Month: January 2024

Two Cups of Tea

He.

The train just pulled into the platform. The next halt may take three hours or even more and that kicked the anxiety in me. I could never afford to miss that evening shot of tea, if I do, then the consequence would be an imaginary headache that can’t be fathomed. We tea lovers make up that, nonsensical diagnosis for our justification for not to miss the cup of nectar.


Then I realised that I don’t have the exact change for the drink. The thought of not having tea for the rest of the day was spreading disturbances into my otherwise calm state of mind. I ignored the urge to drink the tea and stared into my kindle. One paperback copy was having a tiny conversation with my backpack. I couldn’t focus, her dimple was flashing, her red bindi was killing too!


Those green bangles were penetrating my eardrums, I couldn’t resist, my eyes stole a look at her, the way thieves steal in. She was busy searching for coins inside her handbag, I assumed. The rain, those silver drops, they poured down to elevate my desire further. 


She.

While I was searching for the coins to get my dose of chai, I noticed him, was he looking at me? The backpack beside him carries a sticker ‘Chai & Biscuits’ confirms it, Wah, even the jacket of the kindle got a beautifully handwritten ‘Chai Love’. Since it is going to be more than a day’s journey on wheels, it would be better to keep company of a Chai Lover + Reader combo, Well how to initiate a conversation. Books are the common ground to connect, aren’t they? 


He. She picked her mobile, should I smile at her? Um..

She. Okay, if he looks at me, I am going to smile. There he goes, good he smiled back. Should I ask for the spare book lying beside his backpack? Wouldn’t it be foolish to ask for a book, when a copy of ‘The New Penguin History of the World’ is kept beside me?


He. I handed over the copy to her, the dimple flashed again, I have no description for the feelings, maybe the sensation of a needle from a syringe, or the after effect of rubbing the spirit on to that very spot. The train was picking up the speed, while she handed over a cup of chai to me, I accepted it without any shame! That’s how some love stories begin, with two cups of tea.

Josh

Publishing Director

Fostering Literacy

In my interaction with young parents, I have observed, they often eagerly anticipate the moment when their young children start reading. Reading itself is a journey. There is a difference between children who read, who love to read and who will be lifelong readers. We all fairly know  about pre-writing skills. But there is a level zero for reading as well which is known as pre-reading skills.

What are pre-reading skills?

A house needs a solid foundation to sustain for years. Likewise emergent literacy skills or pre-reading skill serve as the groundwork for successful reading.

Here are six important pre-reading skills that are crucial components that pave the way for a child’s reading journey.

1. Phonics awareness: The ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

2. Vocabulary development:  Building a rich vocabulary through exposure to a variety of words and their meanings.

3. Print awareness: General knowledge about print (eg. which is the front of the book and which is the back, how to turn the pages of a book and that the way we read from top to bottom and left to right.)

4. Letter Recognition: Identifying and knowing the names and sounds of letters, which is fundamental for decoding words.

5. Listening Skills: Developing the ability to listen actively, comprehend spoken language, and follow instructions.

6. Narrative Skills: Understanding and constructing simple stories, which lays the foundation for comprehending more complex texts later on.

These skills collectively contribute to a child’s readiness for formal reading instruction and support literacy development.

Examples and activities for each of the six pre-reading skills:

1. Phonemic Awareness:

 Example: Play rhyming games to identify words that sound the same.

Activity:Sing nursery rhymes or engage in activities that involve recognizing rhyming words.

2. Vocabulary Development:

Example: Read books with varied vocabulary and discuss meanings.

Activity: Create a word wall with new words encountered during daily activities.

3. Print Awareness:

Example: Point out words in everyday environments (e.g., signs, labels).

Activity: Play “I Spy” with written words, asking the child to find specific words around them.

4. Letter Recognition:

Example:Use alphabet books to familiarize children with letters.

Activity:Play games that involve identifying and matching letters, like alphabet puzzles.

5. Listening Skills:

Example: Listen to and discuss different genres of stories or informational content.

Activity: Ask questions about a story to check comprehension and encourage discussion.

6. Narrative Skills:

Example: Encourage storytelling or re-telling familiar stories.

Activity: Create a simple story together, taking turns adding elements to the plot.

These activities can be adapted based on age and developmental stage, providing a fun and interactive way to enhance pre-reading skills.

Birud

Head – Children Literature

Message from Our Editor-In-Chief

Everyone, most of us, believe in New Year Resolutions— the promises we make to ourselves and to our loved ones. The changes we wish to see, the calm we need to seep into our daily life; don’t we ask and demand too much from ourselves… there is a rush, to do, to be, to achieve, to reach somewhere and we haven’t stopped and taken a pause to ponder over what after that? 

If 2023 saw the advent of ChatGPT, AI, and some other innovations this year also has been a stark representation of discontent, instant gratification, booming anxiety, mad rush for everything bling, a long race to show and not to live.

Reading is a personal religion, one does it to nurture, strengthen and know the person one is and not a target list to be completed so that you can put your tongue out to the neighbour — “see I read 80/100 books this year. 

Writers take arduous pain, soul searching, losing themselves for hours, days and years into the vagaries of mind,  and bring out a universal feeling with their words. If writing is an art reading too is an art one needs to master. 

As Harold Bloom says in his book How to Read and Why

“Read deeply, not to believe, not to accept, not to contradict, but to learn to share in that one nature that writes and reads.”

The most soulful and unselfish act that you can do for yourself this year and for many more is Read and learn.

“ For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”

Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird 

Those of you who are aspiring to be a writer, stop aspiring, start writing.  Have you read that famous line from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest

“I do things like get in a taxi and say, “The library, and step on it.”

We all have stories to tell, the ones who begins gets to tell. With this I would like to thank you all for following and believing in Paperbacks Publishing.

Happy New Year 

Prachi

Editor-In-Chief