Ju's Story

For Ju, old is gold. Her mother brings her hand-me-downs from the homes in which she works and Ju welcomes them like new friends. She especially loves the well-used textbooks and the treasures sometimes hidden among their pages: pressed flowers, poems, even a dead butterfly...Then one day Ju discovers a sealed envelope in the maths book. It has a stamp but no address. Ju's Story is part of 'Different Tales', a project undertaken by Anveshi Research Centre for Women's Studies, Hyderabad, to present stories about life-worlds seldom reflected in children's books. In the hands of a sensitive writer like Paul Zacharia, the story of a simple discovery that Ju makes becomes a moving experience. Asma Menon's strong, painterly illustrations suggest a sense of empowerment.