Nobel laureate Esther Duflo explains economics to children through storytelling in new book series

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) Seeking to promote empathy towards poverty, a new book series titled “Poor Economics for Kids”, by Nobel prize winning economist Esther Duflo, introduces complex economic concepts to children through engaging stories and colourful illustrations.

The five-book series, originally written in French by Duflo and illustrated by Cheyenne Olivier, were simultaneously released in English and five Indian languages at Alliance Francaise de Delhi on Friday.

While the English edition was published by Juggernaut, the edition in five Indian languages — Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, and Tamil — was brought together by Pratham Books, a not-for-profit children’s book publisher, ensuring wider accessibility across India.

“I was asking librarians, educators about what they think is missing in children’s books. What children books would you like to have, to share with kids? They said, ‘We need more books where children are being represented’.

“And they said, ‘they consider this book doing that’, which is the best compliment we could get,” said Dufalo, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics along with economists Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer in 2019.

Featuring characters like Nilu and her friends, the books address crucial topics such as fundamental rights, education, children’s health, and gender equality from a child’s perspective, making abstract economic principles accessible and relatable to young readers.

The foreword is written by Banerjee, who is also the author’s husband.

“‘Poor Economics’ is about the economic lives of the poor. We try to understand the way they make it all work, feed and clothe themselves, send their children to school, and keep their families healthy, not having money, not having gone to school and living far and from anything that we take for granted hospitals, markets, and workplaces,” he writes in the book.

Duflo’s previous books include “Good Economics For Hard Times” and “Poor Economics”, both she co-wrote with Banerjee.