Will You Play With Me? Harnessing the magic of art and storytelling for conservation

Children living in rural India, often lack access to books and stories that celebrate our marvellous wildlife. We want to inspire these children to reconnect with wildlife using wonder and whimsy through playful art, science, and storytelling. 

Will You Play With Me? is a bilingual illustrated children’s storybook by two National Geographic explorers— renowned artist, Raghava KK and conservation scientist, Dr. Krithi K. Karanth. The book, written in English has been translated in Kannada by conservation icon, Dr. K. Ullas Karanth. This collaborative effort brings art and science together in the form of storytelling, to capture the imagination of children. 

Using characters that represent the iconic species of the Western Ghats, Will You Play With Me? weaves a simple story that is fun, interactive, and magical.

This charming illustrated children’s book will add a new dimension to conservation education in India, through its simple and effective storytelling. We want to publish it in multiple languages and distribute it to 50,000 children. We are delighted to share that we have already distributed over 5,000 copies of the book to the children we have taught through our award-winning conservation education program, Wild Shaale. 

With your support, we hope to bring back the love for wildlife in children through this book, and to make them the agents of change in their communities.

Please support us and help us make this a reality.