Chuskit goes to school!
by Sujatha Padmanabhan and illustrated by Madhuvanti Anantharajan
“Chuskit goes to school!” by Sujata Padmanabhan and illustrated by Madhuvanti Anantharajan. Published by Pratham books. A delightful story of Chuskit who is a nine year old girl living in the village of Skitpo Yul in Ladakh.
Chuskit longs to go to school, learn and play with friends like her younger brother and other children. Surprising isn’t it given that she is nine years old. But she is bound to a wheelchair and the path from her home to school is uneven and difficult for her to access.
A chance meeting with Abdul who is a class 6 student and his understanding of Chuskit’s dreams and problems changes her life. He decides to do something about Chuskit’s right to education. He speaks to the headmaster of his school that Chuskit should also get a chance to attend school. They could all get together and level the path as well as build a small bridge across the stream next to the school.
The headmaster has a meeting with all the teachers and discusses about Abdul’s proposal. The children and staff of the government school work to level the path thereby helping Chuskit to attend school. All in all a lovely story of empathy, co-operation, inclusion, problem solving and the lovely people of Ladakh.
This was a perfect read for my (then) six year old after the much loved “Thukpa for all”. The book is level 3 (Pratham Books’ levels of books) and apt for children above 6 years. Thank you Vidya Mani for recommending this beautiful book in one of the funky rainbow buzzaars! We loved reading this on story weaver many times and couldn’t resist buying it 😀
PS - The bird watcher in me was delighted to spot the Black-billed Magpies in the opening page of the book.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Pratham Books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
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