In a bid to make reading easy and language-friendly among tribal children in the State, the Pratham Books, a not-for-profit publisher, launched Adi Kiahani, a set of 10 story books and four story cards in four tribal languages, Saura, Munda, Kui and Juanga here on Friday.
The educational journey of lakhs of tribal children will be easier and more rooted in their own reality and culture by this initiative, taken by the Pratham Books in collaboration with Ignus-ERG and Bernard van leer Foundation.
The books are bilingual, both in tribal and Odia and written in Odia script. Besides, the books contain stories for beginners with themes drawn from the rich oral tradition of tribal areas and illustrations using tribal art with contemporary twist, said Pratham Books COO, Himanshu Giri.
The event started with the launch of the books by eminent linguist and Educationist Prof DP Pattnayak. A discussion on ‘Democratizing the joy of reading for all children: A case for books in tribal languages’ was also held among theatre personality Ananta Mohapatra, children’s writer Dash Benhur, BvlF director Dharitri Patnaik, Diganta Mohanty and Subir Shukla as panellists.