Biju Spins Some Magic, a cultural children’s story for early to middle grades, Biju accompanies his father to Delhi to sell the saris.
Biju and his family are weavers in rural Odisha. They create beautiful fabrics to sell in the cities of India and abroad. In this tale of Biju’s adventures find out how he impresses a city boy with his magic skills.
Jaya Jaitly’s fun- filled story is illustrated by Bhramara Nayak in the patachitra style, a traditional painting of Odisha, India
Biju Spins Some Magic is a story about a young boy in rural India which provides a wonderful example of how children in other cultures live.
Text and Images from Biju Spins Some Magic
It was a hot afternoon in the quiet, dusty village of Jilminda, near Sambalpur, in Odisha. Biju, all of nine years old, sat under a tree waiting for his father. He was going with Bapa on a long journey.
A fly buzzed near his ear. The glare of the sun along with the steady clack-clack of the handlooms from the huts nearby made him feel sleepy. He thought he would doze a bit in the company of the brown dog that had come to share the shade with him, but the dog was panting so loudly in the heat that it kept Biju awake.
Biju, like most of the children in his village, did not go to school. He had wanted to go to school but his parents had said there was no use in him learning things that had nothing to do with their weaving profession. He would get just useless thoughts in his head about working in an office.
So Biju tried to convince himself that school was no fun at all because the boys who did go looked miserable and had to carry heavy bags full of books. A friend’s brother had got himself a ‘degree’ after attending school but it had not helped him get a job. He had gone up and down many stairs in the tall office buildings of Mumbai but had been
offered jobs only at teashops, newspaper kiosks and by janitors. He was back at home now, helping his father weave ikat saris, which he took to Mumbai once in a while to sell to a wholesale merchant.
About the Publisher
This book is created by Dastkari Haat Samiti, a large organization of Indian craftspeople, working to improve the social and economic status of people engaged in traditional handicraft skills. Local forms of painting and craftwork have been used to illustrate this series of four stories to encourage the sharing of varied cultural expressions. This work was made possible with the support of UNESCO, New Delhi.
This awesome free children’s story is provided in Creative Commons by Pratham and the Storyweaver platform.
See more books about Culture below
Dance Khuzwayo, Dance! - Khuzwayo is picked to be the village’s next Ingoma dancer, to celebrate the first crops of the year, but will he have the courage to dance? \ Illustrated by Jess Jardim-Wedepohl Written by Fiske Serah Nyirongo Designed by Job Mubinya Another amazing story from www.bookdash.org, aiming ...
A Trip to the Tap - Oluhle is excited to go to the tap and fetch water, she will see her friends there, but what happens when she can’t find her bucket? Illustrated by Phumle April Written by Sindeka Mandoyi Designed by Nadene Kriel Sample Page from A Trip to the Tap Download the full book by selecting one of ...
The Conical Hat - A short story about conical hats and all their important uses. Great for young children, learning to read, and ESL. Sample page from The Conical Hat Author: Ram Babu Subedi Illustrator: Promina Shreshtha Brought to us by Room to Read. Read along with Kiwi Opa: Spread the love
Bulli and the Tiger - Bulli is a little girl growing up in a bamboo-weavers’ community. Bulli finds her father troubled and discovers the bamboo suppliers threatened to raise the rates and put their whole village in jeopardy. Bulli looks for other ways of finding bamboo, and ends up facing the legendary tiger! Will the villagers find another way? Shalini ...
The Smile – Inuit Fable - In the harsh Arctic winter a girl, her family, and her dog struggle to survive. When her parents go in search of food the girl has a dream and resurrects the village landmark which in turn brings them good fortune. The book is adorned with gorgeous Inuit inspired art. Terms in the book: inunnguaq – ...
A Slice of Cake - It’s Snozz’s birthday and his mum wants to bake him a cake but she has run out of flour and eggs. Snozz and his Mum jump in their spacecraft and go on a journey to borrow some flour and eggs from their neighbours on earth. This book is symbolic of “International Day” celebrated by ex-pat ...
Tania Is Confused - This is book 34 of The Tania Series. With so many different religions, philosophies, theories and gods, Tania is utterly confused. Who or what is god? How does god affect her life? What does god want her to do? What does science have to say about god? The questions keep piling up. A discussion with ...
