Leila Seth, illustrated by Bindia Thapar,
We, the Children of India: The Preamble to Our Constitution
Puffin Books, 2010.

Ages: 7+

"India has a very good Constitution that, sadly, isn't taught to our children at the right time,” says Leila Seth, the first female chief justice of an Indian state and author of We, the Children of India. “When they are younger, it becomes part of their consciousness. By the time they are 12, opinions are already established and it's too late.”

Seth’s skillfully executed picture book with beautiful, informative illustrations by Bindia Thapar, brings the preamble of the Indian Constitution, “one long sentence that gives you the essence of the constitution,” to life, breaking it down phrase by phrase so that children can think about the values within it as they grow and develop their own views about their country and the world.

The first few words of the preamble read, “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved…” and Seth breaks them down into “All the people in our country, including children, having taken a firm decision…”. She then goes on to define sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic. Meanwhile, in the illustrations, speech balloons come from the mouths of children, paraphrasing the definitions. Sidebars give further background and context for the statements in the preamble. For instance, the term sovereign is qualified in a sidebar with the explanation that “Although no one can tell us what to do, we need to have agreements with other countries for trade, keeping the peace, and to help solve certain problems such as climate change.”

Seth continues, explaining justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity—as well as every other word in the Constitution—while skillfully incorporating history and telling the story of how India’s Constitution came to be written. The book includes short bios and photographs of the chief architects of the Indian Constitution. A historical summary at the beginning explains Mahatma Gandhi’s role in the Indian independence movement, which brought an end to British colonial rule.

This book is a valuable resource for Indian citizens, or, as Seth defines them, “the people who belong to the country” of every age. Hopefully, it will inspire legal minds of other nations to follow in Seth’s footsteps so that children and adults of every nation can better understand and engage with their own governments.

Abigail Sawyer
October 2010