BOOK 2#

Title- The Red Fairy

 

 

Publisher, Place- Pratham books, Bangalore

 

Grade – 3^rd

Genre - Picture book,

Theme - Gender/ Environment

Author –Kamla Bhasin

 

Brief biography

 

Kamla Bhasin or Kamla didi, is a renowned Feminist author and Women Rights activist. She is known for her fiery arguments on various issues related to gender and caste within our society. She has also worked with women from several marginalised and underprivileged communities. As an author she continues to raise important questions around gender norms and inequalities of caste and class.

Her other writings include -Borders & Boundaries: Women in India's Partition, Understanding Gender and What Is Patriarchy?

 

 

Synopsis

 

Do you remember your hobbies from when you were little? Did you ever collect stones and pebbles of different shapes? If yes then meet 'meeto', who has an interesting hobby just like you!

She loves cars, motorcycles and everything on wheels. But recently, she has met the 'Red Fairy, which is unlike any other vehicle she has seen before. Are you ready to meet the Red Fairy?

 

Reading strategies

 

The red fairy can be used as a text in language classrooms, as well in EVS classrooms while engaging with the themes of transport / travel.

 

Pre- reading

 

• Show the cover page of the story to the students and ask them to predict what the story is about, by looking at the pictures.
• Once the students are done predicting, ask them about how they come to school from home? What transport do they use? Like cycle, bus, rickshaw etc. who is the driver of these vehicles?
• If they don’t use any vehicle at all, why so?

 

During reading

 

• You can stop and ask the students, what are your hobbies? What do you like to do?
• Have you seen any electric cars around you? If yes, were they like the red fairy?
• What is air pollution? Have you heard of any other types of pollution as well?

 

After reading

•   You can use persuasion map, a type of graphic organizer. And ask the students to write their arguments for and against the use of electric cars and cars run on other fuels. ( Graphic organizers is a teaching and learning tool that is used to organize information and ideas in a way that they become easier to comprehend. Persuasion maps are a type of graphic organizer that helps students with persuasive writing, i.e how to write strong arguments.)
  

• An example of persuasion map –
  

Argument (against)	Reason	Facts	Conclusion
Petrol based cars create air pollution	They give out gases like carbon monoxide that are responsible for global warming.	Air pollution reports around the world.	We need sources for clean energy

 

    

  Reflection

The 'Red Fairy' deals with the themes of gender and environment. The illustrations are quite appropriate and aesthetically pleasing. But the appealing point of the story are its woman protagonists. The main character is a little girl called 'meeto', who carries a deep love for cars and motorcycles. From peddling around on her bicycle to looking for her red fairy, meeto radiates a sense of freedom that is often missing from our lives as women.

Kamla Bhasin argues that patriarchy enslaves women to the domestic spheres of their houses and it stereotypes them into inflexible gender roles. It limits them into boundaries that they are not meant to cross. And it becomes quite difficult for women to break out of these boundaries and claim their space in public spheres. It is not unusual for a woman to be tagged as a bad driver from the moment she starts learning to drive. The 'Red Fairy' breaks this stereotype by depicting an older woman and a little girl bonding with each other over an electric car while driving around the city of Delhi. 

Sources:-

https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/43359-the-red-fairy