The World of Ramu and Ramya is a set of children’s books from the Little Book Lovers’ Reading Series. This series is designed for children who are just starting to read, i.e. ages 2 to 6.
Read about the inspiration for the Little Book Lovers’ Reading Series, the process of creating titles for emerging readers and the birth of a publishing house!
Necessity, the mother of creation
The story of how we created Ramu and Ramya, started the Little Book Lovers’ Reading Series and our own children’s publishing house Ms Moochie Books, is all wrapped together in one happy tale!
The year was 2013, and we just couldn’t find an Indian title about sibling love for the age group of 6 to 8. So, we did the next best thing- we decided to write one.
And thus, Ramu and Ramya were born!
It was during the writing process for Ramu and Ramya that we also started our children’s publishing house. We called it ‘Ms Moochie’, after a cow who loved to read (Ms Mooooo–chie).
The first title published by Ms Moochie Books, Aditi Zoo, was launched at Bookaroo Delhi in the Winter of 2013. The book did well, but, well, it didn’t exactly change the world. We needed a new strategy. That’s when we started to look for other gaps we could explore and create books to fill in those empty spaces.
We realized that there were several sets of graded readers for the early years- books that employed particular strategies to get children to learn to read, such as the I Can Read or the Step Into Reading series. However, these employed “dollar values” (the stories contained words like “ham”, “snow”, “Halloween”), and at “dollar pricing” (more expensive than the average Indian picture book). There seemed to be a gap for a good Indian emergent reader series.
And that’s how the Little Book Lovers’ Reading Series was born.
Our first six Ramu and Ramya books gave us the experience required to make a good Indian emergent reader which employed rhythm and rhyme in the stories and integrated reading strategies to help children pick up the skill of reading.
Ramu and Ramya take on the World
When we started with Ramu’s Ride and Ramya’s Snack Box, we encountered unexpected success. Ramu’s Ride was about Ramu’s tryst with a bicycle on a sunny afternoon. In Ramya’s Snack Box, she shares her snacks with her friends and then realises that she has left her lunch box at home.
Our sales on Amazon India were terrific. Both titles were recommended by Amazon’s Children’s Book Shelf within a few months. We had more organic reviews on Amazon than many other popular Indian children’s picture books! Definitely a proud moment for us.
We decided to build on the success of the first two books, and produce a set of great books featuring Ramu and Ramya through a crowd-sourcing effort.
This was our plan:
And we succeeded!
Fast forward to today, the Ramu and Ramya books are published and available for you to enjoy. They’re gorgeous. We hope you love them as much as we loved creating them.
Enter the World of Ramu and Ramya
These books are perfect for ages 2-6 when children are just picking up reading. Choose your favourite Ramu and Ramya adventures and make your very own set!
Have you read
The Little Book Lovers’ Series yet?
Between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, children learn by recognizing patterns. The Little Book Lovers’ books use this as an anchor. Stories are told with distinct rhythms and auditory patterns. The sentences are in rhyme and are positioned in the same place on each page, which offers predictability for new readers.
Explore Ms Moochie Books
Ms Moochie Books is an independent publishing house for contemporary Indian children’s books. They are known for their unique approach to creating children’s books, which makes children the center of the entire process.
All new stories are first taken to classrooms by storytellers. Feedback from the children is passed on to the author, who makes changes until the story gets an emphatic thumbs up in the classroom. Only after reaching this stage, is the book finally made. This stands in contrast to publishers who work in offices, away from the world of children.
What did you think of the series?
Leave a comment below and let us know!
Also check out our reviews of books on the Neev Awards 2019 Shortlist!
Hungry for more children’s writing? Don’t miss the Best of Indian Children’s Writing (BICW) – Contemporary Award List!
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