YOUNG

Katha’s latest e-book on corona won’t scare you away, says Geeta Dharmarajan

Having a heart-to-heart conversation with kids would help eliminate fears around coronavirus

 
By Pallavi Ghosh
Published: Wednesday 08 April 2020

The Mystery Of The Missing Soap The village of Dakshinpur is full of happy and loving faces. But what happens when the soap mysteriously disappears from the village?

“The Mystery Of The Missing Soap” written by Geeta Dharmarajan is an exciting story that acts as a one-stop guide for children to understand the impact of coronavirus and protect themselves from it without feeling paralyzed by fear and panic.

“Today, children are getting a list of dos and don'ts from multiple channels of information, including platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. This book dives into the issue of pandemic and has a heart-to-heart, easy conversation with the kids about how to take care of themselves and their loved ones,” said Dharmarajan, founder and president of Katha, a New-Delhi based non profit.

Children, already spending their days in confinement during the 21-day lockdown period, are exposed to several hard hitting facts. On the TVs, they are getting stories about death toll, confinement, and the mass exodus of working-class migrants from the media. As a result of this, a sense of fear has crept in among them.

To fight this climate of fear and panic, the book, a work of fiction, relies on storytelling, wit, and humour to talk about the issue.

“After all, there is nothing intimidating about washing hands! However, it is difficult,” added Dharmarajan.

The book is, therefore, careful in reminding its young readers the importance of simple measures like washing hands and practicing social distancing. And this is done in an interesting and friendly manner so that kids can avoid falling sick.

“The mystery of the missing soap” will be available if 5 languages- Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Tamil and English.

Circulated as an e-book via newsletters and e-mails, Katha has decided to distribute it free of cost among it’s network of non profits, schools and teachers.

You can catch hold of this e-book here!

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