Re-igniting a sense of wonder

Children's literature in Southasia continues to remain a poor cousin of 'serious' literature for adults, in the minds of both authors and readers. This is despite the fact that the genre has acquired increasing popularity and respectability in recent years. Indeed, the stunning success of the Harry Potter series and other Western children's series has nudged many mainstream publishers into according it increasing importance in their lists. Yet while things may be improving at a global level, children's literature in Southasia, still often dull and moralistic, has not been able to break free from the shackles of pedagogy. Continuing to reflect centuries-old hang-ups, books aimed at children, it is still felt, must edify and instruct if they are to have any value at all.

For any kind of literature, it is not that a pedagogical link is necessarily a crippling impediment. Rather, in this situation the problem lies in the narrow, outdated concepts that continue to hold sway across much of the region, emphasising rote learning and the uncritical absorption of large chunks of (often useless) information. At its best, an education system should encourage creativity and evoke a sense of wonder, allowing the imagination to roam free. This is something that, in Southasia, education systems signally fail to do – a failure that is, in turn, reflected in the quality of literature written for children.