Chitwan on One Elephant, Two Monkeys: a playful bilingual book that fosters early literacy, joy, empathy, and cultural connection in young readers.
on Sep 23, 2025
Frontlist: One Elephant and Two Monkeys is joyful and playful on the surface, yet it carries a deeper mission — to nurture early literacy. How do you see this book contributing to the larger journey from literacy to liberation for young readers?
Chitwan: Children read what interests them, and while this sounds like a basic idea, it’s actually crucial to the success of any children’s book. Kids tend to respond best to books that don’t talk down to them, that are engagingly written, and that are exciting and fun to read. I believe One Elephant, Two Monkeys ticks all these boxes.
Frontlist: The book uses bilingual storytelling in Hindi and English. Beyond language acquisition, how do you think bilingual picture books shape a child’s sense of understanding?
Chitwan: I think it is very important for children to have access to their mother tongues. Research has shown that being able to speak more than one language is beneficial for cognitive development, and beyond that it’s also a huge part of identity and one’s sense of self, and one’s place in the world.
Frontlist: In early childhood education, sensory engagement is key. How did you incorporate elements like rhythm, repetition, and colour into One Elephant and Two Monkeys to strengthen both memory and joy in learning?
Chitwan: The text being in rhyme, the words being simple and the colourful art all work together to make learning fun. It was very important to us to ensure that the book is one that kids can keep coming back to.