Our first book!
Books
Each Roots and Colours book will be distributed with crayons and will include 20 thoughtfully illustrated pages, designed to be culturally relevant, emotionally engaging, and easy to color. The structure of the book is intentionally simple so that children of all literacy levels can enjoy and learn from it. The pages on the left features a full-page black-and-white sketch that can be colored in, along with short bilingual captions in Tamil and English to introduce basic vocabulary. Whereas the pages on the right prompt kids to use critical thinking to design an idea of what they learnt earlier. The layout encourages creativity, family interaction, and early language development.
Phase 1
Phase 1: The first phase of Roots and Colours will focus on distributing 200 free coloring books across three selected villages in Tamil Nadu. During this period, we will work closely with local schools and educators to identify children and households who would benefit most from this resource. By building relationships with teachers and families, we aim to create a trusted, community-based rollout. This phase is all about listening—collecting feedback from students, parents, and educators to understand how the book is being used, what emotions or stories it sparks, and how we can improve. These insights will guide the design, language, and structure of future editions, ensuring the project grows in a way that is responsive, inclusive, and deeply rooted in each village's needs.
Phase 2
With the learnings from our pilot, Phase 2 will expand our reach to 5,000 children across 20 villages. This stage is where Roots and Colours shifts from a small creative experiment to a structured rural education initiative. We will refine our distribution methods, train local school leaders to support the program, and host storytelling or family coloring sessions to create dialogue around the book. This phase is also an opportunity to explore partnerships with regional educators and social workers who can help us track impact. Our goal is to prove that a simple, bilingual coloring book—grounded in local culture and emotional expression—can have wide-reaching benefits in early education, language learning, and child well-being.
Phase 3
If Phase 2 is successful, we plan to launch a full-scale outreach effort across all districts of Tamil Nadu. This third phase will involve distributing tens of thousands of books by collaborating with local NGOs, small businesses, and educational networks that share our mission. By building a coalition of support, we aim to make Roots and Colours a self-sustaining program that reaches every child who could benefit from it. Whether it's through CSR funding, school drives, or community storytelling events, this phase will transform the project into a movement—one that empowers rural children to learn, heal, and connect through the power of art and language.
