In this review, I will be talking about three Pratham books published in 2023— North, South, East, West; You Won’t Believe Me; and Full of Light. Pratham books has a 4-tiered reading scale and these are all Level 4 books, i.e., ‘for older children who can read with confidence’. Broadly, I would agree with that categorizing, though in our country, levelling uniformly is always difficult. These three books are all at different levels in terms of the number of words per page and the complexity of the language used (with Full of Light perhaps at a more advanced level, and You Won’t Believe Me at a more accessible one), and so would not all be equally accessible to every independent reader. I would add that all of these stories can be read aloud to younger children as well, who, with the help of a teacher/librarian/parent, would certainly be able to engage meaningfully with the story.
NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST
Dhruva Desai
NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST by By CG Salamander. Illustrated by Kavita Singh Kale Pratham Books, 2023, 24 pp., INR 85.00
YOU WON’T BELIEVE MEby By Jairaj Singh. Illustrated by Bhargavi Rudraraju Pratham Books, 2023, 28 pp., INR 90.00
FULL OF LIGHTby By Mathangi Subramanian. Illustrated by Proiti Roy Pratham Books, 2023, pp., INR 85.00