This series of 30 early grade readers has been developed in Marathi by Pratham Books to support guided and independent reading in grades 1-3, when children are learning to read.
It is now widely recognized by educationists (though not practiced in most of our schools) that textbooks alone are insufficient for teaching learning of language and literacy. The important role of storybooks and good literature in language acquisition as well as holistic development of the child cannot be over-emphasized. Literature with good stories and varied content is critical for developing interest and widening exposure. Alongside, children also need books which they can use for practicing their newly developing reading skill. These books need to be close to the child’s reading level in terms of akshara, matras they are learning, and graded readers can play an important role for that. Given the purpose, graded readers are not to be evaluated from the point of view of their rich literary quality, layered text and depth of a story. Nevertheless, good, graded readers need to work in terms of their theme, language, illustrations and production quality.