Crafting Future Reading Habits

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Anoushka Bhatia. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Anoushka Bhatia, a 17-year-old rising high school senior, naturally builds up the people around her. She loves to crochet and do crafts, finding joy making individualized birthday gifts and seeing recipients happy. As a child who needed something to fidget with origami was a particularly good fit. Her passion for helping others extends to animals as well, spending volunteer hours with multiple local pet shelters.

She also loves to read, and in 2022, Anoushka joined The LiTEArary Society as chief creative officer (CCO) on their mission to end book deserts for children in Head Start, a federally funded preschool program for children living below the poverty line. The youth-led organization has donated over $1M worth of new books to more than 91,000 preschool children in all 50 states. Anoushka has enhanced reading comprehension in the program by creating hand-made, engaging craft kits to accompany each book that goes out to local events or Head Start locations from Hawaii to Maine—around 2,300 since she started. With 22,000 members worldwide, people have taken note of its success.

James Dean, author of the beloved children’s series Pete the Cat, has noticed as well. His positive comments on the group’s social media photos of kids doing Anoushka’s crafts—many of which revolve around his books—are a nod of recognition that won’t soon be forgotten.

What inspires you to volunteer?

I have a poster with a Brian Andreas quote that says, “If we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination. And then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.” That suggests that our biggest obstacle isn’t the lack of opportunity but the lack of creativity.

Also, my family is from India. When I would visit as a kid, I’d sit with my grandma reading picture books, and a couple of times I saw endangered sarus cranes fly by, a symbol of freedom. I started folding paper cranes, and years later, when I became the CCO of the LiTEArary Society, I drew from that experience and childhood pastime to incorporate book-themed crafts into the organization.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

I became involved as a rising freshman, when I came across a TED Talk by Rania Zuri, our founder and CEO, talking about the book deserts that exist across the US. In my area, we get access to books and libraries from a young age. I couldn’t imagine a world without reading.

Tell us about your volunteer role with The LiTEArary Society.

During the school year, I spend 30 to 40 a month preparing crafts and organizing reading circles and craft workshops at local Head Start locations. During the summer, I can spend more time.

At events, I read a designated book, for example, Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes. Then, we pass out materials and help them put together the craft. I make an example the day before, so I can show them how it will look. Since they’re young—ages 3 to 5—I cut out templates of Pete the Cat. Then, I cut out eyes, noses, whiskers and maybe some shoes, depending on what we’re reading. Afterwards, I surprise them with their own book.

Many kids speak Spanish at their schools and at home. If they don’t understand the Instructions in English, I can help in Spanish. It eliminates the language barrier.

Where did you learn Spanish?

I started learning in seventh grade at school and finished AP Spanish last year. Even when I was a kid, I noticed people of all ages unable to speak English. For me, it’s always been about helping people, wherever I am. A year ago, I was at the DMV to register for my permit, and I assisted an older Spanish-speaker in line. It made me feel great.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I enjoy working with kids. They would be happy if I just read to them, but giving them books is one of the highlights. They’re so happy and often start reading right away. It’s rewarding to see how thankful they are. I can see how much an hour or two of my time means to them.

I believe that all of these kids have the potential to become great writers and authors. We might never have known, but this experience could change them. The book I read to them may be their first story time, and it’s showing them that books are amazing sources of education and fun. Afterwards, a lot of the kids give me hugs. Some of them tell me what they’re going to do with the crafts. One told me they were going to read their new book to Pete the Cat before bed.

When the children decorate the origami cranes I make for them, they dream up stories about where their cranes will fly. At one event, a child named Jenny said her crane would go to Hollywood and another said that his would battle Godzilla. It reminds me why I do this. We aren’t just making crafts but memories, rituals and relationships with books. Every child deserves the chance to imagine, dream and be inspired—and sometimes, all it takes is a story, a craft and someone who believes in them.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

Something as simple as a book can light up a child’s world. Sometimes we don’t recognize how much books mean to us until we engage with people who don’t have them. It’s a privilege to have access.

I encourage people to join the LiTEArary Society to help us end as many book deserts as possible. Every time I’ve read to children and watched them connect with a story, I’ve seen how much it means to them and how much they learn. What is a small moment in my eyes can be a big moment for a child; it could be even life-changing.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Anoushka? Find local volunteer opportunities.