What are some great books to learn Kannada?
Kannada is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in the southwestern region of India. The language is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and Goa; and also by Kannadigas abroad. The language had roughly 43 million native speakers by 2011; Kannada is also spoken as a second and third language by over 12.9 million non-native speakers in Karnataka, which adds up to 56.9 million speakers. It is one of the scheduled languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka. Kannada was the court language of some of the most powerful empires of South and Central India, such as the Chalukya dynasty, the Rashtrakuta dynasty, the Vijayanagara Empire and the Hoysala Empire.
The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script.
I roughly classified a list of books in three categories. Hope this gives better idea to choose correct books to learn Kannada.
a) Age 6-14
- Small magazine like Tunturu(ತು೦ತುರು), Champaka(ಚ೦ಪಕ), Chandamaama (ಚ೦ದಮಾಮ), Balamangala (ಬಾಲಮ೦ಗಳ) are great books to start for children of age 6 to 14. Since these books are specially designed for children, children can get comfortable with reading habit.
- Once the child is comfortable with reading, probably you can give the books which will help to improve knowledge. Also kind of books which will make the child think, understand.
- When I was a kid, I used to read small books on biography different people. For example, Freedom fighters like Bhagath Singh, Nehru, M K Gandhi, Azad etc. Kings Akbar, Rana Pratap,Kumara rama, Krishna devaraya etc. Mythological characters like Rama, Ravana, Karna, Kumbhakarna etc. Each book used to explain about 1 person.I read at least 30-40 such books.
- These books were very small ( exactly 48 pages with almost 4″*3″ size) but very interesting. These books helps to improve their knowledge, understand our country, culture etc. I strongly recommend these books.
- These books are from Bharatha Darshana Prakashana. You get the books from them to purchase( Not sure).
b) Age 12-16
- Once a child is matured enough to read & understand a good amount of literature ( 8 to 10 th standard ??) probably you can start giving small novels. I would recommend the books of Purna Chandra Tejaswi to start with as his books are simple to understand and make child enjoy reading. Some of the books that children can read are
- Millennium series (a bunch of 16 books): This series has novel kind books like Mahapalayana, scientific books like Chandrana churu, informative books like Desha Videsha( 4 parts), very interesting books like Mahayuddha (Story of world war-2). It is a very good book series to start.
- Jugari cross
- iii. Chidambara rahasya
- Karvalo
- You can also bring interest in science by giving these books. I used to read all these books when I was 8th to 10th standard.
- Manaranjanegagi Bhoutashastra (ಮನರ೦ಜನೆಗಾಗಿ ಭೌತಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ)
- Two books (part 1 & 2) explains physics in such a simple and easy way that kids can understand it very easily.
- When I was a kid, I used to read a lot of science books. Since I was Kannada medium student, I was not good enough to read English books. Then I got these two books. I read it like a religious book and try to understand the concepts. As a result, we got 2nd place in the state-level science quiz. All credits go to the book.
- I assure you that, if children read and understand this book, it’ll definitely useful for them. Maybe for competitive exams or understanding science and apply for daily life or for higher studies. Some of the topics like perpetual machines and it’s proofs are taught when I was studying engineering. But I knew all these when I was 8th standard :p. All credits to the book.
- Enu Eke Hege? (ಏನು ಏಕೆ ಹೇಗೆ?)
- it is a nice book that explains some of the scientific questions. A good one to read for kids.
c)Age 16-18
Age group 16-18 are matured enough to choose their interests. It is the time to start S L Bhyrappa, Shivarama Karanth, Ta Ra Su, Ravi beLagere, etc and get exposed to real-world and real-world challenges. Few book suggestions are
- Tabbaliyu neenade magane
- hamsageete
- Aavarana
- Mookajjiya kanasugaLu
You can also refer to these answers to get more books list.
Finally,
When I was a kid I enjoyed Chandamama, It’s a beautiful Comic monthly Magazine. As a kid, I enjoyed reading Mythological and Magical subjects. It carried stories of Mythology, epics, fables and parables. Vikram & Betala was my favorite.
Unfortunately in 2013, for unknown reason they stopped publishing, even their website is not working. You can try searching for some books for sale in olx or try it in Avenue Road, Bangalore.
The next famous one is Champaka from Delhi press. You can subscribe to this magazine at Delhi Press
Apart from this Sapna Book Store publishes a lot of Kannada books.
You can also reach out to Multibhashi for a better experience..