The Flying Doll, originally published in 1957 by Kalvi Gopalakrishnan entitled Parakkum Pappa, is a popular children's classic in Tamil. It is a story of how a paper doll gets animated and flies around the world to learn about the life of Eskimos, Red Indians, Chinese, Pygmies, Arabs, etc. The Flying Doll is an interesting and informative children's classic.
KALVI GOPALAKRISHNAN (1912-2007) was an eminent children's writer in Tamil has rendered yeoman service in the field of adult literacy too. Written more than 250 books, Gopalakrishnan has edited magazines such as Kalvi and Chintanai Kalvi. Later the name of the magazines Kalvi was attributed to his name.
Eight editions of the Parakkum Pappa have already been printed with increasing sales and there has been a demand for as many more editions. Originally, Southern Languages Book Trust published this book in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Five thousand copies were printed in each langauge.
Today, thousands of research scholars, engineers, artists and doctors come and tell me how they enjoyed reading Parakkum Pappa in their younger days.
What in the book charms the hearts of all the young readers? Man has always wished to fly like a bird. For generations this desire has dwelt in him. The story in this book is based on the adventures of a flying doll. As the doll flies up in the air, and goes around the world, the children reader gets an opportunity to participate in this delightful activity. Moreover, children are fascinated by magic and wizardry. The story caters to this fascination as well. So it is not surprising to find children drawn to this book.
Late Sri Chandilyan has been the driving force in moulding me into a writer for children and encouraging me to continue to write for children. The credit for my success goes to him.
When Parakkum Pappa was first published in Swadesamitran the compliments I received from children readers as well as their teachers encouraged me to present not only geography but also science in story form. This characters like the candy doll, Cheema, the little finger, the magician son and others came into being.
Like drinking milk sweetened with honey my stories will certainly help children to develop a better taste for learning science.
In order to present scientific facts to children, I had to strengthen my knowledge of science. I am, therefore, thankful to my child readers for providing me with an opportunity to do so.
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