Books for children to combat pandemic stress

Swati Rai

‘Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.’ Holbrook Jackson.

Reading as a pleasurable, insightful and enriching and a meditative activity cannot be stressed enough for both. This pastime has become extremely important in the times of ceaseless virtual classes and the anxiety that the Pandemic brings to a child’s mind.

To say that any reading list is endless and not finite would be an understatement. It is an ongoing endless process and to condense it to a list of five is surely limited if not unfair. However, across themes and a blend of classics and current, a variety of books need to be read by children to not only bring wisdom, calm and sagacity to the reading table but also, a sense of calm.

Not only are the reading varieties comprehensive, the mode of reading is also vast and expansive now.  From E-reading to audible and of course the traditional paperbacks and hard bound varieties, also age specific reading list must be drafted out with care and caution keeping the themes and language in mind.

Here are a few books, across a range of interests, that could be a calming influence on a child, between the age of 9-12. 

 Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond

 The era of self-isolation and lockdowns has been especially harmful to the children as they are cocooned at home. To break this monotony of imposed solitude on children and to bring nature into their lives, a read of sublime Ruskin Bond is a must. His earliest novel and an autobiographical A Room on the Roof, is one where, as he hopes ‘the characters walk off into our lives’ as they certainly do.

Bond’s lyrical ink wields a subtle charm and quiet power and will transport you into the charming world of a hilly town. His endearing characters inhabit not the one-day touristy hills but traverse the ups and downs of life! They live in the moment and also talk of the future; they relish the sickly-sweet jalebis from a dusty, bustling market, that they call home away from home!

‘A town called Dehra’, ‘Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra’, ‘Dust on the Mountains’, ‘The Night Train at Deoli’, ‘The Adventures of Rusty’, ‘Time stops at Shamli’; in all these stories, Bond’s world is inhabited with all that is nature- animals, trees, mountains and the mystery that comes with it.

 Ancient Wisdom of Hitopdesha

 For quietude of the mind and also for instilling morals and good values; translations and also regional language reading of the ancient Indian texts, such as Hitopdesha (Beneficial advice) is a must do.  Full of astute observations, relaying life truths, wise saws and values, not in a didactic way but in an engaging manner for children through a motley of anthropomorphic animals — tigers, jackals, monkeys, bears, elephants, interacting with humans in a series of stories from everyday life.  Divided into four parts of every day Mitralabha: How to gain a friend; Suhrdbheda: How to lose a friend; Vigraha: War; Sandhi: Peace; these fables convey a sagacious ways of living, in simple, elegant language that may be enjoyed during a family reading time.  

Charlie and the chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

How can Roald Dahl not make the cut for any children’s must read list? From the many masterpieces from his repertoire, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stands out as a sensory and linguistic revel. A ‘Golden Ticket’ to Mr. Willy Wonka's magical chocolate factory accompanied by four of his quirky friends.

 A sense of adventure, not only in imagination but also how it is visually bought to life, makes it a must read for children as well as adults with a child-like disposition. Dahl’s characteristic humour with funny vocabulary, absurd behaviour will suspend time for the readers, transport you into a child’s imagination and its turns. The level of exaggeration, play of word, alliterations et al will enthral the child and the adult alike and refresh the mind.

 Best Classic Short Stories for Children

 All children should read short stories of the masters, the classics. Not only are these of apt length, sustain the interest through the short swift actions of the protagonists, around myriad human-interest themes from varied genres such as science fiction, mystery, ghost stories to name a few. A must read also because of the dive into the minds of the masterly wordsmiths in such a compilation comprising, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Rabindranath Tagore, Rudyard Kipling, Louisa May Alcott and Anton Chekhov, O. Henry, Oscar Wilde, Saki; and extracts from children’s classics such as The Railway Children and Little Women. With a host of popular characters such as Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre and Dracula, introducing children to a range of enduring literature. What’s not to love!