A History of the World in 30 letters from a father in jail, to his daughter. Let us break walls today.

Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody, but unbowed. — Invictus

• What does it take to recite a poem from memory?
• What does it take to recite it every time, you need it?
• Have you needed it, recently?
• What does it take to have a poem?

Mandela would often say that his real hero was not Gandhi, but Nehru.

He shared many of Nehru’s virtues — charm, pragmatism and respect for difference. And his flaws, an inability sometimes to subordinate himself to the priorities of the people he led.

They shared one more view on life.

In 1928 Jawaharlal Nehru who was not yet India’s first Prime Minister, was imprisoned for his involvement in the country’s struggle for freedom. During his time in prison he wrote a series of 30 wonderful letters to his then 10-year old daughter.

In this fine series of letters Nehru narrates a historical account of how and when the earth was formed, how human and animal life evolved, and how civilizations and societies came to be.

In subsequent letters, he writes to his daughter on a wide range of issues, including languages, trade, history, geography, science, epics, and evolution. In his effort to impart knowledge to his young daughter, he has a valuable lesson for us all, learning has no boundaries.

The letters have been published into a book. We recommend it.

On November 14th, Nehru’s birthday is celebrated in India as Children’s Day. Yes, we know — Universal Children’s Day is on 20th November and we have a special treat for you coming up that day.

So we are celebrating the children of India. Their naïve ideas, their parents and their amazing stories. We have two books from the kids at Rainbow homes for you tonight.

Our first storybook is courtesy — Pinky.

Click the picture below of the storybook, to download the published version.

Our second storybook is courtesy — Shireen

You know the drill — download, and print on A4 paper. A little magic involved after you print, as you can see below. If you have trouble, watch this video.

Happy Reading, from the grumpy editors & the cool folks at wallobooks.org

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P.S. Remember, anybody can write a storybook with us. You, or a little one in your family, or classroom — just let us know.