Savitribai Phule

Written by Aparna Rajesh R
Illustrated by Atlas Of Greats

Discover the true story of Savitribai Phule, the girl who was not allowed to go to school and grew up to open schools for girls all over her city.

Little Savitri grew up in a village in western India, where most girls were not allowed to learn to read. When she grew up, her husband Jyotirao taught her at home, and she learned so quickly that she trained as a teacher. In 1848 the two opened a school for girls in Pune, and Savitribai became one of India's very first women teachers.

Some people threw mud at her on her way to school, so she carried a spare sari and taught her class anyway. With her friend Fatima Sheikh she welcomed girls who had never held a book, opened more schools for every child, wrote poems, and cared for mothers, babies and the sick.

The book ends with "What Savitribai taught us": six lessons from her life, each beside the moment it comes from, for grown-ups and children to talk about together.

Atlas Of Greats is a series of true picture-book biographies of great Indians for ages 3 to 7. Each book follows one person from childhood, in short pages made for reading aloud.