My earliest memories of reading are browsing through a book with glossy white page with one alphabet on each page and pictures of things starting with that alphabet.I think childhood is a period very important
to the future intellectual development of the individual.I must say I was lucky to have parents and relatives who provided me with good books and whetted my interest in reading .
I list my five favourite childhood books as under
ANADA BOOKS
This was an Ahmedabad based publication house.The books published were mainly on mythology such as the Ramayan , Mahabharat and Srimad Bhagvadam. The books had illustrations on every page and the narrative was in a storylike manner. When I was very young I remember my aunty reading out from these books but when I was old enough I read them by myself. Let me share a funny fact with you here. When I started reading I had to read aloud a first. Later I could read without having to read loudly. For a first few days I was surprised as to how I was able to read in my mind without reading loudly.
AMAR CHITRA KATHA and TINKLE Which Indian youngster doesnt know the name on Uncle Pai. The Amar Chitra Katha was a series of books published by him on a variety of topics and on many Indian personalities. The cover of the book was so well designed I was tempted to pick up every Amar Chitra Katha I could find. The books were so well written even the adults were tempted to read them and found them useful. Till this day I read Amar Chitra Katha books which I have preserved since my childhood.
Tinkle was a magazine for children published by Uncle Pai for Amar Chitra Katha publications. The outstanding feature of this magazine was that the stories were contributed by the kids. The characters of twinkle such as Suppandi, Tantri the Mantri, Kalia the crow and Shikari Shambu the hunter whose eyes were always covered with his hat are alive till this days in the hearts and minds of countless children.
DIAMOND COMICS These were a series of comics for young people illustrated by the cartoonist Pran. They contained stories about the witty Chacha Chowdhury, the man whose mind works faster than a computer, his nagging wife and Saboo, an alien from Jupiter and Chacha’s loyal companion. Besides there were comics on other characters such as Lamboo - Motu and Toofani.
ARCHIES This was an American novel series about teenage students.Entertaining nevertheless.Archie , Jughead, Veronica are all immemorable characters of this series. Learnt the word dating for the first time from this series. TINTIN Who can forget the famous reporter Tintin with a funny tuft of hair. Also his faithful dog snowy , Captain Haddock , Professor Cuthbert Calculus with a hearing problem , the Thompson-Thomson Twin detectives , Jollyon Wagg , the nagging insurance agent. Tintin adventures were exciting and took the reader around the world.
Written by
Herge these comic books are still my all time favourite.
Besides these five I ought to mention Chandamama , Champak , Asterix and Mickey Donald comics.These books were entertaining , informative and educative.Wish I could travel back to those sweet days again.