This subscription box promises to interest children in the magical world of books and authors
In a world where gadgets and gizmos are given more importance than books, troubled by the declining number of child readers, three passionate bibliophiles—Ravi Subramanian, Sangram Surve and Shalini Surve—have taken it upon themselves to inculcate the love for reading in kids once again. India’s first ‘book subscription box’, Enchantico is created for children, between the age group of 5 to 12. Every month, subscribers will receive a box that includes two or three age-appropriate books, collectibles, activities, author cards and an activity sheet as a guide.
“The fear of missing out, gadget-craze, social engagements, fierce ambition and a desire to achieve more than their peer groups is pushing kids to do a lot of things, leaving them with little time to read. Within bookstores, children’s books hardly get the exposure that befits them,” shares Ravi Subramanian, Co-Founder and Chief Advisor of Enchantico. As a child, Subramanian never looked beyond Enid Blyton and RK Narayanan. While those were the only books available then, today, children have more options.
During one of his visits to a Barnes and Noble store, it surprised him to see an entire floor dedicated to children’s books. In India, children’s books are relegated to one corner of a bookstore. Online portals are not particularly encouraging in allowing kids to discover new books. So, even those youngsters who read regularly only explore the ‘cool’ genres instead of trying to discover something new.
Enchantico started, two years ago, after a discussion at Litomania—the literature festival, on how parents are not sufficiently exposed to the capacious variety of children’s books. The trio decided to help parents and kids in the process.
“We started working on this concept in early 2016 and by September we got the ball rolling.
The biggest challenge was convincing ourselves that parents would be open to this idea of specially curated books being sent to children,” he says. “In an age, where screens rule our life, books bring the dimension of depth which is much needed for kids,” he concludes.
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