"Gurpreet Goes to Gurdwara":Sikh Canadian Teacher Writes Children's Book About Sikh Traditions

Harman Singh Pandher :'Gurpreet Goes to Gurdwara: Understanding the Sikh Place of Worship'

A Surrey teacher is hoping his new children’s book will teach people about Sikh traditions and culture, while increasing diversity and representation in children’s literature.

'Gurpreet Goes to Gurdwara: Understanding the Sikh Place of Worship' is a newly published picture book by Harman Singh Pandher, a Grade 5 teacher and Punjabi language teacher at Beaver Creek Elementary. The book follows a six-year-old protagonist who learns about his family’s culture while attending Gurdwara and gains a sense of community through worship.

Harman Singh Pandher’s inspiration for the book dates back to his childhood when he first noticed Sikh culture was underrepresented in media, particularly in the books available to him.

“It planted the seed for me to write this,” he said. “It started growing up as a student and going to school and not really having these books in our library or available to my teachers in my classes. Books that reflected my experience were in short supply.”

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While Harman Singh Pandher sharpened his writing skills in high school and university, he said the idea for the book sat in the back of his mind until about 10 years ago, when his son was about six years old – the same as the protagonist – and began really learning about his Sikh heritage.

The book remained an idea until recently, when Pandher connected with Surrey artist Gurpreet Kaur Birk, who provided the illustrations for the book and brought it visually to life.

“When I saw her artwork and signature style, it went together perfectly,” said Pandher. “She had that sensibility of a Canadian kid going through the same experiences, the same questions. She was the perfect illustrator for the book.”

Finally, with the recent events of COVID-19, Pandher found himself with the time to make the final push of publishing Gurpreet Goes to Gurdwara, to almost immediate positive reviews.

“The blessing in disguise was this pandemic – everyone was at home and it gave me an opportunity to focus on a passion that I put off,” he said.

“People are reaching out to me personally that they want signed copies. Teachers, teacher-librarians are reaching out to me. It’s been great. Everyone’s kind of saying the same thing, we need more resources like this.”

Harman Singh Pandher notes this is a Canadian story, emblematic of Canada’s diversity, and one that kids can read and see themselves in the book. He said he hopes it inspires others to write their own stories about their traditions and values.

“It’s important for all cultures to share their stories and for parents to impart their traditions and values to their children,” he said. “We learn so much from each other, we learn how much we have in common and we learn about our differences, which really makes us stronger as a community. We’re so lucky to be living in such a diverse country and a community like Surrey.”

https://www.sikhnet.com/news/sikh-canadian-teacher-writes-childrens-book-about-sikh-traditions

Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi