what their viewpoint is.
But to just look at something, apossibility that may be
different. Am I able to foresee these?

(50:23):
These are these are questions that may come up.
Can Ioffer differing points of view, you know, so balance,
balance it out like you know, onon all kinds of views about
different issues. And for that you have to open

(50:44):
out yourself. Because.
As the person who's who's curating the library, I have to
be very fair, very open to all kinds of views and not just my
own. Yeah, yeah.
And I have a very, you know, kind of, it might be a silly

(51:04):
question, but I have a question that I want to ask.
What are the What are some of the common mistakes that schools
or even parents make when they think about reading and access?
So Access One is the kind of themes, right?
Children know far more than we are in.

(51:25):
They know girls at around 9 years, 10 years, very curious
about their bodies, what is going to happen.
And from what I noticed, the girls are far more sensible than
the boys. The boys puberty hits a little
later, right when they pick up books.
They are just being silly because you know, they, when

(51:50):
they're reading about it, the changes that are happening to a
girl, changes that are happeningto themselves, Sometimes the
changes haven't yet started withthemselves.
So to have this information there because it's healthy.
Otherwise they're going to get it off some, you know, website
that may not necessarily be OK. I remember a counsellor that we

(52:12):
had in the school, in the schoolwhen my son was there and it was
over a particular TV series thatI was not happy with him
watching. And she told me, she said,
Joanne, if you say no, he's going to find a way to watch it.
So it doesn't matter whether yousay yes or no, he's going to
figure it out in your house, in a friend's house, in somebody's

(52:33):
house. He's going to watch it.
So rather, why don't you sit with him and watch it with him
and then discuss what is offensive or even if it is
offensive? Right.
So, So yes, we have I I feel it.A library, a good library should
have books about all kinds of topics, topics be clued into

(52:55):
what children are curious about,what they want to know and have
access as parents. Trust your child not to get
brainwashed. I mean, we have all kinds of
book bannings happening at the moment.
Yeah. You know, yes, we have a point
of view. This is, you know, all of us
are. This is the only point of view.

(53:16):
It's so divisive at the moment, but you yourself have not read
or, you know, been exposed to different points of view.
So it's not easy to say be exposed to it.
It's not. But just be aware that there are
other perspectives and other points of view.

(53:37):
So let your child choose what they want to read.
Secondly, is this idea that comics and graphic novels are
not reading. They are.
They're very much, we have many different learners, different
ways of learning. So graphic novels definitely
appeal to a reader who is a moreof a visual sort of learner and

(54:00):
needs those images. What are the mistakes would I
say, for schools itself to actually value that library?
Invest first of all in people that are capable of doing
something with your library right?
And once you have hired them to give them that respect at the

(54:23):
same time for the, the person, the librarian or the the library
educator to value that role and to take it serious.
This is not some time pass role,you know to to really value the
work that you're doing and take it seriously.
The other thing is for parents, when you're choosing the school,

(54:46):
ask about the school library, give it importance.
Otherwise the library is, you know, this school has library,
physics lab, chemistry lab, bio lab, swimming pool, badminton
court, and oh wow, wow, wow. They've got so much.
And nice pictures will come up on the website of the library.
Is that library alive, you know,and by alive, I mean is it being
used? Are those books being talked

(55:06):
about? Is there activities happening
around the books? And it's not activities to then
splash on social media. It's activities to actually help
children reflect and think and guide them into further reading
choices that that are challenging them in different
ways. So I think all the stakeholders
in the school are the children will respect based on on what

(55:30):
your output is, what the school considers it to be, what you
know. So I think that is everybody
involved needs to look. Don't think of the library as
when we were all in school when you went to library and the
librarian handed you one book and you had to read David
Copperfield, even if you really wanted to read a tinkle, right,
when most people probably wantedto read a tinkle in library.

(55:53):
So don't imagine it to be like that to to play some value in in
this and even the local libraries that you go to take
your child, give them some important things that it may be
a little expensive, but what else are you spending on that
would be over in like a jiffy village.

(56:17):
I mean, so to think about the libraries that send books to
your house. So you may not even need to to
go there if it's too far away. But placing a reader is
definitely effort and and you put in that effort and and you
will read. That yeah, yeah.
I know kind of a connected question because you talked

(56:39):
about your son, you know, wanting to watch ATV series.
What's your take on screen time versus reading time?
You know, parents often feel guilty or conflicted.
How do you suggest we balance that?
So you are, you are the adult. You need to set the limits.

(57:01):
So I for me personally, there was screen time on weekends, not
on weekdays because it is only when a child is bored, but they
will get creative. But if we are constantly
providing the entertainment and by that case, be it the iPad or

(57:22):
the TV or whatever, then they never bored.
They will never create. All creation will come out of
boredom and a need. So if there's there's never
that, you know, we don't need tocater to our kids all the time.

(57:42):
Yeah. And I think that that can be
addressed in in many ways, whether it's in the school,
library or at home. Don't cater, let them be bored a
little. Give them that freedom of
expression. Have things available for them
like colors, blocks, things where you create and you

(58:02):
explore. But once you start that screen,
very difficult to pull the screen away because they're
constantly stimulated, right? There's no stimulation.
It's passive. They are passive and the
stimulation is happening. So similarly, I'd like to share
that when you talking about storytelling and there's plenty

(58:24):
of storytelling on YouTube, it is not the same because that is
you're just watching that it's again passive listening.
And while that person will say, oh, where is the Bunny?
And you know, there's a Bunny hopping across the screen and
the child would point there's the Bunny and all that.
No, no, no, that's not interaction.
Interaction will come when you are talking to them.

(58:47):
And I am talking Neha, if you notice that I'm talking to
listeners now like Neha is been changing her questions.
As for my responses, I am talking to Neha based on the
expression that I can see on herface, whether am I with the
question that she's asked me or not, right?

(59:08):
And then I, I will scoot back towhere I think she was trying to
take me. And that is exactly how it is
that we as parents, when we're telling a story or even as a
storyteller, to be able to read the expressions on the people,
read the room really, and figureout now how do I respond?
Your child is asking something, you know, literally completely

(59:31):
opposite to what the story is saying.
But you'll be surprised what connection they've made.
Do you? It may seem like, oh, my gosh,
you know, I'm talking about London.
He's talking about Tokyo. But you know, no, no, no, no, he
will bring it. There'll be some connection and
that is the magic because that is the comprehension coming
through. So all the connections kids make

(59:52):
to try and understand, make sense of things around.
Yeah, yeah, beautiful. You know, you're so like you're
so visual and you're so evocative, like your words are
so evocative. I, I, I can literally see all
that happening and, you know, infront of my eyes.
So it's, it's just beautiful. And, and Joanne, I want to talk

(01:00:15):
about your philosophy right now.You know, one thing that I
admire, I think the most about your work is your openness.
You you've said that on your website.
You often talk about it. Your belief that knowledge must
be shared freely. Can you talk about that?
What drives this philosophy for you?
So I think so when we I talk about freely, when I do

(01:00:38):
workshops and things they are, Imean I do charge.
Yeah, yeah, of. Course, when I, you know, share.
So what happened was a while ago, a friend asked me, you
know, she said, oh, Joe, and youknow, you've been doing this for
so long. And so now how are you scaling
up? And I was like scaling up, you

(01:01:00):
know, I mean, to me, scaling up is, is depth, you know, so
learning more, understanding more, you know, I've spoken to
somebody. I didn't quite understand what
they were saying. Now I need to or this is what I
don't know. Now go and read it for me, then
try and figure out, try and understand, make sense.
How does it connect to my work? And I said, you know what?
I'm just not someone who knows how to make this a business.

(01:01:24):
First thing I will charge for myworkshops.
You reach out to me, I will sendyou my fee structure and
everything. But more than that, I cannot be
bombarding people with emails saying this is what I do and
it's I like to function on on a word of mouth.
Also, my, my views tend to be a little alternative, so I prefer

(01:01:47):
to work with people who or something like that.
It's not going to be very commercial.
It's not going to be very demonstrative that this is how
you should do it and you know, the whole world.
Please follow me kind of I don'tbelieve in that.
So I she told, she said, OK, butyou know what, you've been doing
this for so long. I think it's time you need to

(01:02:09):
share this. And what she meant it in a way
of monetarily, you need to be sharing your stuff.
So others, now you're older as well, Others can, you know,
learn from you. And I thought, oh, gosh, no, no,
no, this is not working for me. And I thought, OK, but I guess
there's a certain responsibilitythat comes with sharing my
knowledge. Yeah.

(01:02:30):
And so then I started writing far more on social media because
it's. So my blog is really like my
filing system. So you know the stuff that I do
it's and they're like another 50or 60 that are all in my drafts
folder and I've not yet put themon because I need the time to
format. And now there's SEO and then you

(01:02:52):
know, you have put on the pictures and the pictures have
this. What is it called?
There's something else where you.
Caption the all text. Yeah, all texts, exactly all
texts. And I'm like, Oh my God, I gotta
figure out so everything is not just pasting this thing because
now become all texts and SEO andkeywords and I'm like, Oh my

(01:03:12):
God, all that takes another, youknow, more than writing the
article. So I thought if you have the
patience to read the blog in theway I wrote it.
So it's not, which is why it's not exactly like Lesson plan
kind of thing. You think you just glean from it
because I very much believe thatthis, the sort of work that this

(01:03:35):
is, takes on the personality of the person doing it.
Yeah. And I may do it one way, but you
can take an idea from me and putin your own personality into
that to cater to the people thatthe children that you are
working with. Right.
So which is why I prefer writingit in a more sort of essay sort
of way. Yeah.

(01:03:56):
Yeah. Yeah.
So that's where it comes from sharing.
And I can tell you, Neha, that you know, really this old adage
that says you put out into the universe and the universe will
give back. So I've put out and things have
come back to me in ways that andagain, let me say this is not

(01:04:19):
monetary. I think that's just bringing me
joy. And and happy.
Yeah, yeah. Recognition maybe in, in the way
that I'm happy to be recognized.It's not that my name is flashed
all across, you know, social media or something, nothing like
that, but in small ways. And to me that's far more
meaningful. So I'll, I'll, I can see it

(01:04:40):
happening. I see, you know, that it's
constantly I'm getting back and I often get asked by, you know,
younger storytellers. I'm interacting and they're
like, oh, what work are you doing?
Like, you know, oh, you're doingwork.
You have work. And I'm like, yeah, like I.
But because, you know, because I'm not there and I'm not always

(01:05:03):
sharing what I've done or some organization hasn't splashed my
picture out. Yeah, it doesn't mean that I'm
not doing work. I've taken on work.
Some of it may be work that is not paid for because I'm working
with an organization that I wantto do.
Work. Yeah, yeah.
But it's meaningful to me. Yeah, so.

(01:05:24):
Yeah. So I'm happy with with the work
I do and it's enough of work. I'm busy all the time, so I
like. Beautiful.
And I want to talk about a couple of books now.
If you had to think of one book or story that's been a companion
for you as a parent, what book would that be?

(01:05:48):
So definitely not parenting books I.
Not parenting books, but. You know, this is the toughest
question of what are the books? I mean, I showed you my wall of
books. I'm looking at them.
I have no idea. I it's it's a horrible question,
but everybody asks me this and every time I have this horrible

(01:06:10):
answer, like, I don't know, my my thing is changing all the
time. I don't have a particular must
read. So maybe a great fun read that I
would recommend to my elementarychildren is Halls by Louis
Sacco. We have great fun.
It like if it goes into one of my all time favorites, but it's
not a must read as a parent or you know, there's no not great

(01:06:32):
wisdom and it's just great lighting, great writing, great
plots, things like that. I read very I love picture
books. So I have a huge collection
today I put out a real and author friend message and said,
I can see you just have a lot ofpicture books, like where are
your chapter books? And I'm like they're at ceiling
level up there. But what you can see is picture

(01:06:56):
books. I collect a lot of books about
books about reading and books about libraries.
A huge collection of picture books on that and also story
books. I love wordless picture books.
I do potential in them. I can share with you what I'm
currently reading. It's to diverse.
This is a trash. Project the newest.

(01:07:18):
One and Gardner in the Wastelandis another one which is a
graphic novel. Also for more grown up.
These are my 2 currents which iswhy they're right here.
Horrible that I cannot answer this because they're just there
are too many. I need to like turn the camera
around and go through my books. What I do, one of my favorites

(01:07:41):
of late because I love books, that is art, is a Voice by
Kripa. Yeah.
To talk about the Indian published books.
But having said that, I, I am also a great believer in good
writing, OK. And I will support books and

(01:08:03):
authors where I see that the writing is good because I, your
facts are right. Just a whole sentence
construction and all of that is right.
Whole production quality is goodbecause there's a sudden respect
that we own all children. And I think that when you have
badly edited books, there's a great disrespect then for a

(01:08:27):
child. And then I do not promote those
books. I will not, no matter how
popular they may be because I I really, I personally feel it's,
it's wrong. Yeah, so.
When we blindly say, you know, support Indian published,
definitely, but support Indian published make educated

(01:08:49):
decisions about it. Yeah, so that that's my my one
take and I get a little flak forit and you know, because, but
it's. Yeah, but it's OK, nobody's

(01:09:09):
paying us for this, so. Yeah.
You know, that's it. I love Patricia Polacco.
I'm I'm going to turn it around because I want to talk.
About Yeah, please do. Please do.
I know you can't see it, can you?
Yeah. Can you?
You can't see? No.
Can you? Yeah, now we can see.

(01:09:29):
These are my Patricia Polacco onthis side.
Can you see? Wow, yes.
A whole lot of them. This whole line these up here
are my books about books and books about Wow libraries.
These are my books about change,about protests, about standing

(01:09:52):
up for things. OK, These are the things that I
I really like a book which I think it may be available, but
expensive now is The velocity ofbeing.
It's Maria Papova. It's letters from authors to
young readers. Wow A.
Little. I love how you've annotated the

(01:10:14):
books. You know, this is, this is so
this is so nice. So a lot of books about books
like I have, I read on those. Yeah.
Just a lot, a lot of books for my storytelling days when, you
know, what is storytelling, whatis the art of storytelling?

(01:10:34):
Where? Yeah, a lot of those also have a
lot of wisdom in them because storytelling is is us.
It's human, right? So yeah.
Yeah, Yeah. So just a lot of those
children's books, far too much. Yeah.
I will leave one whole session. People file from floor to hear,
like, books. And I'll have to show you the
books. We'll do a follow up session

(01:10:56):
where we can just talk about books 1 by 1.
But Joanne, this has been such anourishing conversation.
Before you go, I have a one lastquestion for you.
I'd love to ask you. If you had to leave parents
listening today with one thoughtabout stories, libraries and the

(01:11:17):
role they can play in children'slives, what would that be?
I think we underestimate what stories can do.
So as a parent, I, I beseech youto just start.
Just start. It's not the most natural thing

(01:11:38):
to do. Do not be conscious about it.
The only audience that you have is your child.
And you know your child will love you regardless.
You can be the biggest goof, youcan have the worst accent, you
can have a wrong language. And by that I mean, you know,
storytelling. It's not only in English, it's

(01:12:00):
in any language that you're comfortable in.
Just tell. I mean, honestly, I'm telling
you, I grew up monolingual. My mother tongue is Marathi, but
we only ever spoke English and at home.
So as a result, we don't, I mean, I speak Hindi terrible the
the typical Bombaya Hindi and it's a bad Bombaya Hindi.

(01:12:23):
If it's possible to have that I Tamil is like, you know, like
it's like I say everything fun of it's like saying like no
dusting Coro reading Coro part, you know, drink Coro, like
literally put Coro in everything.
Kind of OK, So I feel there's great power in your mother

(01:12:43):
tongue. Hold on to that.
Tell the stories in that, sing in that play, you know, little
clapping, games, rhymes, all thestuff and every conversation.
If you're a parent of a young child who you're carrying on
your hip and you know you're pointing to the crow, you're
pointing to the car, you're pointing to the doggy on the

(01:13:05):
road, even that matters. Right.
Because that is what is opening out this little thing.
Once your child starts verbalizing, they're going to
start first initially just making sounds and pointing to,
you know, whatever, but there itself, this, this sort of, you
know, give and take has started to start it.

(01:13:26):
If you have a baby, if your child is older or toddler, your
child is in the 4th, 5th, 6th, just start reading to them.
Read along with them. You know, they they want to and
Harry Potter. It's not the only book in the
universe. Please, please, please.
It's not OK. It's great.
Thank you for saying that, children.
Do not read Harry Potter. Yeah.

(01:13:49):
I love Harry Potter. I read them all.
My daughter, who is not the biggest reader, read Harry
Potter, read them all. My son who till today is the
most ferocious reader I read. And we share an account on
Amazon and every little while I almost every second day there's
a book being downloaded on Kindle and we share and I don't

(01:14:11):
read a lot of grown up books nowbecause I'm printing children's
books. And so I can he's a he's the
biggest reader I know. I haven't met a bigger reader
than him hasn't read Harry Potter at all or he detested the
books. So respect that.
I find children in grade 7 who are 7 years of age coming and
saying we want to read Harry Potter.

(01:14:32):
Great. Remember reading is decoding
those words. But to actually understand a lot
of what is happening in the later Harry Potter's, it's way
beyond a child, you know, a child of seven can understand
and comprehend. So.
So yeah, let's leave the Harry Potters.

(01:14:54):
Let's you know for when they pick it up naturally, as much as
you love it. Because I know the parents today
are all like the Harry Potter generation.
Right, Yeah, yeah, so you're. Excited about it?
Read one page that your child read one page.
If you want to work any book butread just that.
That's. Wow, beautiful, beautiful.
Thank you so much, Joanne. Thanks Neha.

(01:15:15):
It's been really great for me toshare on my guard.
I hope it's too much for those listening in, but it's been a
real honour for me to to share with you and do this podcast
with you. So thank you so much for
inviting me. I, I love it.
I I, you know, you bring so muchjoy, depth and possibility, the

(01:15:40):
sense of possibility in something seemingly so simple
and at the same time so, so profound, you know, as a story.
So it's, it's just so beautiful to have you here and to actually
meet you once again, even even if it's virtual right now.
But thank you so much. Thank.

(01:16:01):
You and all the best to you, thepodcast and everything that
you're undertaking. After.
This. Thank you.
Thank you so much. And to our listeners, thank you
for tuning into this episode of Parenthood Spotlight.
If you enjoyed our conversation,do follow, subscribe, and share
it with friends and fellow parents.
Until next time, may your days be full of stories worth telling

(01:16:23):
and moments worth remembering. This is Neha Garth signing off
Bye bye.

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A Guide to Nurturing a Love for Reading | JoAnne Saldanha aka Myth Aunty | Parenting Through Stories | Parenthoot Spotlight

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}A Guide to Nurturing a Love for Reading | JoAnne Saldanha aka Myth Aunty | Parenting Through Stories | Parenthoot Spotlight