These parents are keeping the art of bedtime storytelling alive

Replacing phone with books

Bedtime storytelling is a ritual in the Bhargova household in Delhi. Three-year-old Myra has been falling asleep listening to stories from the time she was six months old. “I don’t read out fairy tales to her because every story ends with the girl settling down with her prince. This is not an empowering message for little girls,” says Nidhi, who prefers reading gender neutral stories to her daughter. Nidhi also keeps books in the car so that Myra can read them during long rides. “Otherwise, she used to ask for my phone,” Nidhi adds.

A boy who loves stories of rebel girls

Who said reading about feisty female heroes was only for little girls? Kalyan resident Rashmi Majli says the global bestseller Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, which profiles extraordinary women, is a favourite with her eight-year-old boy, Atharva. He also loves the stories of aviation pioneer

Amelia Earhart

, computer scientist Margaret Hamilton and suffragist Kate Sheppard. To inculcate a sense of inclusiveness, Rashmi hasn’t shied from reading him a story about a boy who realises he is gay. Of course, such bold choices can lead to questions. “Hearing about all these successful career women, he often asks me why I don’t work,” Rashmi says with a laugh.

Winnie the Pooh fires up her imagination

Stories in which animals talk and behave like people appeal the most to Joshika Chatterjee. Having heard Winnie the Pooh multiple times, Joshika loves to mimic the anthropomorphic bear and go around her room asking all the stuffed animals for a jar of

honey

. “Even on days that I am really tired I make sure that I read at least one story to her,” says Kolkata resident Mou Dey.

Panchatantra

tales are also a bedtime favourite of this six-year-old.

Lost in a fairytale world
Listening to stories has helped Ilham Parvez, 17, develop language skills and vocabulary way beyond what her development disorder would normally allow. Her mother, Reshma, says that Ilham loves listening to stories about princesses, and even writes her own fables which feature her and her cousin Muskaan as the protagonists. “She tries to recreate the

fantasy

world she reads about in her own life,” says Reshma, a school teacher in Bengaluru.

Tales over toys

Two-year-old Tejas is a restless kid. You give him toys and he will play with them for not more than 10 minutes. But read him a story and he can sit quietly for an hour. “His eyes sparkle, face gets animated and he claps with joy while listening to stories at bedtime,” says Rajalakshmi, his mother and an HR professional in Chennai.