Elizabeth Keyton aka Elikutty launches her debut Malayalam image e book for youngsters

A web page from ‘Davina Finds Her Vowels’
| Picture Credit score: Kohan Kolam

For years now, Elizabeth Keyton — popularly often called @eli.kutty on Instagram — has been utilizing social media to not simply be taught Malayalam, however educate the language by way of interactive, artistic studying instruments. One such instrument is her debut image e book, Davina Finds Her Vowels (AdiDev Press), that goals to introduce youngsters to Malayalam vowels.

Elizabeth Keyton
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association

The e book, says Eliza (as she is fondly identified), was really created in 2018 when she was residing in Dubai. “My finest good friend, a Tamil, gave delivery to her daughter, Davina. Her husband is Malayalee, however he grew up in Tamil Nadu. In consequence, she had a number of sources to be taught Tamil, however I wished to make one thing in Malayalam for Davina’s first birthday,” says the language knowledgeable who at present works with newcomer migrant college students in Chicago. Eliza handmade the e book, “drawing my very own easy illustrations in order that she might discover Kerala via her personal eyes”. “My good friend beloved it and pushed me to make it into an actual e book,” she shares. 

The image e book takes younger readers on Davina’s journey via Kerala’s fields lined with banana bushes, native markets, and on buses, with every web page educating a set of vowels. “I loved setting the scenes. The rhyme and narration was extremely enjoyable to increase on, and it felt great alongside Kohan Kolam’s (the artistic title of painter and illustrator Gurmeet Singh) illustrations,” she says. 

The e book’s cowl
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association

That is Gurmeet’s first Malayalam-centric e book too, and he says combing via visuals of Kerala’s folks, native tradition, and watching Malayalam films was executed for the e book’s analysis. “Phrases depart visible impressions, even the place phrases don’t describe it explicitly. The impression I had of Davina was of an impish, extremely energetic, unself-aware little lady. I attempted to convey this via issues comparable to her all the time unruly hair, frolicking poses, and Elikutty’s mischievous expressions,” says Gurmeet, who provides that the method was creatively intense. “{The marketplace} design took two weeks simply to color!”

A web page from ‘Davina Finds Her Vowels’
| Picture Credit score:
Kohan Kolam

Eliza provides that the primary model of the e book took a month of writing, illustrating, and laminating the pages. “I’m a language trainer, and I’ve labored with youngsters for a few years, so I had the concept to make the introduction to the alphabet to be enjoyable, partaking, and personalised. I began sending the draft to varied publishers in 2020, and it took a number of persistence and some good pals to lastly join me with AdiDev. Davina simply turned seven, so it’s wild to see how the journey to publication just isn’t fairly as simple as one might think about,” provides the writer.

Why did Eliza select the image e book format for Davina Finds Her Vowels? “Image books are great instruments to be taught language as a result of it opens up the context for youngsters and units a stage for them to see a relevance in what they’re studying. Many dad and mom need their children to attach with their heritage language, however typically fall into much less partaking strategies of memorisation, repetition, and irritating corrections,” she says, “Youngsters are naturally curious and need to discover new concepts, and utilizing image books guides their creativeness and likewise makes it really feel much less pressured as rote studying.” 

An illustration by Kohan Kolam
| Picture Credit score:
Kohan Kolam

Hoping the e book resonates with youngsters, Eliza has written drafts for future books together with all of the Malayalam alphabet. “Every e book has a theme associated to Kerala, from the biodiversity of the forests of Thrissur, to the snacks and sweets at neighbourhood chaaya retailers. In complete, there could be about seven or eight books, every focussing on a sure cluster of sounds from the Malayalam language,” Eliza says, including that she has additionally accomplished the draft of a Malayalam coursebook for grownup newbies. “I’ve structured it to be as partaking and approachable as worldwide texts for studying English, Spanish, and so forth. I’m hoping that I can get this e book to cabinets as Malayalam has an absence of up to date, partaking supplies. I even have free on-line lessons the place I exploit the fabric I’ve developed for this coursebook.”

Priced at ₹499, Davina Finds Her Vowels is accessible on adidevpress.com