I started reading at a very young age age and as a result most of my imagination revolved around the characters in the books I had read. Like any other girl, I too thought prince charming was on his way to meet me. As we grow older we realise how those stories were nothing but just a fragment of fantasy that lead us to beliefs and thoughts that aren’t true or as a matter of fact any good.
I took a break recently and happened to go through my library. One thing I noticed was that it had books from so many varied genres and the fact that I actually enjoyed most of the genres. Most of the books I read while I was a child were actually surprising and had a lot of problematic storylines. Most of our collection were Tinkle comics and Tell Me Why books. My sister and I were Enid Blyton fans and had a lot of books from his collection but also at the same time had a fair share of fairytales and princess stories.
All major storybooks had fair-skinned protagonists who had nothing to do but wait for the prince charming. Also they acted like door-mats taking in all the trashy behaviour of the people around them. You hardly see a protagonist say ‘no’ and all of them are big time people-pleasers.
I only started accepting myself lately. I have been through the hard path concerning body standards. First it was the obsession to have fair skin and then it was the obsession to have straight hair. When I watched ‘Brave’ and saw how the protagonist had curly hair I was so happy. The fact that her curly hair wasn’t in any way her sole being but a part of her is worth of being noted.
Inclusivity is something we can always include in our books. It is the small things that young kids notice. I have been wearing glasses since I was 6 or 7 and I always thought it was a major defect because only the old characters in storybooks had glasses. There are a lot of children’s authors who work on diverse topics now and it is assuring to see that. I just wanted to be a part of that and that’s why I had a children’s book coming out of nowhere. As far as realism is considered, I wouldn’t go too far as saying Santa isn’t real or tooth fairies don’t exist or something like that.
I really hope this book reaches the target audience and helps as much as a drop in the vast ocean of books.
Buy your copy now:
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