once a weekrashmee dixit bundles up her oneandhalfyearold sonpacks his diaper bag and drives to the nearest reading hubthe next hour is spent reading aloud to her toddler as he fiddles with touchandfeel booksi have been reading to ajay since he was three months old says the bangalorebased homemakerlike dixitthere are scores of parents across the country eager to wean their little ones away from television and computers and introduce them to the world of bookscatering to this segment are exclusive bookstores and clubsactivity centres and librariesin july 2009meetu srikanth and rakhi prasad launched treasure booksa bookstore for kids located in khara suburb in mumbaichildren in our families were choosing video games over books and we felt the need to do something about it says srikanthlibraries and bookstores for children spare no effort to lure the young reader brightly decoratedchildfriendly roomsyoga and craft classesand day trips are part of the packagechildren need to look at the bookstore as a fun placemany come in for activities and then discover the world of books says srikanthcorporate and chain bookstores have also jumped on to the reading wagonoxford bookstore in chennai launched the bookworm club for children aged nine to 14 in december 2009the club selects a book for each month and plans activities from writing reviews to staging fantasy dramas based on the books themein januaryfor instancethe focus was on lemony snickets the bad beginningwhile popular titles like agatha christie and sherlock holmes appeal to slightly older childrenlibraries and bookstores stock books even for age zerohippocampusa childrens librarycumexperiencecentre in chennai and bangalore has touchandfeel and lifttheflap bookschandni khannawho runs the chennai centre says hippocampus has over 700 dedicated membersat treasure booksdr seuss books jostle for space with french spirou and fantasio comics and harry potterproviding stiff competition are books on movies and television series like hannah montanawe have high school musical booksdisneys wizards of waverly place is the latest addition at hippocampus says khannaenid blytonof coursetops the list everywhereparents have grown up on her books and want her to be the first author their child reads says khannabut the job of a parent does not just end at deciding the authorwe get parents to conduct reading sessions at our centre says ghazala anjumactivity coordinator of booky boban activitycentrecumlibrary in bangaloremany children are hooked to the tv or computer because their parents have not bothered to pick up books for them she sayshoweverthere are many enthusiastic parents out theremy wife used to read to our daughter when she was in kindergarten says chennaibased software engineer rahul srinivasanwho makes an effort to get books his daughter can relate tonow that my daughter has joined a book clubitll take the load off me he jokesto help parents furtherlibraries and clubs are introducing more services to bring books closer to kidshippocampus delivers books to your doorstepthe katha book cluban online clubhas books from all parts of the countrythe aim is to introduce children to indias culturehistory and environmentin indiaspecificallybook clubs serve the unique purpose