Every parent of a child who loves books has a similar story. There’s the moment their child picked up a book and got lost in it. The first time they had to be called for dinner two or three times. Or the morning they found their child reading under the covers with a torch at some ridiculous hour. Parents of children who don’t love reading yet have their own stories. There are struggles over screen time. Reading a book can feel like pulling teeth. Library books might come back

Before I set foot in a library, I had already been to Kirrin Island, solving mysteries with The Famous Five. Noddy was a favourite childhood cartoon. Malory Towers was the most magical school in children’s literature before Hogwarts came in. Enid Blyton is one of those rare authors whose stories have shaped childhoods so deeply that her name feels more like a memory than just a name. For millions of readers around the world—especially in Britain, India, Australia, and the Com

Every summer, I pick up a small Tinkle Digest, a Harry Potter book, or Winnie the Pooh—stories I first read as a child. The pages are faded, the colour of old mustard or coffee. I don’t read them just for nostalgia, though that feeling is always there. I read them because they still surprise me. That’s the special magic of great children’s books: they’re made to last long after we grow up. In serious literary circles, children’s books hold a strange place. We call them “forma

Have you ever thought about your TBR pile? In Japanese, there’s a word called Tsundoku. It refers to the habit of buying books and letting them pile up, usually unread. There’s something quite comforting in that, actually, for many book lovers. If you’re reading this, you probably have a shelf, a stack, or maybe even a whole room full of books you haven’t read yet. These are books you meant to read, just waiting for their turn. You’re not alone. Every book lover goes through

Have you ever left a book unfinished because you got distracted? Yes, I have. I loved reading as a child, but as I grew up, maintaining the habit became a challenge because of all the external noise around me. And one day, I just realised how much I missed my reading time, my “me” time, in the busy life. For me, reading has always been my space. A space where I sit with myself, talk with myself, listen to myself and introspect on my life. It’s my sacred space, touched by none