News My Name is Runa – Now Available as an Audiobook

Niketan and Biblionef launch an audiobook to promote diversity and inclusion.

Children with disabilities are often excluded from society and mainstream education. This is true in the Netherlands, and even more so in many developing countries. Children without disabilities are usually unaware of the challenges their peers with disabilities may face, as they rarely come into contact with them. These children are also hardly visible in schoolbooks or children’s literature.

Books are a wonderful way to help children understand that people with disabilities are often just like them – with the same dreams, ambitions, passions and sense of humour. At the same time, they offer children with disabilities the opportunity to see themselves represented in storybooks and give them successful role models.

But… some children find reading difficult. Think of children with dyslexia, motor impairments, visual challenges or concentration disorders. That is why Niketan and Biblionef have now released the children’s book *My Name is Runa* as an audiobook. The audiobook, which includes visual images, is available in three languages: Dutch, English and Bengali.

My Name is Runa is the true story of a girl named Runa who lives in Bangladesh and has cerebral palsy. The book is used in schools in Bangladesh, Ghana and Uganda.

The book is part of the ‘Stories for Inclusion’ project, through which we offer training, knowledge and tools to use children’s literature as a starting point for discussions on diversity and inclusion – specifically about life with a disability, both in the classroom and in the community.

Interested in the audiobook or the ‘Stories for Inclusion’ project?
Contact Els Heijnen-Maathuis – els@niketan.nl