Reinstating power of storytelling among children
I n the technology-driven world where kids are always into their phone and television screens, the habit of reading amongst children has witnessed a massive downfall. To re-inculcate the habit of reading in today's kids, Neha Jain Kale has come up with a book of short stories – 'Your Story Your World'.
The author, who likes to create an unbelievable world through her characters, talks to Millennium Post and shares how she came up with the idea of weaving uninteresting bits of information into engaging tales for children.
How did you come up with the idea of this book? How much time did it take to complete it?
Once I was with my daughter making her memorise flags of the world, when I first came across memory techniques - a skill that makes learning easier. They'd been around for long, but no one ever spoke about them. I had lots of information to give her and was looking for plenty of ways to make her remember the colours and characteristics of each flag.
In that process, I stumbled upon creating some memory chains for her to make her learning easier. I quickly realised that I'd found an approach to learning that could be used in any aspect. Later that night, I ended up making similar chains for learning. It was like getting superpowers! I thought now I could make my daughter learn anything with this simple technique. My best memory chains were super simple - I used my mental imagery, created symbolic characters and wrote stories to represent a particular country, so it stayed in her memory for long.
Earlier this year, I thought of compiling all my stories in the form of a book, which took a year of research.
How did your contact with kids in schools help you with this book?
I relocated to Singapore three years back from India and since then I have been running an educational startup. This set up deals in designing and curating educational boxes for children. My association with children and schools started from there and that is how my little munchkins, their parents, school teachers happily welcomed my stories into their lives.
How is this book different from all other 'short stories' or 'knowledge books' being written for children across the world?
'Your Story Your World' is a concept-book, which is based on a very unique concept called the 'mnemonic link system' that helps children retain concepts by making memory chains. All the stories in my book aim to reinstate the power of storytelling among children and invoke their natural curiosity. By doing so, I have tried to help in broadening their imagination as well as embracing wishful thinking.
When should we expect another book by you?
The second book is under process and will be an extension to the first one. I aim to cover all seven continents of the world in next one year. It should be out sometime early next year.
