Facilitating diversity and inclusion in children’s literature: the story of Pratham Books’ Diversity Handbook, in collaboration with UNICEF

In 2021, so many of us found ourselves huddled around our screens. By then e-meetings had become a way of life, often accompanied by groans and sometimes by sheer relief. However, this time, there was excitement and nervousness. The Pratham Books Editorial Team along with UNICEF India was anchoring a focus group discussion with members from the children’s literature community to understand how to unpack and champion diversity in picture books. To do that we needed to come together, to not only talk but also listen, about gender, caste, disability and their intersections, to be able to become better creators who work with empathy, solidarity, and as accomplices.

The rest of the days were spent in a blur of conversations with more experts, with each other, with UNICEF India, followed by lots of discussions, and of course, copious amounts of notes.

The wisdom we gained, became The World We Live in / The Words We Create. We see it as a handbook, rather than a guide. It is a living document that you can take and repurpose, relearn and rethink. Because we all need to do this to become better creators.

Pratham Books believes in open access to reduce the book scarcity problem. This is why The World We Live in/ The Words We Create is released under a CC BY 4.0 license. It is available to read and download for free. You may download the handbook here: Forging new worlds with our words – Pratham Books and UNICEF India publishes a handbook on creating diverse picture books – Pratham Books.