This Children’s Day, Pupil Tree, from Future Tree Learning Services Pvt. Ltd, helped start ‘Booky Bob’, a unique interactive reading hub designed to nurture children’s love for learning. The unique library aims at promoting healthy reading, leading to analytical thinking, making use of the rich literature that is available here.

‘Booky Bob’, the first interactive learning hub of its kind, was inaugurated by B Jayashree, the well known theatre and literary personality in Bangalore. Jayashree is also a great promoter of book reading among children and has book reading shows on local channels especially aimed at increasing their reading habits. One of the new initiatives of the Future Tree Learning Services (FTLS), The Pupil Tree provides a secure, safe, happy knowledge space for children with ‘Booky Bob’.

Jayashree in the inaguration function (Pic: Pupil Tree)

Inaugurating ‘Booky Bob’, B. Jayashree said that promoting reading among children was an essential element of parenting and schooling. The first step in improving learning levels of children was giving them an opportunity to read and enjoy so that over time it develops into a habit. "‘Booky Bob’ is the right step in that direction", she said.

Prabhu Jahagirdar, Director, FTLS, dwelt at length about the concept behind ‘Booky Bob’ and said that along with access to schooling, the quality of learning was also important. "Proficiency in subjects is linked with language reading and comprehension levels, which will only improve when children have the opportunity to read and discover for themselves", said Jahagirdar.

As a concerned parent I am glad to be a part of ‘Booky Bob’ as it follows the policy of grading the children with the only aim of improving their book reading habits. Although, my contribution is restricted to collaborating with the trained staff to promote reading quality books and encouraging children to delve into the mysteries through imagination and dreaming, I feel that close interactive approach on a regular basis is excellent.

‘Booky Bob’ is scheduled to be open from Tuesday to Friday between 4 PM and 7 PM and between 10.30 AM and 7 PM on Saturday and Sunday to children of JP Nagar, Jayanagar and BTM layout. Monday is the weekly off. The activities include (1) Books and reading space (2) Weekend activities and programmes (4) Multimedia facilities and (4) Literary and adventure clubs.

Jayashree with children (Pic: Pupil Tree)

Under Books & Reading space, children can enjoy unlimited reading pleasure from a wide range of books for all ages- story books, subject books, general knowledge, picture books, comics, activity books and magazines in the comfortable and unconstrained environs of ‘Booky Bob’. Parents and guardians accompanying them will also find books and reading material of interest.

A unique, first of its kind offering from ‘Booky Bob’ is The Graded Reading Programme(GRP). The GRP is an English language immersion programme that guides children to raise their reading standard. First, the reading levels of children are assessed through a proprietary standard reading assessment tool. The reading assessment is done on several parameters like pronunciation, reading frequency, comprehension which helps to determine the child’s reading level. GRP has a recommended book list for each reading level which contains 15 to 20 books. The list provides a balance between story, poem, drama and non-fiction, representing a blend of local and global cultures.

Weekend activities are an important component of Booky Bob. The programme will offer a congenial, fun-filled environment where children can pursue a variety of hobbies like art, craft, dance, drama, creative writing, games and even cooking, with focus on fun-filled activities. These activities are generally related to a particular theme or an event relevant to a given month.

For example, there will be an essay writing competition for children on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, rangoli on the occasion of Dasara and Halloween’s party for Halloween’s Day celebrations. The guiding principle underlying all activities of ‘Booky Bob’ is ‘learning through fun’.

‘Booky Bob’ staff comprises of trained librarians and attendants, who promise to make it a vibrant friendly place with bright, cheerful ambience. Children of all age groups will find ‘Booky Bob’ an open, inviting, attractive, friendly and fun place to be at. ⊕