Dutch initiative boosting early child development

Lahore: The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H. E. Gajus Scheltema was presented with a display copy of a wonderful new children’s book, ‘Laddu is born’, at the inauguration of the Children’s Literary Festival in Islamabad.

Laddu is a character created by illustrators and writers from Pakistan, based on the legendary character Miffy (‘Nijntje’ in Dutch), created by Dutchman Dick Bruna. Laddu, the new character, symbolizes the co-operation and friendship between Pakistan and The Netherlands.

Ambassador Scheltema said, “Nijntje has found a new friend in Pakistan, Laddu, and she loves books! Early childhood is a time of exceptional physical, cognitive, social and emotional development and the sooner we expose children to the joys of reading, the greater the impact. Books such as the Miffy/Laddu book being launched today will help children learn the skills important for future reading.”

‘Laddu is born’ is the result of a co-creation process between Pakistan and Dutch illustrators, writers and Early Child Development (ECD) specialists. ‘Laddu’ is a culture-specific companion of Miffy. The friendly monkey from Pakistan will play the leading part in upcoming children books for kids up to the age of four.
The book is a Pakistan version of ‘Play and learn with Miffy’, an initiative started in collaboration with Mercis BV, the publishing company of Dick Bruna, and the Dutch co-design studio Butterfly Works.
It is supported by the Netherlands Embassy and Oxfam Novib. ‘Play and learn with Miffy’ also created ‘Yoyo is born’ in Venezuela. New friends are being designed in China and Nigeria.
Laddu will first feature as part of a hygiene toolkit, to be distributed in the flood affected areas, reaching out to 300,000 children. The toolkit is created in such a way that it stimulates the children in a playful manner. World Bank research has demonstrated that ECD programs benefits children, families, and communities.

ECD is the physical, mental, social, and emotional development of children until about six years old, which is the period of the fastest growth and development in a person’s life.

Laddu will subsequently appear in books, educative toys, games and campaigns in Pakistan. To celebrate Laddu’s birth at the Children’s Literary Festival, Akzo-Nobel presented CLF with paints for the mural painting and Unilever gave children attending the festival ice creams to cool off in the heat.