Bengaluru bookstores see rise in demand for kids’ books

A survey has found that children are not reading as much as they used to. Only 35% of the 76,000 children surveyed by the National Literacy Trust, UK, said they read during their spare time.

But how do Bengaluru kids fare? Metrolife spoke to bookstore owners in the city.

Mayi Gowda, owner of Blossom Book House, has seen an increase in the number of children coming into his stores, located on Church Street. “Sales have picked up after Covid. We get a lot of our revenue from Gen Z and younger kids,” he says. 

Building a habit

A majority of the sales are driven by parents who want their kids to cultivate the habit. Mayi’s youngest customer is a six-month old baby. “The parents came in with the baby and bought a board book (picture books for babies). I was not sure the baby could understand. They told me they did not own a television set out of choice, and wanted to entertain the baby through books,” he recalls.

Children slightly older have a preference for simplified classics, and series like J K Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ and Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’, he says. Gen Z, on the other hand, prefers dark romance, and murder mysteries such as ‘Thursday Murder Club’ by Richard Osman.

It’s a similar story at Bookworm, also on Church Street. Proprietor Krishna Gowda has noticed an increase in sales of children’s books over the years. “About 20% of our daily revenue comes from children’s books,” he says. 

However, he notes that literary classics are not as popular.

“Kids are more interested in fantasy novels. Classics by Roald Dahl, Ruskin Bond and others are overlooked,” Krishna shares. Bilingual books from publishers like Pratham, Tulika and Tara also find many takers.

At Aakruti Books, Rajajinagar, children’s books are thriving, states owner Guruprasad D N. Customers in the six to 10 age group pick up genres like adventure and humour. The ‘Geronimo Stilton’ series by Elisabetta Dami and the ‘Diary of Wimpy Kid’ series by Jeff Kinney are frequently bought, apart from board books and illustrated books by authors like Eric Carle and Julia Donaldson.  

Interest in Kannada books

Guruprasad has noticed an increased interest in children’s books in Kannada at his store. “Over the past two-three years, publishers have been coming out with illustrated books in Kannada,” he says. The Kannada books cover topics that excite children, such as fictional tales about animals. He hopes publishers would bring out more Kannada books in other genres, so that the language is read more by kids.

However, Dhananjay N, has seen more takers for English books than Kannada books at his store, Beetle Bookshop, in Vijayanagar. In English, activity and fantasy books are popular, while in Kannada, mythological fiction based on the ‘Mahabharata’, ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Bhagvad Gita’ are commonly purchased.

“As there is less demand for Kannada books, publishers are hesitant. Hence, the genres in Kannada are not as extensive. But, some, like Moggu Books, are making an effort to publish books on varied topics,” he explains. 

Poetry and non-fiction

Radhika Timbadia of Champaca Bookstore, Edward Road, cannot say for sure if there has been a noticeable increase in young readers. However, she does see a large number of them during the weekends. Her customers in the 6-12 age group favour picture books, and mystery, crime, adventure and fantasy novels. “Non-fiction and graphic novels also sell well,” she says. Recently, a curated collection of poetry books for kids sold out in no time. “It was a little experiment to see how popular poetry would be among children. Since we sold out, we are planning to restock and maybe expand the collection,” she reveals.