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Recently I had the opportunity to talk with Aneesa Jamal, founder of Cogitation Club in India. Aneesa is also a NAAEE CEE Change Fellow 2023; Global Fellow, Center for Climate Literacy, University of Minnesota; and PhD Researcher, Curriculum & Instruction, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Cogitation Club enables every child to be a creative, critical, and logical thinker and strives to integrate that thinking into all aspects of teaching and learning. Cogitation Club offers book authoring programs for children; these programs include Young Earth Authors (YEA) & Young Climate Authors (YCA) and Kaatib(a), the latter of which helps children and youth write about their lived experience as members of the South Asian Muslim diaspora. Today we’ll explore the Earth/climate books. The writing and illustrations are superb and presented in beautifully designed flip-books.
Chat with Aneesa
Mary: You have been mentoring Indian middle and high school students to write stories on climate change and environmental issues. How did you get started?
Aneesa: I ran Al Qamar Academy, a small, progressive school in Chennai, for over a decade. We conducted numerous short-term eco programs at school—you know—like a tree walk, nature observation walks, workshops on composting, etc., However I started getting the sense that simply raising awareness about the environment or teaching private sphere actions was counterproductive unless we could show students pathways to action, which were meaningful and had a wider impact. Around 2017, I met with Ramnath Chandrasekhar, film-maker and conservation educator, and he introduced me to the idea of having students author storybooks on nature and the environment. We partnered up and implemented this program at Al Qamar and it was hugely successful. The authors (the youngest being 4th graders) felt extremely empowered when they saw their printed books, attended a book launch, and were featured on the first page of a national children’s newspaper. The books from this Young Earth Authors (YEA) program can be read here.The program also inspired us to sign up for a field ecology program with an environmental education NGO called Pitchandikulum Forest. Over the next two years, our middle schoolers explored the biodiversity hotspots in Chennai, interacted with activists and educators, and witnessed how unplanned and rampant urbanization was leading to serious environmental degradation in Chennai. Just as we were about to enter the third year of the program, COVID struck and all schools in India shifted to an online mode. The lockdown presented insurmountable challenges for Al Qamar, and we realized the school was going to shut down at the end of the academic year. Not wanting to let all that wonderful learning from the field ecology program simply die away, I contacted Ramnath once again and we launched another YEA program, with the difference that this time it was all online. Despite the incredible challenges that online schooling presented, we had 14 storybooks out—with diverse themes, plots and settings. Post lockdown, we had a formal book launch in Chennai and a kind sponsor enabled us to print and distribute a limited number of copies to environmental organizations and educational bodies in India and abroad. These books can be read here.
Once the school shut down, I started a PhD in Education in Malaysia. My research was on the impact of book authoring on children’s understanding of climate change. This led me to create the Young Climate Authors (YCA) program and implement it as a blended learning program in Chennai, India, with a group of middle & high schoolers. YCA started off with a month-long summer camp during which the participants learned about climate change in a place-based manner which focused on climate justice. The following five months were asynchronous and online as we mentored the children in writing climate stories, illustrating, and finally designing the books. We had 17 storybooks out, two of the bilingual (Tamil & English) and most of them on climate (in)justice. The stories highlighted how climate events impact the most vulnerable communities in Chennai. We had an international book launch online in collaboration with the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). This was followed by a local book exhibition. These books can be read here.
Through a grant from the NAAEE, I was able to develop a training program for educators on implementing the Young Climate Authors. Our three cohorts have seen participants from 11 different countries and we hope many more eco and climate fiction books from young people across the globe.
Mary: 40 books have been published from these children. That is awesome! How can we find the stories?
Aneesa: All the stories can be read here. The books are also listed on Open Library and Library Thing. Printing physical copies has been a challenge financially, and we are looking for sponsors who would be willing to fund large scale printing so we can distribute the books to schools, libraries, and environmental organizations.
Mary: You run a site called Cogitation Club. What’s that all about, and how did you get involved?
Aneesa: I started Cogitation Club after Al Qamar Academy shut down, to continue offering the kind of learning experiences we had at Al Qamar for middle & high schoolers but through an informal program. Our goal is to help children discover and hone their creative and critical thinking skills. The book authoring programs are our signature offering, but we also offer other programs on mathematical & logical thinking. We also conduct training programs for adults.
Mary: How many stories are fiction? The writing is all so creative. The authors bring readers into their world with well-crafted stories. How do you find the authors?
Aneesa: All but one of the stories are fictional.
The two YEA projects were conducted with students at Al Qamar. For the YCA, we put out an open call for participation. Two alternative schools signed up. These happened to be schools where most of our old students had transferred to. So, again, I had a lot of my old students back again in this project. Most of the students are based in Chennai, India.
I think a lot of the creativity has to do with the kind of schooling we provided at Al Qamar. We were really big on encouraging independent reading through a variety of intentional programs and policies at the school. For example, reading was homework. Each classroom had its own library. We had Dear Times, Read-a-thons and what-not. So these authors were already readers and familiar with narrative structures. Secondly, we encouraged independent creative writing—thank god there was no AI then to generate stories for kids to copy and write. A third reason was the ecopedagogical approach we took; this provided the pool of ideas and experiences that were shaped creatively into stories.
Another aspect was the process of mentoring. Trust me, mentoring that is aligned with the constructivist-critical pedagogy approaches we adopt is like walking a tightrope. The mentoring process for the book authoring was very intense work and required building a relationship of trust and mutual respect with the children. We had to constantly examine our teaching practice to make sure that we were not taking over from the children at any stage. We had to support but not take over, advise but not dictate, so that children’s creative ideas and expression were fully preserved.