The Village Leader – Women’s Empowerment - In The Village Leader we follow the history of Than Kyi, one of the only female village leaders in all of Kayah State. In fact, she is one of the very few Myanmar women serving as village and ward leaders. Than Kyi always wanted to help her village and when the opportunity arose she stepped ...
Home – Poignant look at refugee status - Home is a poignant look at life for a little girl that ends up as a refugee. The little girl lives in a village with her family but one day armed men are on their way inbound and her and her mother are separated from her family and follow a river of people to a ...
Kali Wants to Dance – Biography of Kali Veerapathiran - Kali Wants to Dance is the biography of Kali Veerapathiran born in a fishing Village, with a talent and passion in dancing. But his family does not have enough money to spare for dance classes. And who has heard of boys dancing for a living? “Who has ever learned dance and made any money from it? It’s a ...See more books by Pratham’s Storyweaver below
Unni’s Wish - Unni doesn’t understand why he can’t have cold lime juice, a fan to keep cool, or TV like his friend, then one day some men come to work in his village, what do you think will happen? A beautiful Creative Commons book from Pratham Books. Attribution: Unnit’s Wish (English), written by Meryl Garcia, illustrated by ...
See You Tomorrow – fun early reader - A young boy tells all his animal friends “See you tomorrow,”, but will he see them all tomorrow? And if so when? A cute story with lots of repetition and imagery perfect for early readers. Sample Page from See You Tomorrow Read along with the video of See You Tomorrow, read by Kiwi Opa: Attribution: ...
Let’s Count Legs - A fun counting book featuring the numbers 2,4,6, and 8. Brought to us by The Asia Foundation and Storyweaver. Author: All Children Reading Cambodia Illustrator: Measa Sovonnarea Sample Page from Let’s Count Legs Read along with Kiwi Opa in the video of Let’s Count Legs: Spread the love
The Pottering Pig - The pottering pig causes all sorts of chaos, but did she break the potter’s pots? A cute whodunnit, when the Pottering Pig is accused of a crime she may or may not have committed. Author: Rohit Kulkarni Illustrator: Priya Kuriyan Sample Page from The Pottering Pig: Brought to us by Pratham Books. Read along with ...
Croak – the tale of a frog - There’s a frog in the classroom, but can Masterji see it? Or does he think the children are pulling a prank on him? Find out in this beautifully illustrated story ideal for early grades. Author: Kavitha Punniyamurthi, Illustrator: Ekta Bharti Originally published by Pratham Books on their Storyweaver Platform. Sample Page from Croak Spread the ...
Hungry on the Steps – Early Learning - Count with a hungry family, trekking up the stairs to their house, and someone else is hungry too – join in, in this cute interactive story featuring repetition, rhyme, and counting, perfect for early learning. Sample Text from Hungry on the Stairs “I am hungry!” Pranav shouts. “Hurry, then!” Amma says. “But why?” “You are ...
Gorillas Go to the Beach - What would gorillas do if they went to the beach? A beautifully illustrated short children’s story for young children, also suitable for learn to read age. Author/Illustrator: Jemma Jose See more books about animals in our Animals Category. See more books like this in our Toddlers Category Download or read online the full book by ...
I Love My Planet – Child friendly conservation guide - I do not use plastic bags but I use cloth bags instead.
I Know My Rights – Explaining, Celebrating, and Creating Awareness of Children’s Human Rights - We are re-releasing this beautiful book for the upcoming celebration of International Human Rights day. In I Know My Rights, Menaka Raman explains in a clear and no compromises way what children’s basic human rights are. The poignant book includes a child-friendly version of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child and advice ...
How Many? – Counting and simple addition - In this book we meet beautifully illustrated creatures and count how many to answer simple addition problems. Author: Sudeshna Shome Ghosh, Illustrator: Sayan Mukherjee. Another great book from Pratham and Storyweaver. – See many more books like this in our Maths Category. Read the full book by selecting one of the buttons below the post. ...Sponsored Links:
Note – if you sign up through these links, it doesn’t cost you any extra, but FKB receives a small donation, which helps us with our project to buy more FREE Hardcopies for kids who need them
All our posts are checked by Grammarly, the FREE online grammar checker (We still receive a donation even if you only sign up for the free account :-):
I loved reading this book because it gave me information about indian culture
It was a story about a kid who didn’t feel important in the world but, then showed a kid something he had learned and then felt important.