Photo: Roman Manandhar/Republica

KATHMANDU
Shree Ram Rai's book ‘Poleko Makai’ contains a total of seven short stories. The stories are optimistic and weaved around the current social scenario. This is his third book and revolves around child psychology where the child is the protagonist in all his stories. The book is a collection of Rai’s stories that have already been published in renowned newspapers and magazines.

Most of his stories’ setting has been done in urban areas and a few have rural settings. Characters in his stories are living in urban areas but with a rural background along with the pain to live separately for education.

The events in the stories are in chronological order having a moral to do good, be good and contribute to society. The language he has used is clear though in a few places his word choice could be heavy for the target audience.

He has a knack for details where he smoothly delivers the message through the characters and their dialogues. The expressive language in the stories helps to build a clear picture of what the characters are feeling and in what scenario they are living.

Only the cover of the book is colorful where the illustrations for the stories could have been enhanced. The facial features of the characters in the pictures give away a serious vibe rather than pleasant, though the stories are optimistic and cheerful.

The book is relevant for those who are in their pre-teens (9-12) and children of this age group go through many physical, emotional, social, and cognitive changes.
Moreover, children learn through their surroundings and how they are exposed to the outer world which helps them to build their habits. And reading books is one such habit that enriches them along with intellectual growth.

In this sense, Rai's book with strong moral values, the importance of friends, families, society, nature, culture among others helps those readers gain social and emotional behavior.

And children with significant social and emotional growth can increase their sense of independence where his stories are valuable to understanding our society and the perks of the right choices in life.

Books Himalaya has published the book which is priced at Rs 99.