Third was the young authors themselves. They went through several frustrating cycles of review and revision yet didn’t give up. It wasn’t easy for them to learn art skills from scratch. I think the social-environmental justice goal, the idea that their books would make the world a better place, was really what drove them. And of course the vision of themselves as published authors with its promise of fame (but not fortune) helped overcome the frustration and setbacks.
Mary: Who does the illustrations?
Aneesa: Most of the books have been illustrated by the students themselves. Creating the illustrations has always been the most challenging part of the program for most of the students; it taught a lot of persistence and patience. The YCA authors were really blessed to have a mentor in my colleague Hanin Safia, who worked intensively with the students to help them learn art skills and facilitated them in creating storyboards and final illustrations.
In a few cases, the authors simply didn’t feel up to the task. Two of them had their books illustrated by professionals. Another created a beautiful workaround where he took photographs and then used an AI filter to give them a watercolour look. Two other students used stock images for illustrations because they felt that their book needed that kind of look and feel.
Mary: I’m as impressed by the artwork as I am by the writing. Who are the mentors who write some of the front matter?
Aneesa: For the YEA, Ramnath & I were the mentors, supported by some of the other teachers at Al Qamar. In the YCA program, I was the lead mentor and was supported by a team. We had also invited several environmental and climate activists to teach about climate change in Chennai. These activists also acted as a resource when the young authors needed further information or clarification.
Mary: Do you sell any of the stories as print books, or is it mostly online in flip-books? It is a beautiful format, by the way!
Aneesa: The cost of self-printing and publishing print books is prohibitive. Initially, the students had listed their books on Amazon, but eventually were unhappy with the potential conflict between their goal of writing for social and environmental justice and the fact that the books were only accessible to readers who could pay.
I approached several Indian children’s books publishers to evaluate the books and possibly pick a few for publication. Unfortunately, each publisher had the same response, “We don’t publish books written by children.” These companies didn’t even bother to check out the titles or blurbs, forget reading the books. To be honest, I was really bothered by this response—there are so many low quality children’s books written by adults that get picked up. But when it comes to children writing for children, the assumption is that the books will not be of a certain quality.
We are still looking for larger publishing houses that could pick up certain titles and make them widely available in print. For now, we decided on a digital version which is accessible globally and free of charge.
Mary: These books are high-quality, so I hope someone helps out with printing someday. Is this program still going? And do you have any new plans for a collection?
Aneesa: The programs have finished, but I keep scouting for speaking engagements for the authors and ways to promote the books.
At this point, I am focusing on the educator training program, where we train other adults to implement this program in their communities globally. We offer training every quarter, and since it’s online we’ve trained educators from about 11 countries across three continents. We have some promising starts there is a plan to implement the program in Malaysia, India, and Europe. Hopefully in Panama too.
I’ll probably do another round myself once my thesis work is done and dusted. But that’s not for another year, right now.
Mary: Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
Aneesa: We covered so much ground already. But, as a last word, I’d really encourage the readers to check the books out, introduce them to other children, let libraries know about them and get them into school systems. That’s what the young authors would really really appreciate. The authors would also love to have their books reviewed—the books are listed at Library Thing and on Open Library. Alternatively, you can email aneesa@cogitation.in.
Mary: Aneesa, thank you so much for reaching out to me to educate our readers about this amazing work you’re doing. Thank you endlessly for all the work that you do!
About Aneesa Jamal
Innovative educator, researcher & serial entrepreneur, Aneesa has been involved with innovative work in school education for the past 14 years. She is the founder of Cogitation Club & Al Qamar Academy. Aneesa is a CEE-Change Fellow at the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) & a Global Fellow at the Center for Climate Literacy, University of Minnesota. An alumna of Smith College, USA & an MBA from the University of Washington, she is currently pursuing her PhD in Education at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Her research work focuses on Project Based Learning, environmental education and climate change education.
Featured Books
YCA
- Beneath the Burning Layer by Muhammad Ashfaque A. When someone breaks into your house, you would call them a thief. But when this old woman finds herself in the same situation, she invites the intruder for a cup of tea….Read this book by 14 year old Ashfque to learn about a climate activist and her journey to raise awareness.
- Realization of Qita by Y. Muhammed Shayan. Qita is a person who hated to hear about Climate Change, but when his daughter started to ask questions about Climate Change he got curious. So he went to the library and read more about Climate Change. He got a realization and went to his… Read this bilingual book written by 11 year old Shayan to learn more.
- The Hidden Ones by Abdullah Ibrahim. A walk along the sea. A world unexplored. A world unseen. Knowledge unheard. Knowledge unknown. ‘The Hidden Ones’ is more than a story; it’s a call to value the unheard voices and recognise the keys they hold in the battle against climate change. Read this memorable book about Palayam Anna, an indigenous artisanal fisher, by 14 year old Abdullah.
YEA
- How Haju Weaved the World by Athiya Fathima Tawfiq. Haju is most surprised to see a hole right in the far coast of the ocean! Inside the hole, Haju sees a different world! She has an amazing adventure and meets friends who tell her about a really important issue. But can Haju save the ocean – and her friends. Read this beautiful story by 10 year old Athiya.
- A Backpack, a Cat & a Tale by Shahana Shameer. A special backpack that gets lost in a little eco-park, meets a cunning cat who refuses to take this little backpack back. What must the backpack do to go back to its owner? Read this lovely story by 13 year old Shahana.
- A Turtle Walk with a Fly by Ishaal Azeez. Rihaan mysteriously morphs into a fly about a hundred times smaller than himself! In his search for help on the marine walk he comes to hear of a very risky government plan? Can a small kid really make a difference? Read this beautifully illustrated story by 12 year old Ishaal.
